TRIBUTE

Best military recruitment film ever!

Best college film ever!

Best golfing film ever!

Best family vacation film ever!

And they were all written and/or directed by Harold Ramis, who sometimes acted in them, too. Ramis passed away today at the age of 69.

So long, Harold. You did real good.

48TH STATE

"I think anybody that owns a business can choose who they work with or who they don't work with...That's America. That's freedom."

-- Arizona Governor Jan Brewer

Actually Jan, that's not America, that's discrimination.

With a 33-27 vote, the Arizona legislature passed Senate Bill 1062, which re-defines and expands the state's definition of "exercise of religion" and "state action" to protect businesses, corporations and people from lawsuits after denying services based on a sincere religious belief and has been targeted at gays and lesbians.

Hmm, so they're using a "sincere religious belief" as a weapon of state-sponsored discrimination, huh?

My, how Christian.

This is going to be an easy boycott.

NEVERMIND

So Aberdeen, Wa., the hometown of the late singer Kurt Cobain, unveiled a statue of their native son that has some folks scratching their heads.

Yeah, I'm sort of scratching my head, too.

Not only does it appear to be shedding a single tear (sigh), but the statue also seems to resemble the lead singer of the Canadian rock group Nickelback more than it does Cobain.

Ouch.

THE BOOB TUBE

I suppose this posting could have been better timed since The Tonight Show torch was recently passed on to Jimmy Fallon, but so be it.

Back in the early 90's -- when he was funny -- Ben Stiller had a sketch comedy show on FOX that was damn funny. Created by Stiller and Judd Apatow, The Ben Stiller Show lasted just 13 episodes before it unceremoniously canceled.

This particular sketch was aired just as the ugliness over who was going to replace Johnny Carson as host of the venerable late-night show was in full swing. Jeanne Garafalo's imitation of how Sinead O'Connor's audition might have gone had she actually auditioned is beyond hilarious -- and spot on.

STRANGER IN PARADISE

The following is from the February 18 edition of the New York Times' Metropolitan Diary:

Dear Diary:

After hours of pecking away at her laptop and conversing on her cellphone, the attractive woman at an Upper East Side Starbucks was packing up at closing time.

As we braced for the late January freeze, she told me she was in a jam: She had left her wallet, cash, ID, credit cards and key to her boyfriend’s flat at her home in Boston, and was weak with hunger.

I invited her for a late sandwich in a diner. She shared her story: Drama major, aspiring screenwriter. She was in New York to discuss a screenplay and to try to make her roller-coaster relationship with her boyfriend work. In Boston, she was in rehearsal for a Tennessee Williams play.

Soon enough, I was passing ten $20 bills across the table, along with my address. She thanked me profusely and assured me that the loan would be repaid. I had my doubts.

At 7 the next morning, she called. She was again at the local Starbucks and wanted to repay the loan.

I joined her. “I was glad to be helpful,” I said. “I guess things worked out with your boyfriend.”

“Not really,” she replied. “We actually broke up yesterday afternoon, but before I left him, I locked up my wallet, cash and credit cards at his apartment so that I could do that exercise last night.”

“What exercise was that?” I asked.

“Oh, the one in which I was trying to understand what it was like to be Blanche DuBois and rely on the kindness of strangers.”

This would only happen in New York City.

Oh man, I love that town!

BRIDGEWORK

So over the last few months, the newly-opened eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been plagued with several safety issues, such as broken bolts and poorly manufactured and installed support rods. As if that wasn't enough, it was also revealed earlier this week that rainwater is leaking into the bridge, causing corrosion.

In spite of what increasingly appears to be a very poorly-built bridge, today's edition of SFGATE is reporting that the contractor, American Bridge/Fluor Enterprises, has been paid $49 million in bonuses, including $20 million for completing the bridge on time.

What. The. Fuck?

SKYFALL

This clip of a GoPro camera's fall from a plane is pretty hilarious. Not only does it survive the drop, but it lands in a pig pen and almost instantly becomes an afternoon snack.

SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS

From an album full of awesome songs, Retreat! is absolutely the most fucking awesomest song of the bunch.

The video is pretty cool, too.

Give The People What They Want is the latest (well, sort of latest, it dropped last October) from a singer who NEVER disappoints, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

You're welcome.

DIG IF YOU WILL THE PICTURE

A couple of shots that I think turned out quite nice.

SCARFACE

Okay, so I caught the 80's classic Scarface on the big screen last night and I just have to say this:

Michelle Pfeiffer, you were so robbed of an Oscar!

That is all.

THE FAB FIVE

A lot has been written lately regarding the recent 50th anniversary of The Beatles appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. That's nice and all but what I want to know is why the 30th anniversary of Duran Duran's Seven and the Ragged Tiger concert tour (which I saw at the Oakland Coliseum) has gone virtually ignored by the media?

I was a pretty big fan of Duran Duran back in the day. In fact, I'm still enough of a fan that when a song of theirs pops up on my iPod, I sometimes have to violently struggle to keep from doing The New Wave, the quintessential 80's dance move.

If you pay close attention, you'll see a fan in the audience of this concert clip performing it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the first video in our celebration of the 30th anniversary of Duran Duran's arrival in America, The Reflex.

You're welcome.

DIG IF YOU WILL THE PICTURE

Here are a couple of shots I captured this past week.