http://thestew.badmouth.net Thick stuff worth pondering. Sat, 21 Aug 2010 22:58:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I just got a grinder attachment for my standing mixer. I'd been meaning to get one for about 20 years now, but never got around to it. First thing I ground was a chuck steak. It was pretty lean, so I ground up a couple of pieces of bacon with it ... http://thestew.badmouth.net/?p=65 I've seen a lot of chatter about Inception, and it's definitely a worthy subject for debate. Is it a meta-narrative about movie making? Is it a heist flick with delusions of grandeur? And did that top fall at the end or not? What I find tedious in the discussions is the ... http://thestew.badmouth.net/?p=64 It's distressing to think that the millions of dollars the health insurance industry spent on trying to defeat reform could have been spent on patient care instead. That's "opportunity cost" -- when you buy one thing, you've precluded yourself from buying another thing. That's probably the wrong way to look at ... http://thestew.badmouth.net/?p=63 There have been a couple of times, watching some TV show or movie, when a piece of music suddenly appeared and the combination of images, emotions, lyrics and notes elevated whatever was going on. The use of "This Woman's Work" in the film She's Having a Baby is an example ... http://thestew.badmouth.net/?p=62 Exactly a week ago, from Rush Limbaugh: "This is the greatest teaching moment for Obama and he won't get it.  The people of the world hate this country more than they like him, and they don't like him all that much." Today: Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize. I'm sure this is somehow ... http://thestew.badmouth.net/?p=61 "Stargate Universe." Mostly harmless. Pilots are funny things. They've got either .75 or 1.5 hours to make a good enough impression on you to keep tuning in. They've got to introduce a bunch of characters and a situation that is compelling on its own, but ripe enough with possibilities so that ... http://thestew.badmouth.net/?p=60 "District 9" is not, despite some hyperbole to the contrary, the second coming of sci-fi cinema. But it has engendered some strong feelings -- both positive and negative. Yeah, there are clever allegories... and yeah, there are plot holes. Depending on who you talk to, the shaky-cam documentary-style cinematography is ... http://thestew.badmouth.net/?p=59 Okay, so their cheap envelopes force the USPS to crack Blu-ray discs. Other than that, what's not to love about Netflix? This isn't a post about "Leverage" per se, despite the photo. (The show is amusing enough, and definitely worth checking out.) I just noticed last week that Netflix offers instant ... http://thestew.badmouth.net/?p=58 I want to make two points about Dick Cheney's views on waterboarding. Here's what he said in his speech to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., yesterday. In top secret meetings about enhanced interrogations, I made my own beliefs clear. I was and remain a strong proponent of our enhanced ... http://thestew.badmouth.net/?p=57 "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is a funny film. At least I think it is. I only managed to get about 45 minutes into it before my Blu-ray player sounded like it was grinding corn for the day's tortillas. Lo and  behold, upon inspecting the disc, a crack near the edge. So I ... http://thestew.badmouth.net/?p=56