In one scene, Einstein buys a painting from Hitler. Later, in a bar, Hitler brags to Eva Braun that he ripped off Einstein.
Donnie Darko (3+ stars)
Whoa. Add this to the queue after The Butterfly Effect (which it shares much with) and Franklyn. I almost turned this off in the first half hour, but I think it was worth sticking with. Quite a cast of supporting players.
There are a few big things that happen in the movie that don’t seem relevant to the main direction of the film. At least one of those things leaves the world worse-off if undone, although that may be part of the point / problem with fixing things.
Both Darko and The Butterfly Effect surprise me in how far their protagonists are willing to go to fix things – to save their love interests, actually. It’s a strange kind of unsung heroism – no one will know the sacrifice. Which makes me think of re-reading A Prayer for Owen Meany.
Happy Wolf Full Moon, everyone!
Watson AI won on Jeopardy, but Ken Jennings got the last laugh. To his final answer, he added "(I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords.)" When a computer is intentionally and truly funny, we will be done.
10 echo “ha! ”
20 goto 10
Second round with Watson AI on Jeopardy was very different, but more like what one would expect: Computers kick human ass in collating and recalling facts. Watson’s wagers were odd: $947 in the final round?! And what glitch produced Toronto as a US city?
This protracted IBM infomercial revealed the long-term goal: To create Doctor Watson, a Holmes of medical diagnosis.
mjh played volleyball in shorts and short-sleeves today – it was 65 degrees. A bald eagle flew overhead.
Ah, New Mexico.
Surprise, Surprise from Grover Norquist
Grover Norquist is among the worst of the old time Radical Wrong. He’s famous for an anti-federal viewpoint so extreme that he has said he wants to starve the federal government (no taxes) until it is weak enough to drown in a bathtub. Charming. At lease he didn’t say he wants to shoot the federal government in the head or lynch it and drag it behind a truck (as other anti-feds have). Even though I’ve lived long enough to see Republicans move so far beyond the conservative that Tricky Dick is too liberal, I’m still amazed when the old demons sound sensible compared to the new ones.
Referring to Gingrich’s anti-Muslim fervor, ThinkProgress asked whether there is a place for Islamophobia in the GOP 2012 presidential primaries. “I don’t think there is,” Norquist replied:
TP: This sort of fearmongering about Islam. I don’t think Gingrich has gone as far as Gaffney has but he’s kind of right there. He’s near that edge and I’m wondering do you think there’s room for that on the presidential campaign.
NORQUIST: I don’t think there is. I don’t think you’ll see it because the people who support you is broader. … . I don’t think that it will work because it doesn’t work. I think it will go away because it doesn’t work. I would like it to go away because it’s the wrong thing to do. But I’ll take it doesn’t work.
Also during the interview, Norquist praised Democrats for their ability to be an inclusive party. “Democrats have doing it with the mosque in Iowa forever. They just have this natural understanding of, ‘Oh there’s a mosque? Let’s go!’ … You know there’s an incredible understanding of diversity [within the Party].”
What makes Norquist so … progressive (throwing up now): Could it be the fact that his wife is Muslim?