I was channel-changing on late Saturday morning, 12/10/05, and FOX apparently was showing a G.I. Joe cartoon. No, not the cartoon version of the 1980’s, but this new version in an anime style. I respect anime, but why is it that just about every cartoon these days have to be in that style? It works when it works, but it doesn’t work all the time. Really. See, I don’t care that the new G.I. Joe cartoon has new characters, but the old characters don’t seem at all the way I remembered of them. Duke is bulkier than ever (well, that’s anime for you, I guess – hunks are hunks). Scarlett looks like a red-headed, pale anime girl – which makes me feel real uncomfortable, since the old cartoon had her as an All-Irish-American Red Head Strong Woman (healthy looking ex-girl scout kind of Special Ops operative, who might have been a little well-endowed to attract the pre-pubescent male audience to pretty girls). And, they seemed to have lost the whole Duke-Scarlett chemistry (guess they don’t want to repeat the old Joe romances of yore? And, oh, yeah, the G.I. Joe movie, where Duke’s half-brother, Falcon – voiced by Don Johnson – learns to be a true Joe leader and where we get the whole backstory of the Cobra organization – quite a cartoon movie!). The old cartoon had a different animation, but it looked natural, rather than ultra-stylized as anime tends to do. Anyway, I didn’t keep watching the new G.I. Joe to see how the Cobra Commander and the rest of his troupe looked like. I mean, why mar my childhood memories, right?
Saw “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.” I was impressed by how the movie was very consistent with the book (then again, it’s been years since I read the book, but my impressions were still there). Funny, though, in watching one scene, I now see the Christian influence, but when I was a kid, I just thought it was a powerful thing (it still is, regardless of what inspired Lewis to write it). But, it’s a good movie. (oh, and nice website – which links to a interesting book summaries website – I really wish I could dig up the old collection we had – there was an explanation to the wardrobe after all!)…
Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy were kids in tough times, and it was poignant to see it brought so well to life. (see, C.S. Lewis was a little too casual about the war – The Blitz happened, so the children were sent away; well, he lived it, so I guess he took the stiff-upper-lip approach, I guess). The movie really brought a war alive, so to speak, and how it affected the home front (which was a target by the Germans bombing London) and it hit home to the early 21st century life (well, we are supposed to be living in the era of the war against terror) – seeing the civilians being targets like that? And, then the Pevensie kids had to get involved in Narnia’s war against the White Witch? Frightful stuff. Not Harry Potter and not Lord of the Rings, but the feelings of both were there – I think each franchise winds up influencing each other (texts and movies). Oh, and I got to love how the Professor’s part of Narnia wasn’t forgotten!
I saw one of these infomercials – Barry Williams, aka Greg Brady of the Brady Bunch, and some unknown lady promoting Time-Life music collection: The ’70’s – which is a compilation of the famous (one-hit-wonders or otherwise) songs of the era (“American Pie”; “You’re So Vain”; and other stuff, which I never – but should have – realized were 70’s music). Does anyone out there actually buy and own those Time-Life music collections? They actually seem pretty good, and, you know, “you can’t get them in stores…” 😉
106.7 Lite FM – non-stop Christmas music, as it has been since before Thanksgiving. My God. It could almost drive me crazy, but I like Christmas music (it’s the only time of year we listen to it anyway). I’ve been singing along with the whole Burl Ives “Have a holly, jolly Christmas” (probably the only chance I hear it outside of the animatronic Rudolph the red-nosed-reindeer special), the John Lennon Christmas song, and the Feliz Navidad song. Heck, I even tolerate listening to Celine Dion (well, actually, I can only stomach so much of her singing O Holy Night).
On more serious notes:
I read this article on Law.com, but was able to pull it up elsewhere (Law.com removed it already from its page) – the trial of a terrible murder attempt of a Asian-American lawyer in Seattle. Kevin Jung was shot by his opposing counsel, an attorney who failed to comply with court orders or meet deadlines, frustrating Jung. Jung now suffers from brain damage and lives at a nursing home. There wasn’t even a denial of the shooting by the defendant – but they’re arguing that he didn’t intend to kill. It appears to be incivility among lawyers (or at least incivility by one lawyer who couldn’t do his job and horribly took it on the lawyer who was doing his job) going to a tragic extreme. The defendant should get what he deserves.
In alphabetical order: the passing of Eugene McCarthy and Richard Pryor. The New York Times also has very extensive obituaries on these two figures. Strange coincidence, I guess.