Thursday

For more gasoline comics.
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I've been asked to spread the word about a new pro-life program. Here's the link. Via Aggie Catholics.
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I caught a little bit of this story yesterday, but didn't read about it until this morning:

In a vulgar tirade caught on tape by Fox News, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said he wanted to "cut his [Barack Obama's] nuts out" and he accused the fellow Chicagoan of "talking down to black folks" by giving moral lectures to African-Americans, source said Jackson's shocking quotes were picked up by a hot mic before an interview on health care in Fox's Chicago studio last Sunday.

What prompted Jesse's comments? Obama's suggestion that black children concentrate on school instead of becoming NBA players and rap stars. The Reverend is understandably upset.

But isn't the correct adverb "off" (instead of "out")? "Out" seems to imply that he's contemplating a strike on Obama right after he comes out of a cold swimming pool.
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Tell your son to get convicted of a serious crime and sentenced to a lengthy prison term: A couple who won a £2.3million lottery jackpot say all they really want is a wife for their son.
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Great list: Seven movies based on true stories that aren't true stories. The list says, "The stories are true, but the movies twisted them so bad, the story told by the movie isn't at all true."

I think there are three levels of reality movies:

1. "This is a true story." I've only seen it once. It was The Greatest Game Ever Played (which is highly recommended, incidentally). My brother read the non-fiction book on which the movie was based, and he said the movie was dead-on accurate. Hence, "This is a true story" was accurate.

2. "Based on a true story." This is the vague one. It could mean the movie is close to reality; it could mean the movie is way off. The list linked above are movies that are way off.

3. "Inspired by a true story." This is the one that says, "We heard of a story that made us think of this story." Sample: "I saw this kid learning to play ping pong with a broken thumb, so I wrote this screenplay about a kid with no arms learning to play ping pong and eventually thrashing the best of the Chinese." When you see "inspired by a true story," you can assume you're watching pure fiction.