Musings from Brian J. Noggle
Saturday, June 14, 2008
 
Meta-Twist
Instapundit links to a couple of The New Republic takedowns of the new M. Night Someguyan movie The Happening, saving me a couple bucks on seeing a film that ultimately would have cheesed me off. Go head, click here and here, read the spoilers, and know why I'd have been peeved.

However, in the biggest meta-twist of any career (and I'll guess that Shyamalan's career is officially over now), the finally movie suggests that the protagonists of his earlier films were actually the bad guys. That's right: The Sixth Sense's burglar, Unbreakable's Mr. Glass, Sign's aliens, and that mermaid film's anti-mermaid contingent were actually the good guys, doing the work of the Trees.


- posted by Brian J. @ 11:27 PM   4 comments
Thursday, June 12, 2008
 
Late Night CMT Musings, Delayed
1: Taylor Swift. Day-um, that is a pretty girl.

I mean, I'm from Wisconsin, but this young lady has altered the geographical center of my swearing accent.



That's the kind of girl I would have gotten stupid over at age 20. Come to think of it, she does remind me a little about my high school crush. I only went out with her twice, as I got stupid about her my senior year and didn't get the nerve to ask her out until spring. She then went on to date a close friend, which would become a recurring theme in my younger days, and after she graduated college, I hear she married a local boy known for impregnating his step-sister, whom he'd dated before their parents married. I am from Wisconsin, but by high school, I was in Jefferson County, Missouri, where such things are not unheard of.

But back to Taylor Swift. Blonde, pretty blue eyes, and a sweet voice, ruff.

Speaking of Taylors, here's another from back in the day, also blonde here:



2. Hey, I've always liked Billy Ray Cyrus.

Actually, I was fortunate to get exposure only after the whole Achy Breaky thing, so that was something I had to forgive him for after I liked him. Here's the current video, where he looks like a fat Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines, unfortunately:

Sadly, it's from an album of country sings Disney which isn't as bad as a Jimmy Buffett or Def Leppard duet, but I have to think Hank would not approve.

Here's something from the olden days, his second album entitled It Won't Be The Last. To some of his critics' surprise, it wasn't. You'll have to click through to see "Some Gave All" because Universal Music doesn't trust me with the embedded video because if you can see the video here for free, you won't go buy a $50 Blu-Ray Billy Ray video collection.

What, country music videos in the middle of the night? Well, after four weeks of the late shift, I've gotten a bit tired of SportsCenter and Hannity and Colmes or Greta repeats, and sometimes the classic movie stations are running Hope Floats marathons. Watching the country videos makes me a bit nostalgic, as you can see.


- posted by Brian J. @ 12:32 PM   0 comments
 
Someone Suffers From This Portrayal
Game on for DiCaprio:
    The word bounding out of Hollywood this week is that "Titanic"-star Leonardo DiCaprio is intent on doing a gaming-related pic about Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and the Chuck E. Cheese’s pizza chain. DiCaprio would star as the entrepreneur and, Game Guy presumes, bring a little of the on-screen spice he demonstrated in such flicks as "What’s Eating Gilbert Grape" and "The Basketball Diaries."
DiCaprio as Blinky or Clyde, maybe. DiCaprio as Bushnell? I'll never look at my Ataris the same again.


- posted by Brian J. @ 9:27 AM   0 comments
Monday, June 09, 2008
 
Government Counters Begin Counting, Rationing Health Care Beans In Oregon
Previously on State Run Health Care Lost:
    State-run health care in Wisconsin begins denying coverage to the most vulnerable, i.e., expensive, "clients"
.

Now, another state with universal health care begins its rationing:
    Treatment of advanced cancer meant to prolong life, or change the course of this disease, is not covered by the Oregon Health Plan, said the unsigned letter Wagner received from LIPA, the Eugene company that administers the plan in Lane County.

    ....
    "We can't cover everything for everyone," said Dr. Walter Shaffer, medical director of the state Division of Medical Assistance Programs, which administers the Oregon Health Plan.

    "Taxpayer dollars are limited for publicly funded programs. We try to come up with polices that provide the most good for the most people. Most cancer treatments are high priority on the list," Shaffer said.

    But the intent of the list was to exclude coverage of treatments that are futile, or where potential benefit is minimal in relation to expense.
That sounds kinda like the insurance industry, except without choice and responsibility-proof government bureacratic effort.

Note to the Kansas City Star: I am against government health care, not for more expensive programs throwing greater amounts of confiscated citizen money after diminishing returns. Thank you, that is all. (Link seen on Dustbury.)


- posted by Brian J. @ 8:26 AM   0 comments
To say Noggle, one first must be able to say the "Nah."