Lost in OK

I got interviewed this afternoon on the local ABC radio affiliate, KTOK. They must just hate it when the get a radial wacko for a man on the street interview. :)

Looks like we in Oklahoma might start treating marijuana with only a modicum of insanity. A bill in the house to treat possession of a ounce or less of pot as a misdemeanor punishable by a fine, has been allowed out of committee and is headed to the full house. The following appeared in today?s Daily Oklahoman:

Lawmakers’ plans to decriminalize marijuana possession may not be up in smoke yet.

[Read More]

With the Oscar’s finally out of the way, the really important awards have come out: The Golden Raspberry Awards which have been awarding the worst achievements in film for 23 years. This year Madonna and hubby Guy Richie almost sweep the awards with their remake of Swept Away, but worst actor was awarded, sadly, to Roberto Benigni for his miscalculated performance in Pinocchio.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Like most good Orson Welles’ films, attempting to diagnose the plot of the film can be a daunting task, but I’ll give it my best effort. Orson Welles plays Michael O’Hara, an Irish sailor who meets the lovely and dangerous Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) during a mugging in Central Park. Elsa recruits Michael to serve on her husband’s yacht on a cruise through the South Seas. A sinister and dark murder plot develops and the truth isn’t known until the very end.

Rating: 4 out 5

I can find no word to describe this film other than charming. Written by the living master of the “men behaving badly, but trying to get better” style, Nick Hornby (High Fidelity); this film introduces us to Will, played by Hugh Grant. A loafer, living off the royalties of a popular Christmas tune written by his father, Will has created the ultimate bachelor life of temporary relationships and comfortable solitude. After an odd revelation, he begins to pursue single mothers for his romantic flings. This brings him into contact with twelve year old Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) and his troubled, suicidal mother Fiona, expertly played by the versatile Toni Collette. Together, Nicholas and Will help each other to become the men they want to be.

03/24/2003: In response to feedback on this article, I have added some supporting details and conclusions.

If this war has done anything, it has brought the nature of the United Nations to the forefront. The anti-war protesters seem to believe that the U.N. is some sort of perfect institution designed to bring peace and justice to the world. This despite a track record of allowing atrocities that is second to none. Rwanda, Yugoslavia and Somalia spring to mind as their most recent horrible failures (and I’m being generous by leaving Iraq off the list). With this in mind I decided to look into the purpose of the U.N. and to ask the question, why this “noble” institution fails so very often and if so, why is it worthy of U.S. attention?

Rating: 2 out of 5

I picked up this film after learning that it was made by one of my favorite directors, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (City of Lost Children, Amélie). It was my hope that this installment would be better than Alien3 which, at least on that count, it succeeds, even though that’s a low mountain to climb.

In this installment, 200 years have passed since Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) death. A splinter military group working secretly without orders clones her (and her alien parasite) from the copious amounts of her blood left over from Alien3. However, after removing her alien, they discover that the cloning process has left Ripley part alien and the alien part Ripley. As usual, the Government, now replacing that evil corporation, screws up and Ripley and some newfound smuggler friends must escape the alien hordes.

Something about the announcement of the creation of a military tribunal to try the perpetrators of the September 11th mass murders has not settled well with me. I am not particularly concerned with the punishment of the guilty, being that I generally subscribe to the “Nuke ’em till they glow and shoot them in the dark” theory on the punishment of evildoers. However, the means being used to discover the guilty is something that I have some doubts upon. I have attempted to reconcile this unease with several personal discussions about the practical nature of a “system of justice”, but to no avail. So, with your kind indulgence, I am going to try to start at the root of the problem and work my way up. In other words, answer the question, “what is justice?” If I can answer that, I am hopeful that my unease at the practical nature of “expedient” courts can be resolved.