We're Number 4!

The Princeton Review unveiled it's annual listing of the nation's top party schools and Iowa snuck in at number 4. All this despite having implemented a 21 only ordinance and increasing law enforcement presence downtown. There is banner coverage in the local media about this, for reasons passing understanding. Personally, I could care less. So people drink here, so what? College students get rowdy. Has always been thus and 'twill always be thus. The sooner people can accept that, the better.

Plus (and not for nothing) if people are going to flip out over party school rankings, this ignores a whole host of issues consuming higher education as we know it. There are more important things to be talking about.

Sucker Punch-- A Review

I was genuinely excited about this movie. Zack Snyder, I thought, was on a roll. He had done '300' (awesome movie) followed it up with 'Watchmen' (another awesome movie) and when I saw the previews for 'Sucker Punch' I was genuinely excited. This was a movie I was convinced was going to kick major ass and take major names and generally continue the trend of Zack Snyder being on a tear.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and with this movie, Snyder apparently aimed to overdose on awesome and blow everybody's face clean off and instead ended up with an overdone turd of a movie that is little more than hyper-kinectic action porn aimed squarely at 12 year old boys.

This is a movie that has no idea what it wants to be. Don't get me wrong: there are movies out there that can bend reality with the best of them and actually leave you guessing as to what might be going on. 'Sucker Punch' does not do that- not by a long shot. Instead, we're treated to the story of Babydoll (Emily Browning) who after attacking her sexually abusive stepfather after he murders her sister gets sent to an insane asylum instead. Learning that she only has five days before the Doctor comes to lobotomize her (with an icepick, pretty much. Really? Do they still do icepick lobotomies?) She constructs an elaborate fantasy in her mind aimed at helping her and her fellow inmates escape. To make a bloated, messy, overburdened, lazy plotline short, she ends up lobotomized, the evil abusive head nurse who sets up these needless lobotomies gets found out and one- only one of the other inmates Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) actually makes her way to freedom.

For a trainwreck of a movie though, there's a surprising amount of talent hidden away in this movie. Joining Browning and Cornish are Jamie Chung, Vanessa Hudgens and Jena Malone as the other inmates (I totally had to do a double take on Hudgens, but sure enough, there she was. And she was pretty good at kicking ass in this ridiculous movie. There might have even been some acting ability in there as well.) Carla Gugino plays Dr. Gorski, the asylum's head psychiatrist- but it's Scott Glenn (badass!) who steals the show as the Wise Man who guides Baby Doll through her fantasies. Glenn pretty much makes the movie bearable, because, you know, he's Scott Glenn (one of those actors where you see him and go... 'Oh! THAT GUY!') and his character pops up in random places to whip out pithy quotes like 'Don't write a check with your mouth that you can't cash with your ass' in a gravelly, wise voice. Basically, it was awesome to see him in a movie again! We need more Scott Glenn, I think. (Oh and Jon Hamm was in this as well. Because Jon Hamm seems to be in EVERYTHING these days.)

Overall: * out of **** not even the actors can save this turd of a movie. But Scott Glenn continues to kick ass.

Bookshot #27: The Sound and The Fury

I'm happy to report this is #16 on the 30 For 30 List...

I did it. I took me years and a great deal of patience, but kids, I finally conquered a book by Faulkner. I haven't read enough of Faulkner to know for sure where exactly The Sound and The Fury ranks in the patheon of his works. As with most of his stuff, it's set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County in Mississippi and centers around the downfall of a once proud Southern Family, the Compsons.

It's divided into four sections. The first (and the most maddening) is told from the point of view of Ben, the youngest boy in the family, who has autism. The second is told from the point of view of Quentin, the tortured middle brother. The third from the point of view of Jason, the cynical older brother and the final section is a third person omniscient point of view focusing on Dilsey, the family's longtime African-American servant.

I would say that if you can get past the first section, you're probably safe. The character of Ben has autism so the narration is disjointed and fragmented and there is no chronology whatsoever to it. Faulkner jumps from point to point and back again and it's only through some very close reading that you'll pick up on the following: Ben used to be called Maury after his Uncle Maury, but his name was changed (out of shame) when the family realized the extent of his disability. At a certain point, he gets castrated after attacking a girl when the front gate was left open. He loves his sister Caddy more than anything else- and develops a love for running up and down the fence in the family's yard along the golf course so he can here golfers call for, of course, their caddies.

The second section is equally as maddening, but slightly easier to follow. Told from the point of view of Quentin and the events leading up to his suicide, there's a lot in this section that is only hinted at and never actually explicitly stated- Caddy, the sister gets married and subsequently divorced after it's revealed that the child she was carrying was not, in fact, her husband's. It's strongly hinted at that it is in fact Quentin's. (Though reading wikipedia, it seems that I'm wrong about that. It's someone's baby and quite a scandal, anyway.) He has the pressure of being 'the smart one' to live up too and finds it almost impossible- his parents sold a pasture to give him the money to go to Harvard and he resents them for it.

The third section was probably my favorite. Jason, the eldest brother and the 'responsible one' is a complete bastard, in many ways, but he's also utterly committed to making money and makes no apologies for it. He is harsh and blunt with members of his own family, cruel to his sister's daughter (Caddy is not allowed to see her daughter, Miss Quentin and sends money to support her, which Jason eventually ends up stealing for herself.) He works hard but selfishly- something that comes back to haunt him at the end of the book.

If the third section was my favorite, the fourth section was a breeze. And if you like, that's really how this book works. It starts out being a pain in the behind to read, but gradually gets easier and clearer as you go along. By the end, you have a grasp of just how far these people have fallen and how far away redemption may truly be for the Compson family.

Overall ** out of ****: I'm sorry, but Faulkner just isn't my thing. I'm not saying I don't appreciate the man's writing, because it's awesome, but people like Steinbeck can blow your shoes clean off and MAKE YOU want to read them over and over again. Faulkner didn't pull that off. I'm willing to try more of his books though- he might change my mind.

Pathetic

Apple now has more cash on hand than the United States Government does. Grrrrrr... they better do something about the debt nonsense!

The Heroes Game

Iowa and Nebraska will be playing in the annual HEROES GAME!!!! Where not only will there be a yet-to-be-designed-and-hopefully-not-totally-lame trophy but a heroic citizen of each state will be honored during the game and both teams will partner with someone to try and do something heroic themselves.

The cynical part of me thinks this is as sappy as a Lifetime movie covered in sugar, but the non-cynical part of me thinks this might OK... I'm cautiously optimistic about it. Just don't make the trophy lame and we'll be OK. (I think a gigantic ear of Corn? The Corn Cup? Like the Stanley Cup? Lots of room for both teams and heroes on one that big...)

NFL Feeding Frenzy

Now that the lockout is over, a mad dash of free agency is still ongoing and it's producing some interesting surprises:

Donovan McNabb is going to Minnesota.

Ochocino and Albert Haynesworth are going to the Patriots.

Vince Young got dumped by the Titans and is going to Philly to back up Michael Vick.

And please, God, let this be a twisted fragment of Rick Reilly's imagination.

Klinsmann To Coach

I like this move- after a stinging loss to Mexico when the US Men's Team blew a 2-0 lead in the Gold Cup Final last month the US Soccer Federation decided first to fire Bob Bradley- after giving him a contract extension and then they brought in Jurgen Klinsmann as his replacement.

I'll say it again: I like this move. I think Bradley took the US Men's Team about as far as he could go with it, but who better than Klinsmann, a guy who's won World Cups, to help the US learn how to finish out games and win? This is a smart move. Let's hope it pays off in 2014!

1,000

This marks my 1,000th post on this current incarnation of my blogging adventures. There have been others- regrettable short-lived ones that I never really stuck with, but this one I did stick with and I'm glad I did. Looking back over old posts, I'd like to think that I can see a development in the quality of writing that's evolved over the past couple of years and I'm hoping that the few people out there that read this on a regular basis will continue to do so- and tell their friends about it! (Because I too, want to have a giveaway should I get to 100 followers.)

But I poked back through the archive and found some stats:

Began: 2/1/09
Obituaries: 17
Movie/TV Reviews: 21
Album Reviews: 44
Book Reviews: 26
Facebook Notes: 58

There have also been a number of 'features' that I played with and ultimately abandoned for various reasons:

New Job Chronicles: my quest for a new job upon our move down to Iowa City. Obviously discontinued, since I found one.

Wild Whiskey Wednesdays #1: this was a distance cousin of my original whiskey review feature 'Hooch, Man' It was abadoned due to a lack of whiskey and I think will become, once again, 'Hooch, Man'

Big Night Out: Was going to chronicle/review various bars and restaurants the Missus and I happened to visit. Hopefully I can do more of these.

Guilty Pleasure Wednesdays: are just what they sound like. Yet I only did one of them... hmmm... Maybe they'll come back too.

Television You Should Be Watching: merged with my movie reviews... (technically now movie/TV reviews)

Dispatches from Studio Arts: brief chronicle of the late shift out at Studio Arts- now retired, since I moved up to Dispatch.

Required Reading: an odd little feature. I might play with it again.

As you can see, the first 1,000 posts here at The Cigar contained a lot of experimentation that didn't go anywhere as I was trying to find something of a voice- I think I'm gotten more of an idea of my 'voice' so to speak, but I think there's still work to do. I love music, movies, TV and books, so expect to see more reviews of those- and as a political science major, I keep an eye on international and national events, so expect commentary on those as well. I think I've done a better job and injecting more local news into The Cigar, but I think an interview here or there could really help build readership.

If I do have a goal for the next 1,000 posts it's to build more of a local presence and get some regular readership built up- I also want to get my camera back up and running so you guys see more photos on the blog and maybe even play with vid-blogging now and again. I think 1,000 posts from now, I'll be able to look back and see even more development as I strive to make this blog as relevant and enjoyable as possible for everyone who reads it.

thanks for the support, these past 1,000 posts.
Tom

Not Good, Part II

The Cedar Rapids Police Department is just not having a good summer. Now a longtime veteran officer has been arrested for theft of 2 dogs.

And the Keokuk County Sheriff has been arrested for OWI. (Washington County is going to be handling the investigation to avoid any conflict of interest.)

Atheists Sue...

...over WTC 'cross.'

Sigh. I'm perfectly willing to respect the right of any individual not to believe in God- or to believe in God or many Gods or Mother Earth or whatever works for you, but (and I'm sorry about this) Atheists can just get so tiresome after awhile.

Why, why, why, do you have to sue over every little tiny mention of God? Isn't there room for everybody to just get along? If they want a plaque or an atheist symbol of some kind, I'm totally cool with that, but in this case, I don't think they've got a leg to stand on.

It'd be different of someone had physically made this 'cross' out of the wreckage of the WTC. But they didn't. The fact of the matter is that this was a fused steel beam that just happened to be in the shape of a religious symbol. And in the aftermath of September 11th, when people I'm sure we're looking to find some meaning or comfort, the sight of a recognized religious symbol being pulled from the wreckage probably proved to be quite comforting to a lot of people. If someone had made it, I'd probably be down with the Atheists and their lawsuit- but since it was just a random piece of wreckage it can be interpreted as such by non-believers and interpreted as something else by believers.

Why then do these atheists buy into the symbology of the religion they seem to despite? Why not just insist that's it's a piece of the WTC?

Sigh...

Really, I think we should just have a National Atheist Day and be done with it. I don't think they'd be quite so litigious if they had their own holiday.

Not Good

Rebel Commander Abdel Fattah Yunis has been killed in somewhat shady circumstances following a hearing before a judicial committee in Benghazi investigating his possible continued links to weapons smuggling to the Gadaffi regime.

This is not good. Not good at all- I've got my fingers crossed that the NTC can get through this and keep going, but Yunis was the highest profile professional soldier they had and with his absence, there's a real chance that what little momentum they had could vanish completely.

Really hoping they can get through this- these guys have been fighting hard and if they hang together, I think they're a month, maybe 2 away from wrapping this thing up and taking Tripoli. But only if they can hang together...

Albums2010 #44: Legalize It

The first time I heard Peter Tosh, I liked him. After all, the first song I heard was the title track from this album- and since it called for the legalization of marijuana (Dear Washington, if you want to fix our debt problem, how about ending the titanic money pit that is the War on Drugs? Just a thought) I figured I should probably do some more listening and see what he's about.

(Just as a quick sidenote: I recently hopped onboard Spotify to see what it was all about and was very impressed. No idea what the pay packages are like, but free access to 15 million songs? Including this album? Pretty damn cool, if you ask me...)


Anyway, Tosh along with Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley initially formed the nucleus of what would become Bob Marley and the Wailers which lasted until 1974, when Tosh struck out on his own, releasing this album (his solo debut) two years later in 1976. He provides an interesting contrast to Marley in that he seems (at this point) to have a more cynical, political hard edge to him that Marley lacks which makes me want to explore more of his music.

But, I think listening to this album, you can slot him up there right next to Marley in terms of talent- and one of the highlights of the album is, in fact, his collaboration with Marley himself on the beautiful track 'Why Must I Cry.' In fact you can say that this album is a perfect showcase for a reggae master's talent- starting with the profoundly political 'Legalize It' (what else do you think it could be about?) and going through such catchy tunes as 'Ketchy Shuby', 'No Sympathy' and 'Burial.'

Discovering Peter Tosh was a pleasant surprise. I've always enjoyed reggae- but haven't really stepped much beyond Marley until recently, dipping my toes into little pieces of Toots and the Maytals and Jimmy Cliff, but Tosh seems to the harder, more cynical ying to Bob Marley's uplifting, one love yang. It's an interesting and masterful contrast that I'm eager to explore more of.

Overall: **** out of 4- This is a reggae master just getting started- put him right up there with Marley on your shelf and if there's such a thing as a 'must buy' this would be it. Can't wait to listen to Equal Rights.

Stating The Obvious

The headline read: Attorney: Landlords in Iowa City take advantage of renters.

The article, kids, wasn't much better. At issue is a proposed class-action law suit against local property management company Apartments Downtown alleging that they had been forcing tenants to sign 'illegal leases' which forced automatic cleaning upon move out and made tenants liable for damage in common areas. It wouldn't surprise me all that much if the allegations did, in fact, turn out to be true, but come on now. It's Iowa City. A college town. Of course landlords will be taking advantage of tenants! It's what they do- and in Iowa City, which seems hell-bent on immolation these days as Coralville and North Liberty open their doors as wide as possible to business and commercial development that Iowa City apparently wants no part of, needs the cash.

Slum-lording is big money here in Iowa City. It's a fact of life, so get used to it. (And I don't think he's going to get his class action law suit. Not in this county- the local ex-hippy greybeards may not like cops, but they like whiny college kids even less.)

Albums2010 #43: Dusty In Memphis

If Adele, Joss Stone, Duffy and Amy Winehouse had a 'musical' grandmother, so to speak, it'd be Dusty Springfield. Most people of my generation probably remember 'Son of a Preacher Man' from Pulp Fiction- which did spark something of a renewed interest in her music in the mid-90s, but if you go back a bit further, you find that there's more than just one sixties pop song on offer.

And with her iconic album, Dusty In Memphis, you get a taste of the real range of this remarkable talent. There's an interesting blend of what I would consider very '60's' music- the sort of big orchestral sounds that bring to mind Burt Bacharach and Phil Spector (which makes sense, since she recored 'I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself' which Bacharach in 1964) and more straight up soul-blues type of a sound (typified by 'Son Of A Preacher Man' and 'That Old Sweet Roll') It seems sort of crazy and might sound a little dated at first, but the fact is that her voice is just amazing- one of those iconic voices that's smooth as butter and appropriately if you couldn't describe it as 'dusky' or 'smoky' you could probably get away with describing it as 'dusty.'

Her voice alone makes this album worth a listen- but if you love the Swingin' 60s and all the music contained therein, then this becomes something of a must have. Little stabs of memory jump out all over the place- Springfield's version of 'The Windmills Of Your Mind' (versions of which were used in 1968's The Thomas Crown Affair and the 1999 remake with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo) shows up- and I know I've heard 'Make It With You' in some old movie. And Springfield's recorded her versions of the 60s classic as 'Wishin' and Hopin'' and 'I Only Want To Be With You' and with her platinum blonde hair and beehive hairdo, she is a musical icon of that decade- a one eminently worth of the title.

And if that isn't enough for you, then let me add this little bit of trivia- it was none other than Dusty Springfield, while recording this album, who made a phone call to her record company recommending they sign this up and coming band called Led Zeppelin. Not having actually heard the band and largely on her recommendation, they did so- and the rest, as they say, is history. (Plus, as an added bonus- both Randy Newman- though I don't know if I'd consider that a bonus- and Carole King- a sure fire bonus both worked on writing songs for this album.)

Overall: **** out of 4 Blues, Soul and 60s Perfection- a smoky, sultry voice and mind-blowing talent holds it all together. If you want to kick it old school now and again, Dusty Springfield will never let you down.

Albums2010 #42: Back To Black

I can't remember what I thought when I first came across Amy Winehouse. She seemed like a breath of fresh air and yet oddly, she wasn't. The beehive hairdo, the retro soul sound- it was like something straight out of Motown and the 1960s and at the time, it was a perfect throwback to an earlier sound. It helped, of course that her voice was one of a kind and she was dripping in talent- all of which was on fine display in her breakout album, 2006's Back To Black.

Where to begin? The now somewhat melancholy first single, 'Rehab' was a monster hit- and quickly was followed up by 'You Know I'm No Good', 'Back To Black', 'Tears Dry On Their Own', 'Love Is A Losing Game' and 'Just Friends.' There's honestly not a 'dud' to be found in any of the released singles from the album- though to me, 'Tears Dry On Their Own' was one that stood out right away. It samples from Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 1967 classic 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' but instead of an uplifting song, it sort of inverts itself and instead carries a lot of melancholy about the end of a relationship.

'Me and Mr. Jones' is another favorite of mine off this album- it's just pure smooth soul goodness wrapped up in perfection... listening to this album all over again in the wake Winehouse's passing only makes her death even more melancholy. This was a rare musical talent who fell prey to the excesses of fame before she could really show the world just what she was capable of.

This album is a lot like a long cool drink of beer and a cigarette at the end of a long night- in the right circumstances, there's just nothing better out there.

Overall: **** out of 4- a gem of an album from an amazing musical talent that died far too young. Tragic, melancholy, dark and smokey beauty at it's finest.

We Don't Need Roads...

There's still time Back To The Future fans... 2015 is still a wee bit off yet. And there's this to ponder as well. (Gracias a Instapundit, as always.)

What About Vietnam?

An intriguing question caught my eye: Did Captain America really sleep through Vietnam? In the comics, he didn't- he woke up in 1964 and had to struggle with the tumult of the times, eventually dropping the shield and becoming Nomad for awhile, but for the purposes of the modern movie franchise, he apparently did.

And tentatively, I think I'm OK with that. Marvel picked the right director for Captain America this time around and the movie was excellent- I just hope that if the start digging into our current protracted war in later movies, they exercise some thought- thoughtful discussions of modern-day America would be nice. I think Marvel can pull of a kick-ass Cap sequel and mine some of the same territory.

Seriously?

People have way too much time on their hands.

P.S. Thanks for destroying my childhood! I mean, of course there are going to be imperialist undertones- when these books were originally written, the British Empire was still alive and kicking. I think it's a little sad that someone has taken the time to do a detailed, rigorous analysis of a flippin' fictional island and a bunch of talking train. This not only reveals one of the many problems with academia today, but it also reveals that there's a certain amount of bias aimed at eliminating worldviews that academia doesn't like. So, for your kids, the hippie, solar panel loving, pro-environmental Bob The Builder is OK. But Thomas the Colonialist Tank Engine is evidence of the racist and sexist past we're trying to escape.

What about Beatrix Potter? Or Harry Potter for that matter? Or The Hunger Games? Why not pick every piece of literature out there apart and replace it with carefully crafted politically correct bullshit?

In the meantime, I know damn well what I'm reading my kids to bed EVERY STINKIN' NIGHT! Choo to choo, bitches. All aboard!

Head On Over...

to my friend Jade's blog at Chasing Empty Pavements- she's having a super cool giveaway!

Somebody Is Always Watching

Just as a note: this is a rarity for me. My job requires a certain amount of discretion that precludes me from blogging about it, so to be safe, I usually make it a policy to steer clear of law enforcement-dispatch related topics, just to be safe. But this was unusual enough, I felt it was worth the write-up.

My Dad mentioned this incident to me a couple of days ago- and surprise, surprise, the Great Guru Instapundit is also on the case, so I followed his link to actually get some footage of this and found it to be frankly, a little dubious.

What's the hubub? Well in Ohio, if you have a Concealed Carry Permit, you're supposed to verbally inform any police officer you encounter- such as, for example on a traffic stop as we see in this case. The problem this gentlemen encountered was that the officer in question didn't let him get a word in edgewise (as well as, I'm sorry, acting like a giant tool pretty much most of the time.)

That said, it's important to note that along with domestics, traffic stops are amongst the most potentially dangerous things that cops do. They're trained to know that and they're trained to pay attention and stay alert while they're doing them. Throw in the fact that these guys were working very late at night in a very bad part of town and they were probably even more on edge. That doesn't excuse the behavior in any way shape or form, if this stuff is on the level- but a few things jumped out at me.

First of all, they leave the driver in the car while they search it. This made me do a double take right off the bat. I'm not a cop but if you work around them long enough, you pick up on how things are supposed to work and leaving that guy in the car struck me as a major no-no and a huge officer safety issue. (Part of the reason I think this particular cop loses his shit when he realizes the guy has a CCW and they had just searched the car with an armed subject inches away from their heads.)

Second of all, I want to hear the audio recordings of this call, but something funky was going on in Dispatch. First of all, it takes them 11 minutes to let the officers know that the registered owner of the vehicle has a concealed carry permit. Yet curiously they can't get the guy back when they run him? Hmmm... that makes no sense to me. If the driver is the RO of the car and they ran him and found a CCW permit on file- then why can't they get the name he gives the officer back? There's a discrepancy there that's worth exploring. Never mind the fact it takes them 11 minutes to let them know he's got a permit to carry- usually things like that pop right away at you (at least they do on our system) and it's an officer safety issue all over again. I'm not going to speak to the policies of that particular agency, but I know if I find information like that, I let the officer know right away. It's an officer safety issue.

I'm not going to go right out and say this is a crock of shit that somebody made up- as it appears the officer in question for Canton PD was suspended from all duties because of it, but there's something not quite right about this video. It seems a little too good to be true (an opinion shared by the one of the LTs I mentioned this too who had seen it)- and I don't care if you're the crappiest cop on God's green earth. Barney Fife wouldn't have left that driver in the car if he had to search the vehicle.

Even if the video seems a little dodgy, it's still a good point. Notification laws are silly- if they must do it, they should have something on the DL or another card that just gets handed to the officer right away, right off the bat without the mandate for any verbalization. As this video demonstrates, there's a real safety issue that has to be considered- for both gun users and police officers. (And as Instapundit notes- it's a good lesson for police officers and one they should already know: 'Do the job like your grandmother is watching.')