The Duggars

It's very easy to pick on the Duggars, especially Josh Duggar. I think I have a different perspective because unlike most people, I've never seen 19 KIDS AND COUNTING. I didn't know anything about the family until Josh was in the news when the story broke that as teenager he had molested his younger sisters. That's horrible enough of course but then the newspaper stories were full of creepy details. Like the fact that the parents tried to cover things up as much as they could and that all the family friends that they went to for help- churchy people just like them- are all now in jail for their own crimes against children.

And of course, when the scandal finally broke, Josh Duggar was employed as some kind of lobbyist for a religious group that is against gay marriage and abortion (his previous job: used car salesman).

When will it ever stop? Whenever people rail against homosexuality they always end up in a sex scandal of their own. Josh Duggar was embarrassed again this summer when everyone found out about his online adultery club. He posted an apology in which he admitted that he had developed a porn addiction (Mark my words: Josh Duggar's next scandal will involve gay sex).

And I love how his parents put out their own statement where they basically threw Josh to the lions.

Anyway, reading about the Duggars I saw a few creepy touches but this one really sticks out in my mind: the sisters were talking about women who dress "immodestly" and they said that the entire family had a routine...if the family was out in public and any of the sisters saw a woman nearby, or a woman approaching, who was dressed immodestly, the sisters were supposed to say the family's code word, "Nike", and when they heard it, Josh and the father were supposed to look down at their shoes so that they wouldn't become aroused. The sisters seemed to think it was a fun game and I guess the readers of the story are supposed to see it as funny or cute, but doesn't it sound like the creepiest thing ever. What kind of parents would make it their young daughters' job to help their father and brother avoid sights that will get the males aroused. Who even wants to think for one moment about their father being aroused.

Then again, I guess now The Nike Game seems desperately necessary knowing how dangerous Josh's arousal could be.

I've been thinking about the Internet...

You know how if you read a local news story online there's a comments section at the bottom page? Well, I can't stand reading the comments (though, a lot of the time I do). The reason I don't like reading the comments is because when you read that you're really seeing people at there worst. Like most of the Internet it's anonymous. And when people can hide behind a fake name they say exactly what they want, regardless of how they could hurt people.

For instance, maybe the article is some kind of accident. Some people will speculate on the cause, not thinking that friends and family of the victim will be reading the comments.

Then there are the comments that clearly come from the white men in their 30s who just bought their first houses and have one or two young children. These guys are the most judgemental people in the world. These posters do everything by the book and they can't understand why anyone would lead a life different from theirs.

A couple years ago I got rid of my Facebook, partly because I felt too old to have a page, but mostly because I didn't like what I saw. I don't mean on my friends' pages, just in general.

Wait. Wait. I'm not saying at all what I want to say and my point is lost. Let me get to it: people talk to, and about, people in a way that they would never do in real life. That's how the news comments sections are, it's how Facebook is becoming, and I don't want to do that here.

I've been thinking about the post I wrote last September about the concert reviews. Was I too hard on that kid? How would he feel if he Googled himself and he came across that post and he read it? And if he felt compelled to respond with a comment here, what would he say?

Well, I think I was fair and what I said was true. Of course when something is published in the paper it's fair game. And I think that my main point was that there was no improvement- I didn't notice the dates on each review; all I saw was that each review was just as bad as any other. They all had the same problems that he didn't notice and no editor pointed out to him.

So if he happened to see my post I would think he'd be embarrassed and upset. If he left a comment I could imagine him writing that I was right and that I made some good points. Then again, I always expect that everyone will take things the right way when I should've learned from experience: most people think that they're right all the time and anyone who points out their mistakes is an asshole. Most likely the guy would leave a comments that my complaints were petty and that I'm in no position to put down anyone else's writing. It's true: I'm writing a glass blog and I shouldn't throw stones. I just can't help it sometimes.

But there are some subjects that I want to write about over the next couple days and weeks and I've decided to write my posts as if the subjects themselves will someday read them. I hope that will keep me fair.

Matt Damon has had the best movie career

Matt Damon has made some really good movies- I'd say The Departed is the best- but the amazing thing is all the directors he's worked with. For comparison, first look at Ben Affleck. Affleck and Damon had similar starts: TV movies, jobs as extras; I think some of their early credits overlap.

In this post, I'm listing directors that are either great directors who have made some of the best movies and other directors who, no matter how good or bad they are or what they've done, we probably all know their names. So here's a list of directors that Ben Affleck has worked with: Martin Brest, John Woo, Richard Linklater, Kevin Smith, David Fincher, Mike Judge, and Gus Van Sant. Not bad. Not bad at all. And Affleck has done some shitty movies (Armageddon, Good Will Hunting- I like GVS and his work, especially My Own Private Idaho and extra-especially Drugstore Cowboy, but GWH is lame and just thinking about "Vickers" and "apples" makes me cringe. I don't believe that GVS cared about the script. I think he was just turned on by Damon, the Afflecks, and Cole Hauser.

But anyway, back to Matt Damon. Whose movies has he starred in? Martin Scorecese, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Gus Van Sant, the Coen brothers, the Farrelly brothers, Cameron Crowe, Terry Gilliam, Steven Soderberg, Kevin Smith, Anthony Minghella, Christopher Nolan, Frank Darabont, Kenneth Lonergan. That's not all. He's also been directed by a few movie star directors: Robert DeNiro, Robert Redford, George Clooney, Billy Bob Thornton, and Clint Eastwood.

That's an impressive list, right?

There are a few that Matt Damon didn't get to work with and all of those cool directors worked with another lucky guy instead, and this guy doesnt even specialize in acting- singer Chris Isaak. His "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing" was in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, and Isaak has appeared in movies by Jonathon Demme, John Waters, David Lynch, and Tom Hanks.

This feels so good

It feels good to be blogging again. There are two blogs that I read: Final Girl' which doesnt get updated much anymore but inspired me to start RJ Battles' and By Ken Levine' which is interesting and is updated every single day. I want to post everyday. And soon I'll have more access to a computer so I'll be able to post pictures. My writing has improved a little since 2008 but I want this to be mostly a visual blog. The record sleeves are still the best part of this blog. Gotta go' good night.

Hi how are you

Its been so long but I dont have a computer anymore and post on my phone is a pain but I really wanna get back into this. There's a lot I wanna talk about: some old obsessions, like Carrie Fisher (in the spring she's publishing her diaries from when she made the first three Star Wars movies. They'll probably do well but I'm not interested. I wanna hear more about Paul Simon and what went on when she made Soapdish. I'd buy a book just for that or to find out stuff about her days as a script doctor), John Landis (I'm interested in Twilight Zone The Movie and what really happened between Landis and Spielberg. And Spielberg bugs me. I hate his movies from the past twenty years, especially War of the Worlds).

There are also some new pictures I wanna put up. There are some cool ones from The Breeders LSXX. I hope I'll see you again soon.