Standard Operating Procedure

I watched the Errol Morris documentary "Standard Operating Procedure" this afternoon. The film's subject are the infamous incidents and accompanying photographs that took place at Abu Ghraib prison in the fall and winter of 2003.

It was disgusting to see the pictures that weren't published before. It was also interesting to hear from those involved, most notably Lynndie English. The film questions what went on outside of the pictures, what higher-ups were involved and the notion of how the army defines "standing operating procedure" ("standard operating procedure" is a misnomer) and torture.

Lynndie English blames it on her boyfriend, who is currently serving 10 years for orchestrating the now public poses and stunts. Another participant claims she was just taking the pictures as evidence for later, although she, herself, is smiling in all of the photographs. She says that it's a natural reaction to getting her photgraph taken. Yeah, but standing in front of naked, hooded detainees simulating sex acts?

I don't know. I'm sure there were a lot of higher-ups who knew what was going on and these soliders were thrown underneath the bus. However given that quantity and quality of the photographs, wherein all the soldiers look like they're having a grand old time, I think it's still, at the very least, unfortunate, and Lynndie English in particular seems to still derive pleasure from it. I wasn't there, it was a very dangerous job, etc., so I don't wish to be heavy-handed on the judgement. Certainly the army has taken care of that. I think it's best seen as an example of what can occur during war, and that we, as Americans, are not immune to commiting heinous acts.

Byrne/Eno, George R.R. Martin

I listened to David Byrne and Brian Eno's latest album, "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today." I've listened to it once, and I like it. After listening to too much falsetto, breathy and otherwise affected voices that the critics laud today (Bon Iver, TV on the Radio, etc.), it's nice to hear Byrne, well, sing. Not that he (or Eno) isn't without pretense, but I, for one, can not sit through another album of every song being sung falsetto. WTF?! Ahem. Back to the record, it's their first collobaration in 30 years since "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts," which I think is a GREAT record with its signature Eno soundscapes and signature Byrne polyrhythms. I digress, but I didn't realize until today that the album's name comes from a novel by Nigerian writer Amos Tutuola published in 1954. Anyhow, upon the first listen to "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today," I realized I was subconsciously hoping for "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts 2" or something, which is not what the new record is about. However, after giving the songcraft a chance to seep in, I think this will grow on me quite a bit. After listening to perhaps a dozen albums released in 2008, this and the Calexico album, "Carried to Dust" are the only real standouts so far. I have a lot of catching up to do, though. It's fun to discover new music. It's unfortunate we don't have more time to do so.

I've finished rereading "Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin and am rereading "A Clash of Kings." These are the first two books in his Song of Ice and Fire series. If you enjoy fantasy and could appreciate an adult, dark take on the genre, you owe it to yourself to read these. I plan to burn through all of them to keep the thread going. If you decide to read these, be prepared for unconventional plot twists, including protagonists and heroes (although it's hard to tell who is a hero sometimes) dying off. My favorite character hasn't died off, yet, but I'm trying to prepare myself in the event that he or she does.

I'm very glad I have music and books (and cigars!) to get me through these cold, Midwestern winters.

2009

Huh. They haven't shut my "blog" down. I guess I'll post.

I was reading "The Best of the A.V. Club 2008," and laughed, again, at their interview with their most famous commentator, ZODIAC MOTHERFUCKER concerning a taste test of a potato chip. There's a couple of things that makes me laugh and value this. One, the use of profanity in a creative fashion. Some of you know my fondness for "Deadwood," and ZODIAC MOTHERFUCKER uses profanity in a similar fashion. Unlike Deadwood's dialogue, I'm not so sure I'd call ZODAIC MOTHERFUCKER's language poetic, but it's very funny, and in this age of seemingly increasing puritanism, a few (or many) well-placed f-bombs is okay by me.

BASICALLY ITS THE HOTTEST FUCKING CHIP OUT THERE THIS SHIT WILL ROAST YOUR FUCKING TONSILS LIKE HOT COALS AND GO DOWN YOUR ESPOPHAGUS (sic) LIKE FUCKING RAZOR WIRE.

And, my favorite WTF? moment:

LIKE THIS ONE CHICK IS ALL TELLING ME THAT SOMEDAY WHEN I GET A FUTON SHES TAKING ME OUT FOR INDIAN FOOD.

The second thing I love about this is that it's the idea of a person achieving a level of notoriety based on their blog comments alone. Very 2008 and I applaud the Onion for getting it done.

Age of Conan Assassin fatality movie

This is pretty small - click here to see a full-screen version. I love this game.

D&D Insider

Looks like WOTC might have finally stepped up in terms of its PC offerings. Boing Boing gadgets has some screenshots of this program which will allow you to play D&D 4.0 tabletop over the net with your friends. Sure, other, third-party programs have allowed you to do this before, but they've been hard to configure and generally unwieldy. Hopefully WOTC will get it right. It looks cool, at least.

Goldfrapp Video

I think this song, "A&E" is good, I'm not totally agog with it, but the video is very cool (if not a little bit silly).

Jack Thompson vs. Fake Samuel Jackson

First of all, what the fuck? Why dare me to debate, spend all day organizing that debate, then insult me and pull out like the Purple fucking Pie-Man coming on Strawberry Shortcake?

This is one of my favorite lines regarding circumstances surrounding a blogger operating as Samuel Jackson, posted about Jack Thompson once again blaming videogames for the NIU tragedy. Jack Thompson responded, thinking it was the REAL Samuel Jackson, and asked for a debate. Well...

Dare? Hell yeah, you dare Sam Jack and you damn well better expect a response. News Groper took him up on that shit. We spent all day emailing him, responding to his emails, working out a system to get this debate on the road. And at the last minute–I bullshit you like I’d bullshit Christ Almighty–the motherfucker bailed like Bowser at the end of level three of Super Mario.

Hilarious. Here's Sam musing on Phantom Menace:

I told Lucas I’d play Mace Windu only if I didn’t go out like no got-damn chump. And how’d I go out? Like a got-damn, scrotum-fingering chump. Even Boba Fett got a better death than I got. I fell out a motherfucking window.

It's a one-trick pony, but it's spot-on. Thinking about Samuel Jackson actually saying this tickles me to no end.

Chris Berman meltdown

Forgive me for my schadenfreude here, but this is too funny.



In case YouTube pulls it, click here. You probably should, anyhow, as the Deadspin comments, per usual, are almost as funny as the video itself.