I've protested the use of the ubiquitous phrase "I threw up in my mouth a little." But sometimes, really, it's just pure reportage.

Closing words between Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove, from Rush's radio show (quoted by The Washington Post's Dan Froomkin today):

RUSH: I received a bunch of e-mails from people when I said you were going to be on, who wanted me to pass on to you that they love you.

KARL ROVE: Oh, thanks, Rush.

RUSH: We all do.

KARL ROVE: Thanks, buddy.

Geez, you two. Get a room.

Great (and/or popular) movies I've never seen

I've long considered myself a bit of a movie geek. But looking at the American Film Institute's 100 Films ... 100 Movies list makes me realize how many notable films I've never seen. (Note: These are all American films. I'm probably even more behind on foreign releases.)

2. The Godfather. Yes, The Godfather. I was too young for it when it first came out, and ... I dunno, I never got around to renting it. I have, however, seen a good chunk of that re-edited-for-TV cut that puts Godfather and Godfather II scenes in chronological order. But not the whole thing, and, purist that I am, that just doesn't count. It's been on AMC lately, but I hate watching serious films with commercials these days.

11. City Lights. I have seen quite a bit of Charlie Chaplin, but never got to this one.

12. The Searchers. I'm not big on Westerns.

32. The Godfather, Part II. But here's the odd thing. I have seen Godfather III, I think because I was working through a crush on Andy Garcia.

36. Bridge on the River Kwai. Though I could hum the "Col. Bogie March" for you.

37. The Best Years of Our Lives. I probably saw pieces of this on TV when I was a kid, but not the whole thing, and I don't remember it at all.

38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Same as above.

49. Intolerance. Oh, I get why it's important, but does anyone really want to sit through this?

59. Nashville. In general, I don't like Altman. But I did enjoy the first half of this. Still, I didn't have time to watch the whole thing and it was due back at Blockbuster, so I can't count it.

67. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? But I've read the play.

79. The Wild Bunch.

82. Sunrise. Another silent film--one I'd really like to see.

90. Swingtime. Musicals don't do much for me, even of the Rogers/Astaire variety.

98. Yankee Doodle Dandy.

There are a few others--In the Heat of the Night, The French Connection, The Apartment--that I'm pretty sure I saw all of, but a long time ago, and I really don't remember them. And if I don't remember them, do they count?

So, what haven't you seen? TVB regular God Is My Codependent has never seen Star Wars or any--that's right any--Bond film.

And for the record, of all the ones on the list that I've seen, the only one I've taken an active dislike to is Pulp Fiction. I hereby nominate it as most overrated of all time.

Besides spending time with family, three reasons Karl Rove is resigning

--President's nickname for him, "Turdblossom,"* eventually rankled
--Frustration with the agonizingly slow pace at which everything is going to hell in a handbasket
--Plenty of evil to do in the private sector


*Yes, really.

Put your pants on, Spartacus

I've been rotating quotes from Billy Wilder films at the top of the page lately (just one of the many 'value adds" you get with The Velvet Blog!). The one there now is from his Cold War comedy, One, Two, Three--notable not only as a funny film but for the last role Jimmy Cagney would have for 20 years (till Ragtime).

Here's the trailer:

Some Velvet Morning

Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Some Velvet Morning

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Singer-songwriter Lee Hazlewood died earlier this week. He's best known for the songs he wrote for Nancy Sinatra, including a number of duets, such as "Some Velvet Morning." (Here's who the mythological Phaedra was, BTW.)

It's probably easy to dismiss this as kitsch, and on a certain level, I'd be forced to agree. But somehow ... there's something about these songs (others include "Sand," "Summer Wine," "Sundown, Sundown"--and yes, "These Boots Were Made for Walkin'") I find fascinating and oddly beautiful.

It must be five o'clock somewhere

There's something about this headline that cracks me up:

Adult binge drinkers prefer beer

It's like: "Choosy mothers choose Jif" or "Four out of five dentists recommend Dentyne for their patients who chew gum."

Perhaps it could be the new slogan for Budweiser.

Monkey business

Rented the Christopher Guest comedy For Your Consideration this weekend. Funny, if not quite up to the standard set by the Waiting for Guffman et al.

Some of the out-and-out funniest bits come from a British comedian/actress/ventriloquist I'd never seen before, Nina Conti. Here are some scenes and a long outtake I found on YouTube:



I've never seen a ventriloquist react so naturally with a puppet before--she seems genuinely surprised by what comes out of his mouth.

Oh, Hopsy!

Moving into a busy time at the magazine, so expect lots of cheap postings of things I found on YouTube.

Here's one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies, The Lady Eve. You may need to crank the volume, as it's rather low:



Sadly, I think they clipped off the last line of the scene, at least as I remember it. I stand corrected--it's intact.

How I would get to work if I were the mayor of New York

--Segway to hovercar
--Hovercar to helicopter
--Helicopter to jet pack
--Jet pack to monster truck
--Monster truck to dogsled
--Dogsled to City Hall

The current mayor simply takes an SUV guarded by a police convoy 20-something blocks to the express stop of the subway, bypassing the two locals along the way.

Slacker.

UPDATE: Transporter beam! I forgot transporter beam!

Forget about as an intelligent person. What about as a minion of the Forces of Darkness?

Quotation of the Day:

Larry King: Do you ever, as an intelligent person, look in the mirror and say, maybe I'm wrong?

Dick Cheney: No.

And more here, from Grampa Cheney. Yikes.

And now, mellow out

The Long Cut reviews the new Josh Rouse CD here. I haven't heard it yet, but I'm a big fan of his songwriting, arrangements, and voice.

Here are a few videos I found on YouTube.

"Quiet Town," from last year's Subtitulo:



This video quality on this concert appearance is extremely dark, but the sound is fine and the performance is a good one. Live string quartet--yay!



From 2005's Nashville, my fave album of his so far. The video's not great, but I really like this song, "Winter in the Hamptons":