Baron Dave Romm
Vote 08
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave Radio Theater podcasts
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Vote, dammit
Remember to vote tomorrow.
Help with Get Out the Vote efforts in your community
It's easy to volunteer. Anyone reading this knows where their polling place is, and how to help out.
Watch for supression or intimidation tactics.
This is crunch time, folks
No harangues, no predictions,just a call to action. You know the stakes.
Next week: Analysis.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
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The Weekly Poll
Results Delayed
Has there been a particular book or movie that you can say truly changed your life?
Send your response to BadtotheBoneBob (BCEpoll (at) aol.com)
Results on hold - Bob's consultation with the pros from Dover has been extended.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Rick Kogan: Studs Terkel dies (chicagotribune.com)
The author-radio host-actor-activist and Chicago symbol has died. "My epitaph? My epitaph will be 'Curiosity did not kill this cat,'" he once said.
Amy Goodman: Michael Moore on the Election, the Bailout, Healthcare, and 10 Proposals for the Next President (Democracy Now!)
"So let's just -- let's remain hopeful for Tuesday, but let's not assume anything. And let's all do what we have to do in the next seventy-two hours here to get out the vote."
GENDY ALIMURUNG: PULL UP YOUR OBAMAS: POLITICAL FASHION STATEMENTS - SOCKS, TEES, SHOES AND EVEN UNDERWEAR FOR CHANGE (laweekly.com)
Beyond Shepard Fairey's Hope tees.
SUSAN ESTRICH: The Final Days (creators.com)
It is time for this election to be over. It is time because it has been going on for what feels like a lifetime, because the final days have been full of noise and fury and very little light, and because we need to start solving problems rather than just debating them.
FROMA HARROP: Newspaper Endorsements Still Count (creators.com)
Do newspaper endorsements influence voters? I refer to the candidate picks printed on the biodegradable news products that digital and cable commentators dismiss as "old media" but talk about nothing but. They do, according to Brown University economist Brian Knight, though some endorsements pack greater clout than others.
SUSAN ESTRICH: The Back Room (creators.com)
I have one word of advice for the fancy folks at the Republican National Committee who shelled out $75,000 at Neiman Marcus and $50,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue, among other places, to dress Sarah Palin and family: Loehmann's. And if you want upscale, consider the "Back Room" at Loehmann's, which carries all the top designers at a fraction of the price.
FROMA HARROP: Greenspan Should Have Stuck With the Clarinet (creators.com)
The 1949 movie of Ayn Rand's novel "The Fountainhead" ends with Patricia Neal elevating to the top of a new skyscraper to greet its godlike architect, Gary Cooper. He is the archetypal Rand hero, an individualist who triumphs over the tradition-bound forces of mediocrity.
Scott Burns: Social Security for the Young (assetbuilder.com)
Kotlikoff: Our fears have been confirmed. The country has entered a great depression. Fortunately, the depression is mental, not economic. So far the nation has lost its mind, not its wealth.
Dan Savage: I Gave My Virginity To A Guy Who Took Off the Condom In Bed. How Mad Should I Be?
Here's hoping his next girlfriend takes proactive steps to make sure the condom stays securely on-I'd suggest staple-gunning the thing in place.
How will I die? (guardian.co.uk)
More people have walked on the moon than have had full genome sequencing, But Richard Powers was determined to take that giant leap. All he needed was a wad of cash, four vials of blood - and the courage to face whatever health hazards lie in wait.
Walter Tunis: The Grascals make it to the top in short order (McClatchy Newspapers)
It's a scenario that shouldn't have played out nearly so quickly.
Roger Ebert: Roger's little rule book
There will be no further discussion of the "Tru Loved" matter. I have now devoted 5,000 words to it, and read more than 114,000 words of comments.
Roger Ebert: Tru Loved (1 star)
Following is a new review of "Tru Loved," which I have viewed from beginning to end. First comes the original, unaltered, 10/17/08 review, written after I had viewed eight minutes of the film. After the [ * * * * ] you will find the complete film reviewed. For the context and background, see my blog posts titled "Don't read me first!" and "Definitely read me second." If you hope to see the movie, do not read the complete review, which is wall-to-wall with spoilers.
Roger Ebert: Definitely read me second
On Oct. 16 I published a review of "Tru Loved" in which, at the end, I noted that I stopped watching after eight minutes. I also published a blog entry, "Don't read me first!" discussing that decision and reporting that it horrified my editor, who wondered if my action was immoral. The entry has so far drawn almost 500 comments. I have read them all. I have arrived at some conclusions.
'Arrived'
Joe Croker
On the eve of a nerve-wracking election, Bonnie Raitt sideman George Marinelli, Sam Bush bassist Byron House, and songwriter Joe Croker team up to offer a song of reflection and hope.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Cool and damp, but sunny.
Rocks 80,000 For Obama
Bruce Springsteen
Legendary US rocker Bruce Springsteen wowed a crowd of 80,000 with a rousing set at a rally for Democrat Barack Obama here Sunday on the White House campaign's final stretch.
Obama took the stage with his wife Michelle and two young daughters when Springsteen was done, and said there were "a handful of people who enter into your lives through their music and tell the American people's story."
Springsteen led the sea of people in a full-throated singalong of Woody Guthrie's folk classic "This Land is Your Land."
"So I don't know about you, but I want my country back, I want my dream back, I want my America back," Springsteen exclaimed to deafening cheers.
Bruce Springsteen
Global Reaction To Palin Prank
'The Masked Avengers'
The Quebec comedians responsible for pranking Sarah Palin are getting the star treatment from the international media.
The duo known as "The Masked Avengers" was being courted by U.S. news networks Sunday after their prank call to the Republican vice-presidential nominee took the Internet by storm.
The Avengers - Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel - managed to get Palin on the phone, conning her into thinking she was speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The two say they're surprised at the impact of the gag, which has garnered global headlines after it surfaced almost instantly on blogs and websites around the world.
'The Masked Avengers'
Transcript of 'The Masked Avengers' Vs. Sarah Palin
9,300 Miles
Vote!
Susan Scott-Ker and her husband arrived in New York on Wednesday after flying 9,300 miles to vote in Tuesday's presidential election.
They have been working India but decided to return to New York when their absentee ballots failed to arrive. Their trip began in Bangalore with stopovers in New Delhi and Chicago.
It will be their first time voting in a presidential election. The New Zealand-born Scott-Ker and her Morroco-born husband became American citizens a year ago.
They estimate the trip will cost $5,000.
Vote!
Cognitive Abilities
Class of 76
Clever teenagers of today are not as bright as kids in the class of 1976, according to researchers.
The intellect of even the brainiest 14-year-olds has deteriorated dramatically over the decades despite an increase in the number of pupils achieving top grades in exams.
Their cognitive abilities are level with those of 12-year-olds in 1976, the study found.
Researchers at King's College London compared the mental agility of 800 bright 13 and 14-year-olds with similar tests carried out some three decades ago.
Class of 76
Donating Papers To Purdue
Neil Armstrong
Former astronaut Neil Armstrong has agreed to donate personal papers dating from the start of his flight career to his alma mater, Purdue University.
Armstrong's papers, boxes of which have already begun arriving at Purdue, will be an inspiration for students and invaluable for researchers, said Sammie Morris, assistant professor of library science and head of Purdue Libraries' Archives and Special Collections.
Armstrong graduated from Purdue in 1955 with a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering, after a year and a half break from his studies to serve as a U.S. Navy pilot in the Korean War. He was named a NASA astronaut in 1962.
Neil Armstrong
'Iron Man' X 2
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. has signed a deal with Marvel Studios to return to the screen as superhero "Iron Man" in two sequels to the hit film released last April, Hollywood media reported Wednesday.
Downey, 43, will make "Iron Man 2" for planned released in 2010, and Marvel envisions a third Iron Man film by 2012, according to Variety.
In between the two, Downey also agreed to play Iron Man, alias Tony Stark, in an Avengers movie, together with Marvel comics characters Captain America, Thor and the Incredible Hulk.
Robert Downey Jr.
Ordered To Produce Memos
White House
A judge has ordered the Justice Department to produce White House memos that provide the legal basis for the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 warrantless wiretapping program.
U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy Jr. signed an order Friday requiring the department to produce the memos by the White House legal counsel's office by Nov. 17. He said he will review the memos in private to determine if any information can be released publicly without violating attorney-client privilege or jeopardizing national security.
Kennedy issued his order in response to lawsuits by civil liberties groups in 2005 after news reports disclosed the wiretapping.
The department had argued that the memos were protected attorney-client communications and contain classified information.
White House
Filmmaker Barred From Travel
Mohammad Malas
Human rights groups said on Sunday Syrian authorities have prevented a leading film director from traveling abroad as part of growing state restrictions on intellectual life in the country.
Mohammad Malas, winner of international film awards for works depicting Syria's political and cultural history, was prevented from boarding the plane from Damascus to Paris last week upon orders from the intelligence apparatus, they said.
"The state wants to strengthen its grip on cultural activity and prevent communication with the outside world," said Mohannad al-Hussani, head of the Syrian Human Rights Organization, who himself is under a travel ban.
Another group, the National Organization for Human Rights, said the ban shows the extent to which intelligence branches control Syria, noting that it was not issued by the judiciary.
Mohammad Malas
What Global Warming?
Echaurren Glacier
Chile's official water authority warned Saturday that the Echaurren glacier near Santiago, which supplies the capital with 70 percent of its water needs, could disappear in the next half century.
In a new report on Chile's glaciers the main water company -- Direccion General de Aguas de Chile (DGA) -- said the ice fields of Echaurren are receding up to 12 meters (39.37 feet) per year.
At the current rate of decline, Echaurren and other smaller glaciers near Santiago could disappear over the next 50 years.
Echaurren Glacier
long Lost Painting Resurfaces
'The Vision of St. Bruno'
A painting by Italian master Sebastiano Ricci, long presumed to be lost, has turned up in Texas after a 300-year journey from the hands of a European nobleman playboy to a fur trader and finally through generations of one family.
Ricci's "The Vision of St. Bruno" will be offered by Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries on Nov. 20. Heritage officials say the painting has been conservatively estimated to fetch at least $600,000.
The family that owns the work asked Heritage chairman of fine arts Edmund Pillsbury a year ago to take a look at a painting they had stored in a warehouse. They thought it could be a Ricci, but Pillsbury was skeptical.
The last known documentation of the St. Bruno painting was a 1776 catalogue of the collection of Count Francesco Algarotti, an 18th century art connoisseur from Venice who advised royalty on their collections and was also known for his colourful love life.
'The Vision of St. Bruno'
Weekend Box Office
`HSM3'
Disney's "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" hauled in $15 million to remain the top movie for the second straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Debuting at No. 2 with $10.7 million was the Weinstein Co. comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as pals who do a skin flick to dig themselves out of debt.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," $15 million.
2. "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," $10.7 million.
3. "Saw V," $10.1 million.
4. "Changeling," $9.4 million.
5. "The Haunting of Molly Harvey," $6 million.
6. "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," $4.7 million.
7. "The Secret Life of Bees," $4 million.
8. "Max Payne," $3.7 million.
9. "Eagle Eye," $3.4 million.
10. "Pride and Glory," $3.3 million.
`HSM3'
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