What’s probably nice about being Matt Damon? Well, besides being rich and famous and married to Luciana Barroso?
Well, for starters, you get to lend a voice to causes you believe in, and people sometimes listen. Alternatively, a hack ‘journalist’ from a libertarian website like Reason.tv (sorry, I’m not even linking to them and giving them traffic) shoves a mic in your face, and you get to teach them a few big words:
***SPOILER ALERT*** The second half of this article contains Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 spoilers. You have been warned, so no complaining in the comments, nerds.
Hollywood loves a franchise. Especially one that has a built-in audience chomping at the bit to see their favorite book or comic characters come to life on the big screen. Continue reading
Hi! I’m assuming you are still reading this and haven’t gone off somewhere in disgust at my previous post. Let’s review the three basic guidelines for the NBA Rules of Comic-Con: Not Being an Asshole:
Apparently Hitler drives a Prius.
The 405 freeway is an important artery in Los Angeles, and is one of the main ways of connecting the Westside to the Valley. There isn’t a train or bus route that effectively duplicates the route that the 405 takes, so shutting down the freeway for a weekend to demolish the Mulholland Drive Bridge as part of a highway widening project was considered a big deal for the residents of those neighborhoods. The build-up to the closing of the 405 was heralded by a massive public information campaign that could basically be summed up as “do not drive to the Westside on the weekend of July 16-17, because it will literally be hell on earth.” Granted, if Los Angeles, and particularly the Westside, were more multi-modal, the need for mass panic probably wouldn’t exist. It still would be a big deal but people wouldn’t be urged to just hide in their homes and barricade their doors. However, the information still needed to be disseminated. Continue reading
Another Friday, eh? Feels like the summer is slipping away just a bit, which is too bad. I’ve barely had a chance to work on my tan. What? Witches get tan, too, you know. How do you think we get that nice leathery look in our older years? Continue reading
What’s one good way to turn a simple domestic violence charge into a story that will get you some real attention? Spray the responding officers with your breast milk. Continue reading
Greetings, Crasstalkers! Interesting week in the world, no? Continue reading
We never said the phone company was logical.
Hello again, darlings. Today’s call brings bad news: I think I’ve become a Gnostic by way of Thomas Ligotti. You don’t know Thomas Ligotti? Oh, you’ve been missing nightmares galore all this time, poor you. The Gnostics, in Seriously Dumbed Down Theology News, believed the world was being dreamed into being by super-duper angels called Archons. Thomas Ligotti’s twist on this is to state unequivocally that they are having nightmares.
Did I ever explain that I have a tendency to go emo during times of stress? So, yeah. That.
Here are your Malevolent Or Insanely Dreaming God Celebrity Gossip Links for today. So, yeah, try to come to peace with the continued existence of Paris Hilton and the fact Miley Cyrus made tens of millions of dollars last year. Happy Dreams!
Despite some spirited debate earlier today, I’m sure there is one thing we can all absolutely agree on: we are grateful for and indebted to BMC for creating and maintaining this site, our port in the storm, our new collective home, our ode to the power of community and camaraderie. Meat, as I so lovingly and deliciously refer to him, created this site after a crosstalk discussion about the shitty beta version of New Gawk months ago. While I take no credit for crasstalk, I do remember the discussion and I’d link to it if such a thing were possible. We were concerned that New Gawk was going to ruin the community we all valued so much and Meat, rather than merely fretting about it (which is what most of us did) or bitching about it (which is also what most of us did), took action and created this site as a life raft for the refugees. Thanks to the UNPAID work of Meat, TheGrandInquisitor (who is a chic and kicks ass, btw), and the wise and wonderful DogsOfWar, we have a place to be, to bitch, and to share. I wanted to take a moment to say thank you. I really appreciate it.
Now shower them with praise, people.
Earlier today in the comments, I shared a video clip (link below) – Wendy Francisco’s beautiful song “God and Dog.” Since it was so enthusiastically received, I am writing a whole post around it.
First, I’d like to address the word “God” – as there was some debate in a recent post when the word came up. I invite those who do not believe in God to just substitute whatever word works for you. I would hate to have the pure beauty of this song and the point of this post to be lost in semantic disagreement.
Many Crasstalk readers are familiar with my profound passion for dogs – my dogs; dogs I’ve rescued who have moved on to new owners or passed on; every dog I have ever known. I feel a deep affinity for dogs that is sometimes echoed in my relationships with people. (My favorite people, of course, are dog lovers.)
Often, I mourn for the millions of dogs who are euthanized in shelters in America alone each year for want of caring owners. But even more, I celebrate my small victories, in caring for my dogs well, in helping to rescue dogs who are living on the street here in Mexico, in online activism for many animal rights groups.
Dogs aren’t referred to as “man’s best friend” by accident. The bond between dog and owner – I call myself a dog-parent, but admittedly, I am a little weird – can be a profound one for both participants. The relatively short life span of dogs makes the bond even more bittersweet. So cherish your doggies while you can, and adopt a shelter dog if you’re able.
I’d like to mention two organizations that you can help out just by internet clicks:
Freekibble (www.freekibble.com) and The Animal Rescue Site (www.theanimalrescuesite.com) both give food to homeless dogs across the country.
