Everyone knew ‘Oliver’s Army’, though. That earworm of a chorus and those ‘Dancing Queen’ fills. It’s a song that bears close listening as well, with the odd uncomfortable lyric and a whole heap of didactic about our mercenary, careless, imperial doings. Elvis has never been one to let you off lightly – I know now – but lately he’s only demonstrated this with unappealing music. And that old sneer’s a shock to hear on the new Jenny Lewis album.

The tumbling tune is an instant hit with Junior, who enjoys some prominent ivory-tinkling. I mime a bit of piano and confidently tell her, “That’s Steve Nieve.” She’s quick to fire back, “Who’s playing guitar?” Junior’s mum laughs. She’s got me. “Er… – oh, it’s Elvis Costello.” Phew.

Spike was the quietest of the 3 cats we had growing up and, arguably, the best-looking.  He had piercing green eyes and rarely came up to people, so it was a treat when he let you pet him or jumped on your lap.   He was preceded in death by Kit, who was a year older.  

Surviving family members include Donna, Ryan, Jo, and Cari Rich (human),  Willie (feline), Desi, Lucy, Roxie, Fable, and Shelby (canine).

He will be missed.

[caption id="attachment_600" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Fat Cats: Kit & Spike"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_601" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Trying to escape from Roxie"][/caption]

Candidates Urge Networks to Free Up Debate Footage; letters from Obama and McCain camps want video debates available for sharing, blogging and re-posting. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Spike.com Premieres Playmate Show & Tell; new online series offers guys dating tips like "What Not to Do on a Date" and "How to Cook a Romantic Meal." (release)

Xbox Gets PBS Programming; gaming geeks will get full episodes of science programming like Wired Science and Scientific American Frontiers, as well as Ken Burns documentaries. (paidContent)

Jupiter: Bad Economy Will Hit Pay TV, Not Broadband; study finds one-third of people would cut back on movies, 12 percent would drop premium channels like HBO, but only 2 percent would cut off Internet service. (MediaPost)

SMPTE Forms Committee to Standardize Matering and Packaging Formats; Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers working on formats for content distributed over broadband, could enable delivery of content from any online source, and play it back on any device. (SMPTE)

Elecard Devices Gets $10 Million; Russian IPTV developer gets convertible loan from Slaviansky Bank. (Quintura Blog)

I.TV Brings OldTeeVee Listings to the iPhone; free app lists television content in your area, lets you write and share reviews on your phone and adds calendar listings for shows you want to watch. (jkOntheRun)

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See it for yourself!

Major spike yo!

So I now have over 8,400 views on my blog :)

So keep reading! And thank you to lindsay and how much publicity that her name as a tag brings to my blog!

Buffy Cazavampiros Octava Temporada (Volumen 2): No tienes futuro

Segunda entrega de las nuevas aventuras de la cazavampiros y demás personajes adyacentes. Esta vez el protagonismo recae sobre Faith, la cazadora "mala" que viaja a Inglaterra para liquidar a una cazadora "peor". El tebeo conserva intacto el espíritu de la serie, veremos lo que da de si a medida que se vayan acercando al apocalipsis de turno.

Spike: Muñecos siniestros

El vampiro Spike,  eterno segundón del Buffyverso, continúa sus aventuras en esta serie limitada de cuatro números que rescata la idea de uno de los mejores episodios de Angel: Smile Time, que trataba de unos teleñecos asesinos que convertían en personaje de trapo al propio Angel.

En esta miniserie, recopilada al completo en este tomo, Spike y Lorne (el demonio cantante de Angel), viajan a Japón en busca de estos malvados muñecos que planean hacerse con la energía vital de todos los niños a través de su propio programa de TV. El tebeo está lleno de guiños y referencias al universo de Buffy, si no las pillas al final del libro te las explican todas.

Angel: Tras la caida (Volumen 1)

En esta nueva colección se relatan las aventuras de la pandilla de Angel, el ex-novio de Buffy, en Los Angeles. Partiendo del final de la quinta temporada de esta infravaloradísima serie, nos encontramos con un panorama desolador. Si Sunnydale era la boca del infierno, Los Angeles se ha convertido literalmente en el infierno. El fuego, las ruinas y los demonios forman parte d ela nueva decoración de la ciudad. Este no lo he leído todavía, pero tiene muy buena pinta.

Viernes 13 (Volumen 2)

Este segundo tomo recopila tres miniseries diferentes de la famosa saga de terror.

La historia de Pamela es la mejor de las tres, toma como punto de partida un momento concreto de Viernes 13 parte 1 (la peli), en el que vemos como Annie, la cocinera de Crystal Lake hace autostop para poder llegar al campamento. En la película no podemos ver quién conduce el coche que la recoge, pero en este tebeo sí. Es Pamela Vorhees, que en el trayecto cuenta a la muchacha lo dura que fue su vida hasta que se le hinchó el coño y se volvió una asesina loca.

Las otras dos historias están regular. Una va de un niño deforme que está en el campamento y se hace amigo de Jason, y la tercera sitúa varios crímenes (separados por un siglo en el tiempo) en un Crystal Lake nevado.

Legion de Monstruos

Marvel recupera algunos de los míticos personajes de terror que con tanta maña publicó en los 70. La Momia, Morbius, el Hombre Lobo, Satana, Drácula, y Man Thing son algunos de los monstruos elegidos. Ocho historias cortitas para leer en el metro.

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This is one of Michelle Maddox/Rowen's cats, Spike, lying on one of his human's manuscripts and looking totally pleased with himself. But still nowhere near as happy as the turtle with a strawberry. I have no idea where Jennifer Armintrout found that photo, but it does make you realise that compared to that turtle, we are all miserable.

Italians claim Spike Lee’s new movie is full of lies about Italians and WWII.  Spike told the Italians to pound sand, saying there's “a lot about your history you have yet to come to grips with." (Yeah, yeah . . . remember that whole Caesar thang too!)  Does Spike have something against Italians? 

Not long ago, Spike told Clint Eastwood to pound sand after Eastwood objected to Spike claiming Eastwood misrepresented Blacks in his WWII movies.  As far as Spike is concerned, anyone who contradicts his grip on history is a racist.  

Shall we fight WWII all over again, perhaps the Civil War?

In economic news, Newt Gingrich suggested a different approach to the financial crisis, an alternative to raping the taxpayers, as proposed.  He suggests cutting capital gains taxes, plus a non-legislative approach, ending "mark-to-market accounting." Gingrich says that last bit will instantly flow hundreds of billions of dollars into the parched credit landscape.

The liberals appear to hate the idea. Conservatives seem to like Gingrich's remedy.   Consequently, forget it.   It’s a partisan thing.  (Liberals also hated the idea three years ago brought by McCain to fix Fannie/Freddie.  Too bad Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were too busy feeding at the trough to clean up those Democrat Houses of Corruption, the genesis of the mortgage, housing, and credit crises.)

On to Hollywood, known for systemic intellectual prowess: This week, Demi Moore and her boy toy Ashton Kutcher (someone’s in the kitchen with Kutcher) stopped by to tell a bunch of Iowa college students they should vote for Obama, and the students said, thanks for coming, we already planned on doing that, can we have an autograph and a no-interest college loan?  Demi said sure, after each of you register 1,000 new Dem voters, and hand out these free condoms, reminding students, “We’re only trying to protect the voters.”

Kutcher said McCain is insane, offering an original thought: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." 

Demi said Republicans are arrogant.  Arrogant.  Arrogant.  Arrogant!

Ashton screamed, “Nobody has any money because of the war in Iraq.”  Then, Ashton and Demi flew their private jet to another Iowa college, expecting different results.

Lawmaker News: When the House voted down the $700B bailout, Barney Frank, the Lisping Leopard of the House, blamed unethical/immoral Republicans. They instantly thanked him for promoting them in the voters’ eyes. You remember Barney, the gay congressman who admitted he paid gay prostitute/pimp Stephen Gobie for sex while Stephen was running a gay prostitution service out of Barney’s Capitol Hill apartment? Was that a taxpayer-funded social program?  Yes, and today, Barney, now a homosexual dinosaur, lectures us about immorality. 

Barney, one of the architects of the Fannie/Freddie screw up, still has the arrogance and shamelessness required to go before the cameras without conscience, demonizing good people.

In more fiscal news: Monday, the market dropped like Barney Frank’s pants, and then it was up! One report says the economy is growing, consumer confidence is up, and oil prices are dropping, like Congressional approval ratings. What the . . . ?      Buy bonds!

Two days ago, Speaker Pelosi had the opportunity of a lifetime to make progressive history speaking to the nation from the floor of the House, urging passage of the bailout.  Instead, she used the pulpit to vilify the President, Republicans, and Wall Street. She then went on to glorify Barney Frank and other Dem conspirators.  Consequently, Pyromaniac Pelosi saw the bill go down in flames. Afterwards, she denied she threw a Molotov Cocktail, immediately invoking the Ashton Maxim, blaming the President, Republicans, and Wall Street, expecting different results. 

(Of course, now, Napalm Nancy is working to raise taxes on Main Street.  That’ll teach those bone heads in fly over country!)

Neil Cavuto seems to like the idea of no bailouts: it's time for us to bite the bullet and right the financial ship.   Former GE CEO Jack Welsh thinks we need the bailout or we will eat it big time.   If the House vote reflects the will of the people, Cavuto is the populist. Perhaps Main Street is smarter than Wall Street.

In entertainment news:  Woody Allen says it will be "an embarrassment, humiliating," if we fail to elect Obama. 

Woody is familiar with embarrassing humiliation.  This is the same guy whose moral compass led him to have an affair with the adopted daughter of his lover Mia Farrow.  Allen's woody was discovered when Mia found nude photos of her daughter in Woody's apartment.   Woody later married the girl, in Italy. The entire saga is the subject of Spike Lee's next Italian movie, said to star Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher in role reversals for dramatic effect. Because of the war in Iraq, they are strapped for cash and living with Ashton's mom in Iowa in a house financed by Freddie Mac.

On the foreign policy front: international war horse Joe Biden says his helicopter was "forced down" when he visited Afghanistan, and, when he was in Iraq in 2005, in the Green Zone, shaving, he was "shot at."  Turns out the helicopter was "forced down" by bad weather, not those nasty terrorists. In the Green Zone, while he and another senator were shaving, "the building shook." 

The other senator later admitted it was gas, you know, morning gas, all that spicy Iraqi food the night before, really gets to a guy!  Biden thought it was a mortar. 

Biden on the hunt for Osama bin Laden---"If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me," Biden bragged to the National Guard Association. "Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are."

Joe knows where Osama is but he won't lift a finger to get him so Obama can kill him!?   Come on Joe!  To the gates of hell!  (And to the pages of history where Roosevelt is on TV in 1929 telling everyone not to fear the Crash, but to fear only fear! Trouble is: Hoover was President in 1929 and television did not exist at that time.)

In other politically correct news: Dan Pfeiffer, Obama's communications director, says Biden is a "huge ass-et." Huge.  Let Biden be Biden!  (I voted against the Gulf War, before I voted for the Iraq War, then I read the polls and immediately opposed the Iraq War, and voted against the Surge, and now I want immediate with drawl because McCain is wrong about everything!)   This is the Sen. Biden who recommended we simply partition Iraq.  One wonders how Biden would react if Maliki proposed partitioning the United States.  I guess Joe forgot Iraq belongs to the Iraqis.

Obama says he is glad he selected Biden. 

Biden is honored Obama selected him. 

The wedding is January 20, invitation only, Jeremiah Wright officiating, asking: “Do you take this bribe.”

Spike is the videographer.  Woody will blow horn. Ashton is best man, expecting different results.  Demi is humbled by the sacred experience.  Soros is catering.  Barney Frank is THE bride’s maid. Pelosi will sing, “Come On Baby Light My Fire.”  Pfeiffer is the ring bearer. And Mia Farrow will cut the cake (she’ got a knife!), a cake baked by Oprah (beware the leaven), while John Edwards recites vows. 

Molotov Cocktails will be served by paid interns with Public Allies, MoveOn dot orgasm, ACORN and the LGBT Alliance. 

Hillary expects to catch the bouquet. 

Bill will help himself to the interns. 

And, Chris Dodd, as always, will be in charge of the gifts, while the poor eat cake. 

When Orange County deputies received a report of a man 'charging cars with a hammer', it turned out to be some dude with a squeegee.

Cmdr. Spike Hopkins said deputies found a wrench in the man's vehicle and determined the suspect could cause someone harm.  "The bizarre behavior was indicative of someone who was overdosing," Hopkins said.

Reports show the deputies tried to calm the man, but it didn't work. He was Tasered twice and then arrested.

Commander "Spike?" 

When you only have the police report, you never have the entire story.  Let's wait and see if the man was really overdosing.  Hide your wrenches.

UPDATE:

Kissimmee resident Jose Anibal Amaro, the suspect in the story, died at Florida Hospital this morning.  Further reports claim he was 'foaming at the mouth' had 'ingested cocaine,' and took three taser shots, some of which did not affect him.

"Is this a troubling thing to have happen in the middle of the ongoing investigation?" WFTV reporter Kathi Belich asked Jim Solomons, Orange County Sheriff's Office.

"I think troubling is inappropriate. You don't go out at night intending to take a life. It's unfortunate when it happens," he said.

But now Lee finds himself defending the historical accuracy of his own World War II movie, Miracle at St. Anna, and this time he is up against real-life fighters who may be even tougher than Dirty Harry. Surviving members of Italy's underground anti-Nazi resistance movement are angry over the film, a fictionalized account of the travails of the 92nd Infantry Division -- the black GIs known as Buffalo Soldiers -- as they helped to liberate Italy. The film includes a portrayal of the Nazis' infamous 1944 slaughter of some 560 Italian civilians in the Tuscan town of Sant'Anna di Stazzema.

In Lee's version, that massacre is set off as a response to the action of the Italian resistance fighters and depicts one partisan betraying the town in a secret meeting with the Nazis.

But in a 2005 ruling an Italian military tribunal determined that the massacre was a premeditated plan by the Germans, and was in no way provoked by the partisans. Moreno Costa, 82, who fought alongside the African-American unit, was among the former resistance fighters who waged that legal battle, and he met Lee last year before filming began. "He talked about commemorating the Buffalo troops, but he didn't say anything about this betrayal," said Costa, reached by phone in his home town of Pietrasanta, some 6 miles from St. Anna. "We are indignant about this. I don't understand why he had to open all this up again."

Giovanni Cipollini, who heads Pietrasanta's local pro-resistance association, said he had offered to put Lee in touch with partisans who were present, but that the director refused. "This is very delicate," he says. "When a famous director makes a major movie about a chapter in history, people will believe that his version is the truth." Cipollini led a group distributing flyers of protest at Wednesday's screening in Viareggio near the setting of the film.

Lee has said he wanted to make this film, based on a novel by James McBride, to give long-overdue attention to the role of African-American soldiers in World War II. While at work on it, Lee took a swipe at Eastwood over the absence of black soldiers in his historical epics Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. The Californian director fired back: "A guy like that should shut his face," to which Lee replied: "The man is not my father, and we're not on a plantation either."

Characteristically, Lee has not backed down on the European front either. In a press conference after Monday's screening of his film in Rome, his response to the hurt feelings of the Italian resistance was firm. "I am not apologizing for anything," he said. "I think these questions are evidence that there is still a lot about your history during the war that you (Italians) have got to come to grips with." He was also quoted in the Italian press as saying there were plenty of cases of Resistance fighters fleeing from combat.

Costa, who was 18 years old when he fought in 1944 in the battles around St. Anna, says he will not see the film, especially in light of Lee's reply to the historical questions. "Spike Lee can make whatever film he wants," he says. "I don't know why he wanted to insert that [betrayal] scene. Now he doesn't want to apologize, and attacks us? He could have just kept quiet."

For his part, McBride, who also wrote the screenplay, took a very more conciliatory approach at Monday's press conference. "I am very sorry if I have offended the partisans. I have enormous respect for them," he said. "As a black American, we understand what it's like for someone to tell your history, and they are not you. But unfortunately, the history of World War II here in Italy is ours as well, and this was the best I could do." In the words of the screenwriter and the director, one can see the difference between a peacemaker and a warrior.

Source: TIME

Though patience should be the word of the day, as I have to wait for another month tobuy my copy of madame Hoo's new album and the books I've been craving for... the teeney weeney pay i got from my last job wouldn't have made me that misarable  if the boss and the accountant hadn't given me those awful wide, fake grins. now, were they, really, that embarrased to give me so little in the end?

I'm not depressed anymore, I'm enjoying reading Spander fluff- gay romance fan fiction written by Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans and built around Spike and Xander. during the actual TV series these two have never got to be event friends, not to mention lovers, but who cares? Fan fiction rocks!

If you're curious and want to read some yourself, try here and here. Oh, you know you want to.

The world of mixed martial arts, a new sport on my beat, has a couple of slight overlaps with the world of pro wrestling. A handful of prominent guys, particularly Ken Shamrock and Brock Lesnar, have moved from one to the other.

So I decided to peek at TNA IMPACT! on Spike.

After a couple of five-minute check-ins, I've noticed something curious. They don't really bother with actual "wrestling matches" any more. I've seen a bunch of people wandering around various spots in the arena getting ticked off and slapping each other. The ring is very much on the periphery.

It's kind of like watching Sports Night. If you're expecting to see 30 minutes of a fake SportsCenter, you won't. It's related to a fake SportsCenter, but there's a lot more going on.

Put another way -- this wrestling show has as much wrestling as MTV has music videos.

Which, in this case, is a mild improvement.

Miracle at St. Anna

Choke

Eagle Eye