So, as most of y’all probably know by now, there was a great hullaballoo in the Blog Nation today over the release of MT 3.0, and specifically over Movable Type’s decision to start charging for various premium packages. Since GitM is just a one-user, one-blog operation, I still qualified for the free download, so I personally can’t complain. At any rate, we’re running 3.0 around these parts now, so if everything suddenly disappears, you’ll know why. To be honest, I’m such a low-level user anyway that I haven’t as yet noticed much difference from 2.62. The new comments-editing page seems geared to quick and easy mass deletions, which should alleviate the spam situation. I also haven’t enabled the TypeKey comment registration quite yet, but may begin playing with it in the next few days.
Month: May 2004
Patriotic Defectors.
A handful of GOP libertarians join Dems in blocking reauthorization of the Patriot Act.
Witching Matilda.
Narnia casting has begun, and it’s Tilda Swinton as the White Witch. Yeah, that works…better than Julia Stiles as FF‘s Invisible Girl, at any rate. Update: Swinton will be joined by James McAvoy as Mr. Tumnus.
Shoot the Messenger.
Earth to Inhofe? Earth to Inhofe? Nope, no answer. While several GOP leaders are turning on Dubya (and Rumsfeld) after recent events, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) is not among them. To the contrary, he lost it in committee today, proclaiming that he is “probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment” of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. (For their part, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) disavowed Inhofe immediately.) One would be tempted to write Inhofe off as simply a crank, until you peruse the many similar responses emanating from the Right about the relative newsworthiness of US soldiers engaging in torture and assorted other depravities. Mind you, these are the exact same Defenders of American Values who wore moral outrage like a cheap cologne all through l’affaire Lewinsky…some people have no shame. Update: Sure enough, the Right rallies around Inhofe.
Prisoner’s Dilemma.
The ten minute preview of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban, shown Sunday night on ABC, is now online. Not much to see here…all of the actual scenes shown look like a vast improvement over the Chris Columbus outings, but there’s a lot of filler to wade through first.
Tide Bandits.
Reports suggest Terry Gilliam’s next film (after The Brothers Grimm) will be Mitch Cullin’s Tideland. If the book blurb deeming it a “modern gothic version of Alice in Wonderland filled with ghosts, spirits, and magic” is correct, then it sounds like a great fit for Gilliam.
Tyler and Benny.
In related news, David Fincher has also picked a new project, and it’s F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Benjamin Button, about a man who begins aging backwards at the age of 50. Well, I haven’t seen a second of it, and it’s already more interesting than Panic Room.
Ring around the Rummy.
With Rummy on the ropes, Dubya and Cheney rush to the defense of their man in Defense. Hey, hold him to your breast as long as possible, Mr. President…maybe then, you’ll all go down together come November.
Justice Delayed.
Almost fifty years after his brutal murder for whistling at a white woman, the Justice Department reopens the case of Emmett Till.
UnFree Spin.
“Manufacturers design games primarily for women over 55 with lots of time and disposable income, and casinos near retirement communities…operate small fleets of jitneys that shuttle back and forth to assisted-living centers. As a come-on, one casino advertises free oxygen-tank refills for its players, and heart defibrillators are increasingly becoming standard equipment inside casinos…As one old Las Vegas hand put it, the country’s casinos are now providing ‘day care for the elderly.’” The NY Times Magazine delves into the fantastic rise of slot machines as the casinos’ prime cash cow.