That was the view off my deck a few evenings ago. It doesn’t get much prettier than that, in my opinion. I will take a winter sunset to a summer sunset any day of the week.
It’s the middle of December and so far Old Man Winter has been fairly kind to us. Any time it gets above 45 degrees with some sunshine, I take that as good weather. Winter is only a state of mind.
The usual yard animals have been able to pick and choose where they eat. The birds seem to be dining elsewhere. I guess they aren’t desperate enough to eat oil sunflower seeds. I won’t put that other stuff out. It makes weeds in the yard come spring. I like the volunteer sunflowers that come up.
I did set out some peanuts for the bushy tailed rats that visit us. Those got gobbled up. Does anyone have chipmunks? I don’t think I have ever seen one in my yard.
OK, where is Wolve? I haven’t seen him around for a couple of days.
Wolve? Where are you?
http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/16/university-of-virginia-students-catfishing-scheme-revealed/
More on the UVA “rape” case.
Really not believing that one. Daily caller. Is that Tucker Carlson’s rag?
That accounts smells fishier than the Rolling Stone account.
Federal District court agrees with former President Obama and rules The Executive’s immigration actions are illegal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/12/16/district-court-declares-obama-immigration-action-unconstitutional/
Sadly, it’s only an advisory opinion and does not overturn The Executive’s decree. But it’s nice to see the Judiciary start to move on this. Hopefully it’s a sign of how the states’ challenge will go.
Of course, there’s no telling if The Executive would abide by a negative court decision.
It could all be solved if Congress would act rather than dither around.
Yes, but Congress has the right to dither around if they choose to. Just because you don’t like what Congress is doing doesn’t somehow give The Executive the right to act illegally.
At the end of the Bush administration there was some crazy talk on the real hard-core left fringe about how he and Cheney were going to invoke martial law and stay in power after their term was up.
But if you think The Executive’s actions are justified on immigration because Congress has failed to act, would you support The Executive remaining in power after 2016? After all, there are so many things that need to be done that Congress has refused to do.
I’m just trying to get you to understand how far down the slippery slope we’ve already gone.
I don’t think he is acting illegally. I am saying that those who don’t like it should pressure their congress folks to act.
Letting immigration issues go on for over 20 years, unaddressed is a national security issue. We have allowed (and encouraged) many people to come here and become employed. They have created their lives around living underground. Congress doing nothing has added to this. We have taken good middle class jobs like carpenters and plumbers and driven them down to pay by the hour or pay by the job industries. We have moved labor intense companies into cash operations that take advantage of tax avoidance schemes. It Needs to STOP. It IS a national security issue.
The Russians took over the population of Crimea by having the military move in around the Navy base over years, until the tipping point which happened recently where the Russian population in Crimea outnumbered the Crimeans.
So issuing work permits to more low skilled workers is going to increase pay for middle class jobs for carpenters and plumbers? How does that work? Basic supply and demand. You’ve increased the number of people who can go after low wage jobs. That’s going to hit the working poor that are here legally even worse than the status quo.
If you can justify issuing work permits to people under the guise of national security, they you can justify just about anything. Why didn’t Obama just unilaterally degree single payer healthcare? After all, the health of our citizens is a national security issue when you have a draft.
How about tax policy? The national security of the US depends on the military budget, so the taxes needed to support that budget are a matter of national security too.
In other words, you seem to be well aware of the slippery slope, but you’re cool with it because you like the direction its going (for now)
You are doing the henny penny thing. The sky is not falling. The president just isn’t deporting people with families. If it is unconstitutional not to deport then a lot of presidents had better line up to wear the unconstitutional hat of shame.
@Furby McPhee
He ignores them.
Did he ever lift the drilling embargo in the Gulf as the courts demanded?
@Furby McPhee
No, I do not like the slippery slope or the way it is going. But just like everything else – doing nothing is proving that it is not a long term solution. Congress is failing to take on any decision. Just look at yesterday’s got to extend all the tax deductions. Fixes nothing, just kicks the can down the road for another year. We need issues addressed.
Work Permits – the undocumented already have the jobs. They are not going away. Wages will come up, as they will no longer be taken advantage of as much as they are being taken advantage of now. When you see construction workers working on Labor day, the Fourth and Memorial day – that is being taken advantage of.
Taxes – Yes!! We cannot pay for anything, but even those that speak the loudest on cutting spending, spend it on their own pet projects and projects in their local district – http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2014/12/15/nasas-349-million-monument-to-its-drift/ – even TP Politico’s spend money freely when they see a benefit. Remember the bridge to no where.
The only part of the direction I like – is that Congress should act now. I do not care who the President is – we need Taxes, Immigration, Healthcare, Energy, etc – all reformed to move forward. Something, Anything. Doing nothing is not an option and has proved a failed policy over the past.
This notion of doing nothing to make Obama a failed Presidency has not worked and has exaggerated the recovery – what has failed is the GOP policy of doing nothing.
Too many of the folks who cry about immigrants driving down wages are the same folks who hate/vilify unions which used to provide a livable wage to skilled workers.
And yet you were inclined to believe the Rolling Stone account. And while we disparage the messenger, rather than the message, let us not forget which “rag” brought down John Edwards: The National Enquirer. Just because the paper adheres to pretty lose journalistic practices, their claims were eventually proven true.
Let qualify that. I believed some of it based on my own personal knowledge, not what the Rolling Stone said or didn’t say. I also have personally dealth with that attitude of sexual entitlement that some of the “gentlemen” had, back in the day.
I will also have to say that some of what was said made me raise an eyebrow. Again, it was knowledge of certain things and how they work that just didn’t ring true. One of the things that also didn’t ring true was actual rape while the victim was awake. Another was slight knowledge of that frat house. I will say this…I didn’t believe the reporter’s entire story. Jackie got the benefit of the doubt. (As I would have given my friend Linda G from many years ago. I know that happened.)
I just don’t think Carlson’s reporter rings true with some of the stuff I know now. Again…some of it is personal history with the community and with UVA.
“I did set out some peanuts for the bushy tailed rats that visit us. Those got gobbled up. Does anyone have chipmunks? I don’t think I have ever seen one in my yard.”
I tend to see chipmunks in more heavily wooded areas, like the battlefield. They tend to avoid open areas. I have no quarrel with Chipmunks.
Squirrels, OTH, I am not a fan. They eat my apples, peaches, grapes, and tomatoes. I trap them, and dispatch them, in accordance with the law of the Commonwealth. I have even subscribed to several youtube channels on how to deal with them. This is one of my favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3Ya6z-NlDo
I live on a road where the life expectancy of a squirrel is not so hot. One day I saw a stupid buzzard strutting across my lawn carrying a dead squirrel. Gross me out!!!!
More Virginia university BS.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/education/higher_education/student-claims-he-was-expelled-from-w-l-for-consensual/article_5c28779e-a237-5e8d-b958-a1a2dadd83f1.html#.VJOG4pp1aR8.twitter
More he said/she said. If he is telling the truth, he has some major money coming his way. This is all getting ridiculous. The answer is fairly simple. Stop hooking up. Only have sex in committed relationships. KNOW the person you are having sex with. Now there’s a shocking statement. Males having casual sex after all this are just plain stupid.
In Virginia there is no statute of limitations on rape. That should give anyone pause for thought.
@Pat.Herve
I strongly doubt you’d be just as happy with a future Republican president slashing domestic spending unilaterally because balancing the budget falls under national security. Ditto with mass deportations of illegal immigrants. And energy, so you are upset that Bush didn’t unilaterally approve drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge?
Oh, and you’ve never complained about Guantanamo Bay, right? Because if you think the president has the authority to unilaterally raise taxes because of national security, clearly he can detain enemy combatants indefinitely for national security.
If you genuinely don’t care what direction the country moves, but something just has to be done, you have some serious ADHD issues. But I’m about 99% sure you are making that up to try to sound more reasonable. If a Republican president started acting unilaterally against a Democratic Congress, you’d be screaming about Congress being the people’s representatives and really representing the will of the people. But you aren’t honest enough to admit your hypocrisy.
So let’s hear you proof me wrong. You seem to be the only person in the country that would agree with the Korematsu decision. So I want to hear you say that you think that a Republican president has the legal authority to detain American citizens indefinitely without trial because of ‘national security’. I mean an Executive Order can override Congress and the Constitution, right.
@Furby McPhee
Korematsu.
Heh…. One of the questions on my Constitutional law poli sci class was two words:
Defend Korematsu. I actually tried. Couldn’t do it.
Buzzards and Vultures are natures garbage collectors. I value their presence in the community. Were it not for the buzzard, your neighborhood would be carpeted with squirrel-carrion.
I was going to run him out of there but then I thought about the alternative. Double gross me out.
Pervert Joe Morrissey, (D) is the gift that keeps on giving.
http://www.nbc29.com/story/27661259/va-lawmaker-to-resign-then-seek-seat-in-special-election
Joe is a sociopath, IMHO.
Probably. Either that or Anthony Weiner’s doppelganger.
@Furby McPhee
No, I do not think an American Citizen should be detained indefinitely without trail – I also think the same for non-citizens in US Detention.
Executive Branch and Legislative Branch going head to head has happened in the past – a disagreement between two branches.
Iran-Contra – Reagan going against the Boland Amendments
I do not think Obama has overridden the Constitution with the immigration executive orders. I also think Congress NEEDS to address many issues before we are in a death spiral – note – The President does not need to be involved – CONGRESS needs to address the issue. Congress needs to debate issues, stop talking in the media, roll up sleeves, stop talking past each other, get something done. Just look at the last spending bill out of the House – when was these 16,000 pages presented to anyone to look over? Hours before voting, little to no discussion, heavy lobbyist influence.
“I do not think Obama has overridden the Constitution with the immigration executive orders.”
There aren’t any executive orders. He wrote “presidential memorandum” which are even murkier from a constitutional perspective.
@Moon-howler
Richmond.com is reporting that the minor girl Joe Morrissey was involved with, has relocated to the Atlanta area, and is “Clearly pregnant”, but “won’t discuss who the father is”. Now this is all pure speculation, but it might explain why “Fightin’ Joe” coped a plea to a lesser/included charge, lest a court-ordered paternity test blow away the his claims that he didn’t have sex with her.
She’s also started writing letters to members of the GA, defending Joe. Bad idea, as it won’t be long before she’s outted in public. Then again, when has Joe ever done the wise thing?
More he said/she said. People are getting stranger and stranger.
@Pat.Herve
You have some very creative views on what is Constitutional.
You think the President can raise taxes without Congress because of national security (post #12) But you don’t think the President can detain enemy combatants for national security reasons. (post #27)
I’d ask how you can reconcile those in your mind, but honestly I’m not sure I want to know the answer. I certainly won’t ask you for case law to support your opinions because they just don’t exist. (Actually a decision supporting your views on taxation would be hysterical to read. I mean how hard is it to understand “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes” .
It sure sounds like your criteria for Constitutionality is “If I like it, it’s OK”.
Just come out of the closet and freely admit that you don’t care about representative government. You want things to be done your way.
Did you ever say if you’d support The Executive staying in office past 2016 if important things need to be done?
@Furby McPhee
please tell me where I said he President can raise taxes? Do not twist my words.
Yes… its Daily Caller…but they seem to be the only one digging into the case. If you know of another source that I could use, I would.
http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/18/uva-student-may-have-also-plagiarized-tv-show-scrubs-others-in-love-paean-to-friend/
The “victim” seems to have plagiarized TV shows for the emails she sent.
Weird.
Also, this: http://news.investors.com/blogs-capital-hill/121914-731398-rolling-stone-rape-story-is-part-of-a-broader-national-hoax.htm
I am questioning how someone from the Daily Caller got hold of the real “Jackie’s” email.
This will all unravel. There are enough official eye on this case that the liars will come out and will be exposed. I just don’t consider what I read on blogs to be official stories. (That includes this one)
I don’t believe that 1 in 5 is a hoax at all.
I don’t think sexual behavior has improved in the last few decades. In fact, I think it is safe to assume that it has gotten worse as more drugs become available and times change as far as acceptable mores and morals. I know of many situations from back in the day where things got out of control and where maybe became yes in one of the people’s minds. Perhaps this is something that can only be seen through female eyes?
This story seems to be taking on a life of its own with the online tabloids. I am not ready to be judge and jury regarding any of the stories. What I do know: 1. young women are vulnerable in situations where there is a lot of binge drinking. 2. Young women are slipped roofies 3. Young women often don’t report rapes, especially if they know the person even a little. 4. Young men seem impervious to the effects of alcohol in diminishing sexual performance.
Beyond that, I don’t understand young people or what motivates their sexual behavior.
Moon — Did you send me a short e-mail signed “Moon” containing a link which caused my computer security systems to start ringing the alarm bells and warning me away with the strongest warning the system has ever given me?
No, I did not. I asked here if anyone had seen you. I missed you. I hope I don’t have a virus in one of the web based emails sending out trash and disease.
@Pat.Herve
Far be it for me to twist your words. So let’s look at what you said. I asked:
To which you replied:
So when you responded “Taxes – Yes!! ” to my question of if tax policy fell under national security allowing the Executive to act unilaterally, somehow I twisted that to mean Yes.
How tricky of me. Using your exact words like that.
I do believe someone’s (Moon’s) email is being spoofed.
I think so too. I am innocent. I was just asking here, in plain sight, if anyone had seen you.
I got the same thing…
What did it say and was it to your address you use associated with this blog? It sounds like we have something serious going on here.
That isn’t a virus.
I have sent no one here any personal messages in the past week or so. In the past year I have not communicated with Jackson or Wolve. I would change the address on your sign in. don’t even use a real one.
This was a neat story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2882520/Muslim-bride-s-touching-tribute-victims-Martin-Place-siege-floral-memorial-continues-grow.html
Came in regular e-mail on 21 December. From: Moon. Text: Hi. How are you? Breaking news (link) It works! Signed: Moon.
My security systems flashed like crazy and gave me an easy exit channel to safety. It looked like a known phishing operation. Good luck to those jerks. No “phish” in this pond.
I don’t know what to tell you on this. Does anyone have an idea of what is going on?
Also, came via Yahoo Mail for iPad.
What was the return address on the email? both of them.
Found one just now in the spam folder. Just looking at it I can tell it is not from you.
You’ve been hacked.
From Moon [email protected]
To: appears to be your email contacts. Won’t post it.
Hi!
How are you?
Breaking news http://www.domaininvest.lu/lj/lost.php It works!
Moon
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
Totally weird. Don’t open it if you get one. I have never heard of that person.
I also don’t have Yahoo Mail for ipad. Cargo is in my phone contact list as well as my thunderbird contact list on my personal computer.
Wolverine is not. He is only on the blog with the email address he provided each time he signs in.
Someone tell me what to do.
I have Kapersky anti virus on both of my computers.
Same “From” and “To” data as that in Cargo’s spam. Only difference is the link which set off my alarms.
Has anyone else seen this insane “Stop Gun Violence” pro gun control PSA.
Sooooo much wrong! And the internet is forever…… HAHAHAHAHAHA!
You could use it as a drinking game of “Spot the Felony”: DRINK!
http://youtu.be/VFOhBAH3zPA
The producer has absolutely NO clue about laws, guns, safety, or unintended consequences. And is now using it to show her work.
The fake emails are probably from somebody pulling them from the registration database. This site runs on WordPress I believe, and there are a number of known problems with WordPress.
(That’s not a criticism of the site admins. It’s practically a full time job keeping up with hackers these days. But just to be on the safe side, I wouldn’t post any threads about North Korea. 🙂 )
http://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-2337/product_id-4096/Wordpress-Wordpress.html
As for what to do to stop the bad guys from attacking the site. I’m assuming you aren’t hosting the site yourself and you are paying for a hosting service. If so, call at them and complain that they need to upgrade to the most recent version of WordPress and install all the latest patches. Explain that your site was attacked and your user’s emails were taken. They should have done the upgrade and patches automatically, but it’s not uncommon for the hosting services to let it slide for a while.
If you are hosting WordPress yourself, you’ll have to do the WordPress upgrade yourself. Can’t offer any suggestions for that. That’s beyond my abilities.
I use a web host site and I upgraded wordpress as soon as it came out, about a week ago or less.
I do it for myself but I did it as soon as it came out. That day.
Yes. Someone is spoofing your email address. I received one from “Moon”, but the masked email address wasn’t yours. It contained an executable link to malware. I deleted it.
What do I do about it?
Which email address got spoofed? Can you tell that?
@Moon-howler
You need to do what Furby recommended. It was a poor spoof. The name came across as “Moon”, but the address and IP that came with it are from a .jp domain….Japan. My guess is the Japanese domain is being used by Chinese or N. Korean bad actors.
My company sells IT security services, as part of our broader portfolio. We noticed a huge spike in SPAM and spoofing that hit our filters the last few days. Funny thing is, it went back to normal right after the N. Korean internet crashed. Yeah for the NSA!
My resident IT person is going to take a look at the logs. I hope it was a one time thing and I apologize to everyone for whatever happened. It obviously was related to this blog.
To those of you who are regulars: if you want to change the email address that goes with the moniker, please do. You can use a fake if you want. (If I know you).
You might want to consider sending me an real email in case I need to contact you about something. Let me know you have sent it because I don’t check those gmail accounts like I should.
Closer to home: PWC, you have a new Supervisor
http://www.pwcgov.org/government/dept/vote/Pages/2014BrentsvilleSpecialElectionResults.aspx
@Moon-howler
Nah…I’ll just delete anything suspicious looking, and deal with the possibility of “why didn’t you ever respond?” questions.
Yes that’s good news. I hope she’s not managed by the blog. Too much support from either or both of the negative bloggers makes me suspicious of the official unless they disavow – poor Mrs Caddigan she did disavow and then caved; too much pressure for her.
I am not going to comment. Remember that I hold candidates responsible for ugliness that blogs to advance their cause. I saw nothing done to stop some of the ugliness that was being dished out at Eric Young or Scott Jacobs. In my world, that’s approval.
I am preparing for tea party mentality and control by SoN. He was just too hot to trot on her for me to think there are no puppet strings.
@Moon-howler
I’m pretty confident that no “puppet strings” exist.
I wish I had your confidence. I have seen several supervisors cave because of the bullying that goes on. That’s just not how I operate.
I feel confident that Ms. Lawson had better tow the line or be subjected to a rash of bullying.
@Moon-howler
Yes, we should hold elected leaders accountable for the actions of their supporters, and allies in the causes they embrace, especially when pandering to these people results in riots, arson, murder, and defecation on police cars, critically-injured congresswomen…and nasty blog comments. Let’s have a uniform standard of condemnation.
I have seen all sorts of people *I* wouldn’t associate with “embrace” causes I have been involved with. There’s very little you can do.
If you think you can control all membership behavior, that in pretty naïve. I agree however, that there is no reason to embrace a group that is extreme or whose objectives are unsavory.
Net Nugent can BE a member of the NRA. I just wouldn’t want him as a spokesperson or big wig if *I* were a member.
Nor would I want to have a KKK member in a local pro choice organization.
How good economic news will change how we talk about Obama
President Obama’s approval ratings are about to start rising. In fact, they already have — just a couple of points here and there, showing up so far in some polls but not in others — but unless something unexpected happens, I can all but guarantee you that the trend will continue. The reason is the accretion of good news about the economy: the best quarterly growth in a decade, the Dow reaching an all-time high, consumer confidence higher than at any point since 2007, job growth strong, gas prices low. As Matt O’Brien wrote yesterday in a bit of (acknowledged) hyperbole, “This isn’t a blip. It’s a boom.”
epa04294518 US President Barack Obama speaks at the Georgetown Waterfront Park to call on Congress to renew the Highway Trust Fund in Washington, DC, USA, 01 July 2014. Declining revenue from gasoline taxes has contributed to the rapid depletion of the Highway Trust Fund. EPA/ANDREW HARRER / POOLPresident Obama (Pool photo by Andrew Harrer/European Pressphoto Agency)
You don’t have to give Obama any credit for all that to admit that it is taking place — and that it will change the view Americans have about the state of the country, and as a consequence their view of the president.
Which, when you think about it, makes very little sense. After all, it isn’t as though in the past few months he has implemented some set of economic policies that is significantly different from what he was doing before, and therefore you could logically say that while you didn’t like the job he was doing then, you’re pleased with this new direction. But that’s a level of rationality few Americans actually apply to their feelings about the president.
And to be clear, I’m not saying that Obama is ever going to soar to the 70 percent approval ratings he had for about 10 seconds upon taking office. After six years, most people’s opinions of Obama are pretty well set. But even a movement of a few points in the polls can have a profound impact on the way we in the media talk about him and the political environment in which he operates.
There’s a kind of hidden scorecard that frames the media’s discussion of any new issue or controversy, one that tracks who’s up and who’s down. It gives rise to weird ideas such as “political capital,” a resource that nobody can define, yet some figures are supposed to possess and others are supposed to lack. When the economy is good, the president gets a few extra marks on that scorecard. Journalists and commentators, always interested in answering the “Why?” question, begin exploring what he’s doing right and why his opponents can’t do better. That exploration changes the tone of coverage significantly; suddenly everyone sees all kinds of positive stories about the president, while just a short time ago all the news about him was bad. As that filters down through the population, it can end up pushing his approval higher (again, even if only by a bit), which continues to feed the cycle.
Even if you could argue that it’s all built on vapor, it can end up affecting the decisions political actors make. The White House becomes a bit more confident and may take more policy risks. The opposition gets a bit more reluctant to force confrontations and may let some things slide.
In the past couple of weeks, some of us have been discussing how becoming a lame duck seems to have liberated Obama. Without any more concern about getting reelected or losing the next midterm, he’s just going ahead and doing the things he wants. With even a couple of extra approval points behind him — and especially if he crosses 50 percent in some polls, a substantively meaningless border that the press will invest with symbolic significance — he’s likely to become even bolder.
That cycle can be broken, of course — an economic stutter, a new crisis we haven’t foreseen — but until that happens, watch for the president to become even more aggressive as he heads for the end of his term.
“http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/12/24/how-good-economic-news-will-change-how-we-talk-about-obama/”
Despite the republicans’ best efforts, Obama’s economic policies are producing good results
@Starry flights
If you say so.
I’m with Moon and Wendy. Hope you’re correct, Mom. I rarely agree with Stewart, but I do agree that the infrastructure and long term planning is failing. For those that can only comprehend a simple bottom line, those issues generally escape them.
Well, we don’t need two of them out there looking only at the simple bottom line.
@Moon-howler
I don’t see Jeanine caving in to bullying, rather, much the opposite would likely be true.
You mean she would be the bullier…rather than the bullieee?
Maybe someone should tell the Grey Eminence that. Its sort of difficult to bully back to someone who is anonymous. Talk about tilting at windmills.
Of course, you know how I feel on this subject. I just think it is very bad governance and will never support it.
@Moon-howler
Lets just say I don’t think you need to worry.
Beam me over the right answers, Scottie.
I hope you are right. I am beaming my concerns to you at the moment.
I just heard that a Manassas City worker died on the job today. Heart attack. Chest pains all day. He died in the ambulance. How sad. RIP.
Just watched “The Interview” on my TV, through Google Play and my Roku. My review :
“The Interview” is like the last couple of Rogen/Goldberg movies. It is funny in parts, and clever in parts – a little more clever this time. But drowning in a sea of vulgarity (language, sexual situations and dialogue, and general grotesqueness) that undercuts its ability to entertain. This one was working a bit better, because of the interesting setup of being about North Korea, and the fact that James Franco is great in it and selling the jokes very well. But it gets dumber towards the end. Rating : an interesting but flawed C.
This was somewhere in the vicinity of being thoughtful educational satire, like some of those South Park episodes that explain Mormonism and Scientology. But it gets dumb and vulgar, for no particular reason. Perhaps these guys will in future stop undercutting themselves this way.
Franco is, as usual, great. In the leaked Sony memos some of their international executives are saying he’s a drag and annoying. They must be out of their minds. The guy’s one of the more interesting and strong actors working today, and here he again does something different than he’s done before, well. By contrast, Rogen is completely played out as an actor.
Will you explain to me how to do this. What service do you use?
I have roku somewhere. Cant remember which TV but it can be found. I don’t want to see “The Interview” but I would like to see other movies without going to the theater.
Looking forward to picking between Mr. Turner, Big Eyes, and Unbroken tomorrow.
I also recommend “Wild” which is a good thoughtful movie, “The Imitation Game” which is a fun movie albeit one that takes liberties with what was true, and best of all “The Theory of everything” which is one of the best movies I saw this year. It focuses not on hawking’s career as a pretend genius, but on his struggle to live and communicate, and is a fine and real movie.
Will you go to the theater or use your magic skills to beam them in?
While I’m taking up space, here is my best of list for 2014, pending anything great that i see tomorrow :
1. Tracks – Australian woman walks across desert, audience reflects on structure of civilization
2. Chef – Jon Favreau writes a perfect screenplay, and directs an entertaining movie
3. The Theory of Everything – Stephen and Jane Hawking’s life together, realistic and immersive and thought-provoking
4. The One I Love – Casual, poetic head trip of a movie
5. Lucy – Colorful and wildly entertaining, like a Tarantino sci-fi movie
6. As Above/So Below – Pictureque, entertaining horror set in the Parisian catacombs
7. Violette – Immerses you perfectly in one woman’s life in in early 20th Century France
8. Pride – As if classic Disney did a pro-gay tolerance propoganda movie; perfectly entertaining
9. Belle – Historical romance novel, engrossing and engaging
10. In Secret – Immersive, dark, and immersive
11. Love is Strange – Wait for the ending – poetic stuff.
12. Wild – Reese Witherspoon walks and punishes herself, as the audience thinks about patterns of human behavior.