Jeff Ellis: It's Impossible To Start A Fire If You Have No Desire To Burn

John Hughes, R.I.P.

Screenwriter and directed John Hughes died today.  He was 59 years old.

How much did Hughes shape my generation's self-image?

So much so that we all remember our high school in being in Shermer, Illinois.

John Hughes, R.I.P.

At Work

Apparently, while I was on vacation last week, everything at my job fell apart.  I returned to complete and total chaos.

It is exhausting.

Still, it does serve to remind me why my "day job" will always be my job and never my career.

Ennui Thoughts

Blogging is a lot like playing golf and nothing like riding a bike.  You don't want to get out of practice because you will forget how to do it properly.

I'm afraid to say that the month of August, so far, has been devoid of passion for me.  Not even the Obama Health Care Plan can destroy this lethargic ennui.  Sure, I could sit here and write about how it will ultimately do more harm than good.  I could explain why socialism, ultimately, does not work.  I could talk about the elitist foolishness that currently passes for policy among those in the American Left.

But another part of me says, "Why bother?"  The American people, ultimately, will not swayed by reality.  The American people will only be swayed by fantasy.  Right now, they have a fantasy of Barack Obama leading them, like sheep, through the Pearly Gates.

Still, Obama's approval rating has declined.  Occasionally, you hear people openly criticizing him.  Sometimes, even Katie Couric seems to be struggling to figure out how to present a positive spin on the Obama administration.

I will continue to blog.  I will continue to offer my insignificant voice to the times that we live in.  I will do so though I know it will do no good.  I do so because we all have to do something.

We have to do something.

Leftist Quote of The Day

'There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.' - Howard Zinn

Hopefully, the federal government understand that this is as true on native soil as it is in a foreign land.

There's that giant sucking sound...

Is the government's much-vaunted "Cash for Clunkers" program already broke?

Apparently so.

One almost gets the feeling that this is one of the reasons why nothing like this has ever been attempted in the past.

Dan Rather Tries Out Uncle Walter's Shoes

With the recent passing of Walter Cronkite, it would appear that the role of Bitter-Old-Doom-Sayer has been passed on to Dan Rather.

The main duty of this role is to continually insist that 1) America is only as great as the mainstream media, 2) that the media has lost its way now that it's being run by a bunch of snot-nosed brats in their early (as opposed to late) 60s), 3) that the current state of CBS News is the number one issue facing this country, and, most importantly, 4) that there is no other legitimate source of information out there beyond the networks and the newspapers.

Admittedly, Rather was already doing this before Cronkite's passing.  However, now that Dan Rather has the stage to himself, one can expect him to take these efforts to the usual Rather extreme.

Case in point: at the Aspen Institute, Rather recently called on the federal government to "save journalism."  Apparently, Rather wants the Obama administration to establish "a White House commission on public media" which will somehow free the mainstream media from the demands of financial institutions and political interest groups.

Perhaps Rather is hoping that the federal government will bail-out the American journalism establishment.

Speaking for myself, just the idea would seem to be a massive violation of freedom of the press.  If, as both Cronkite and now Rather were fond of claiming, the proper role of the press is to be critical of the government (and they're both right as far as that is concerned), then it also seems like the last thing any true journalist would want would be for that same government to involve itself in how the mainstream media works,

Does Rather seriously believe that the federal government would step in and "save" journalism without expecting anything in return?

Does Rather seriously believe that this is the best way to maintain an "independent" press?

Is he truly the naive?

Probably.

(500) Days of Summer

I finally left the house today and went down to the Plano Angelika where I saw (500) Days of Summer, a surprisingly poignant romantic comedy.

While the film's story is rather familiar -- boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to figure out why -- the story is told with a lot of very real charm.  As the boy and girl in question, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel have a very real chemistry and Gordon-Levitt continues to show that he is one of the most underrated young actors working today.  In the films like last year's fiasco The Happening, I found Deschanel to be something of an acquired taste but she is perfectly cast in this film.  As an actress, Deschanel is blessed with the ability to remind us all of our first real love and that ability is shown off perfectly in this film.

At times, (500) Days comes dangerously close to getting a bit too cute for its own good.  One extended musical fantasy sequence threatens to destroy the movie's credibility but it is saved by the pure exuberance that Gordon-Levitt puts into his dance moves.  He makes us believe that his character would not only have this fantasy but actually makes us regret the realization that we wouldn't. 

Despite a few missteps (mostly early on when the film still seems to be struggling to establish a consistent tone), director Marc Webber makes a remarkably assured film debut with (500) Days.  He even manages to successfully make use of an off-screen narrator (which has proven to be the kiss of death for so many other indie film debuts).  On the basis of (500) Days of Summer, one cannot help but look forward to seeing what Webber give us in the future.

So Far, My Vacation Is Not Living Up To Its Potential

So far, my vacation from my "day job" has proven to be a bit of a bust.  I've been too tired to do much of anything and I haven't had my usual daily routine to give me any motivation to actually get out of bed.  As much as I hate that routine, it apparently does serve a purpose.

I did watch Lost Highway tonight.  That film remains as brilliant and annoying today as when I first saw it way back in 1996.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a more active day.

Why Does The Left Produce So Many Mass Murderers?

I just read a blog post concerning a question that I myself have given some thought to as of late:

Why does the Left produce so many mass murderers?

The author pretty much hits the nail on the head in both his explanation of why Adolf Hitler was, regardless of the conventional wisdom, a man of the left and why socialism and personal liberty cannot share the same oxygen.

I would add one thing to the author's analysis and that is this.  The Left produces so many mass murderers because the crimes of the Left are always justified as being done in the name of "the people."  Anything can be justified as long as you say you're doing it for the "greater" good. 

The Left gets away with it because no one wants to be the one to admit that the wise man is a selfish man and that self-interest has been the most constructive driving force in human history.

Commitments

I've been running behind on my blogging as of late.  I think a lot of it has to do with work commitments and a lot of it has to do with my own current state of ennui.

However, I've made a commitment to myself (right here, right now as the song goes) to get back into things starting on Saturday.  That will be the 1st day of my vacation from my hated day job and it will be as good a time as any to try to figure out the new America and where I fit into it.