Year: 2004

Dems are howling over Arh-nuld’s calling them “Girlie Men,” saying it’s insulting to gays and women.

Aw, c’mon. I don’t recall anyone bìŧçhìņg about it when Hans and Franz coined the term in a recurring SNL sketch that was clearly lampooning Arnold. Instead of whining about being regularly made fun of, Arnold embraced the gag, even showing up during one sketch and lambasting them, saying they’d let themselves go and had become girlie men themselves (as they hung their heads in shame.)

If the Dems feel he was off-base in accusing them of pandering to special interest (which is where their ire should really be directed) then the response should be something along the lines of, “The Governor has been so busy pumping (clap) himself up that he’s full of hot air.” Not this namby-pamby, “Oh, he’s calling us names, he’s being mean to us” crap. Dem spokesmen are reacting like–well–girlie men.

PAD

UPDATE: Turns out I forgot (big shock there) that I’m to be at the CBLDF table Sunday from 2-3 PM. So I’ll only be at the Marvel table from 3-4 on Sunday. The list has been adjusted accordingly.

So here’s where I’m going to be during San Diego. So none of you gets to say, “Ooooo, I’d have come by to see you, but I had no idea where you are.” Appreciation to Dave Seidman for actually sifting through the newly posted schedule and finding out where the hëll I was, since–as I usually do–I agreed to stuff, neglected to write it down, and then forgot where I was supposed to be.

THURSDAY
12:00 – 1:30: Claypool Comics, booth 2102 (n.b.: I’m first arriving in San Diego on the 10:40 AM plane, so this is going to hinge on everything arriving on time and how fast I can get over to the site. I will be there, but don’t be shocked if I’m a little late.)
5:00 – 6:00: Autograph Area AA5, in connection with the panel Kicking
Serious Butt
6:00 – 7:00 Room 7B, for the panel Kicking Serious Butt

FRIDAY
12:00 – 1:30: Claypool Comics, booth 2102.
2:00 – 3:00: Room 7B, for the panel The Future of Star Trek Publishing
3:00 – 4:00: Room 7B, for the panel Beyond “Once Upon a Time”
4:00 – 5:00: Autograph Area AA3, in connection with the panel Beyond
“Once Upon a Time”

SATURDAY
12:00 – 1:30: Claypool Comics, booth 2102.
2:00 – 4:00: Marvel Comics (I don’t know what booth they are)

SUNDAY
12:00 – 1:30: Claypool Comics, booth 2102.
2:00 – 3:00: CBLDF
3:00 – 4:00: Marvel Comics

Interestingly, I told DC several times I was interested in signing at their booth and no one ever called me. I told Marvel exactly once and they called me immediately. So take from that what you will.

PAD

Just saw the somewhat revisionist, yet supposedly fact-based, film about the historical Arthur today. Now of course I was put-off right from the get-go because, yes, I’ve long known that historians suspect a Roman warrior, one “Arturus,” to be the basis for the Arthur legends. But I also know that Lancelot didn’t enter the mythos until about six centuries later, when the French crowbarred him in. I mean, naturally: He’s better and stronger than any other knight, he’s so irresistable that the queen cuckolds her husband for him, and of course he’s French. He’s like a medieval Lieutenant Mary Sue. So don’t go telling me you’re making a movie steeped in historical theory and then toss in a latter-day Gaullic addendum ’cause it’s just pìššìņg me off.

That said, I liked it a hëll of a lot better than I thought I would. Considering I know that they edited the crap out of it and inserted an uplifting ending, I’d be intrigued to see the R-rated director’s cut which I understand will be released on DVD. The absolutely stand-out is Bors, a growling monster-bear of a man who has so many bášŧárd children that he can’t be bothered to name them, only number them. Although I have to say that the mother of his kids (a dozen of them) should looked a lot less haggard than any such woman would realistically have the right to be. Kind of typical of these sorts of films: The men looked grizzled and wartorn and the women look like Hollywood actresses. The last time I saw a period film set in a poor area where the women looked right for the time and place, it was “Fiddler on the Roof.”

It’s certainly a refreshing take on Arthur once you get past the whole out-of-place Lancelot thing, and it certainly beats the hëll out of the ghastly “First Knight.”

PAD

From America’s Finest News Source…

UPDATE: insideman noted this first in comments a few days back, and if there’s anything we here at PeterDavid.net are, it’s sticklers for credit. Right, Rob?

Yeah, that’s a letter from me in the on-the-stands issue of “TV Guide” (the one with “How do rich TV people spend their money” on the cover.) I was outraged that the “TV Guide” list of the greatest TV dads omitted my personal TV dad guru, Gomez Addams, and shot off a letter to that effect. They printed it in its entirety at the top of the lettercol, so that’s nice placement. Didn’t really think they’d use it. Live and learn.

PAD

For almost the entirety of the 1990s, the RAM (Republican Attack Machine) spewed lies the way Old Faithful blasts water. Now “Fahrenheit 9/11” comes out and suddenly the RAM aggressively embraces the concept of truth and accuracy with such zeal that you’re almost waiting for them to complain because Michael Moore didn’t define the word “is.”

Everyone howls about inaccuracy? Here’s an inaccuracy that no one really wants to cop to:

“Iraq is better off now than it was.”

That’s not necessarily true. Why? Because it depends on what your definition of “is” is.

See, we don’t know for sure what the impact of Saddam’s fall will be. Not for sure. Not remotely for sure. No one can know. Why? Because once upon a time, the US had no problem with Saddam. He seemed much better than The Other Guys in other countries that we had problems with. So top GOP officials were photographed shaking his hand, and I seem to recall we sold him weapons.

And one thing led to another, and then we didn’t like him because he was a brutal dictator and was killing innocent Iraqis, and so we got him out of power…while killing innocent Iraqis. Iraq IS better off? Iraq has civil unrest, water and electrical power are dodgy, buildings are bombed out, prisoners were tortured (and for all we know, still are but we just haven’t found out yet) and thousands of innocents were killed, while young American soldiers went in and died for a cause that was questionable at best. And Michael Moore showed all that, not just as evening headlines, but on the most human level imaginable, and that terrifies the RAM because they don’t want Americans seeing that.

Furthermore, it may well be that the result of this endeavor will be that a new generation of terrorists is spawned by America’s invasion, the resulting Iraqi government may be no better or even worse than what they had before (especially if a new dictator seizes power, and then what? We invade again?), oil prices are skyrocketing, we’ve lost tons of worldwide goodwill that 9/11 handed us, and by the way, America is so much safer with Saddam gone that we get terror alerts every six weeks or so and we’re discussing suspending elections. Is martial law next?

And that’s the point that “F9/11” is making, and the RAM is terrified that the message is going to take hold, and they’re trying to nitpick it to death while protecting the big lie that is the Bush Administration. To quote Edith Ann, “And that’s the truth *pbthhhh *.”

PAD

Lately I’ve discovered that if I’m trying to sign on in order to post responses, the program refuses to acknowledge that I’ve signed on and I get no response box. I think it may be because I’m going through AOL, but I can’t be sure.

If anyone else is having sign on problems in trying to respond, please e-mail me at padguy@aol.com.

PAD