Carnival of the Vanities #234: The Personal Carny
I’m going to try something a little different with this week’s Carnival and get right down to business. Don’t get too excited. I’m still going to talk a lot, I’m just going to intersperse my commentary in with the posts a little more.
The reason behind this is that the first two posts at least provide personal reference points for me and I plan to use them to tell you what’s on my mind.
Kid Various kicks of the Carnival with a really good discussion of the movie ’300′, which I went to see on Saturday. Most of the talk about the movie, strangely enough, seems to focus not on the fact that it’s mediocre at best once you get past the beautiful cinematics, but on the underlying themes.
Yes, the plot is thin and the acting ham-fisted, but you’d have to be pretty thick to miss the parallels between the Spartan-Persian conflict and the current “War on Terrorism”. A small, lonely, devoted band of white men stand between the evil, enslaved Persians and the ideal of Democracy and freedom. There are also many Christian themes brought out in the movie. There’s a scene in which Xerxes promises King Leonidas power over the entire world if Leo will only kneel and worship before him. And the movie ends with a shot of Leonidas, arms outstretched, sacrificied in death so that the world may live. It’s pretty obvious stuff.
The coolest part is that ’300′ matches the comic almost frame for frame. And the comic was first published in 1998, three or four years before the “War on Terror” even began. Frank, you’re a prescient being.
In the end, the movie is a gorgeous piece of film and builds on the effects in “Sin City”. It still isn’t great, but it’s entertaining. It did make me want to see how “Return of the Dark Knight” would look on the big screen. And who would play the Dark Knight himself? Ed Harris.
Natalie also sparked some memories with A visit to the Musee du quai Branly. This time last year, I’d just gotten back from a week spent in Paris. The trip was much on my mind last week and I couldn’t help thinking of the places I’d been and the person beside me for most of the journey. I found myself wandering the narrow alleys of St. Germain and Montemarte in my mind. I found myself praying again in the Basilica du Sacre Coeur and taking in the night lights from the river Seine or from atop Le Tour Eiffel. I even heard the metro trains in the passing of the MARTA.
BTW, Mom, That Girl and I are speaking again. As of yesterday. Thought you’d like to know. I’ll keep you apprised of any changes in our status as friends.
On with the Carny, sans personal asides for the duration.
DWSUWF presents The Partisan Hypocrite Test. Take this test to find out if you’re a partisan hypocrite or not. I’m not. Hint: if you can spot the similarity between Scooter Libby and Bill Clinton, you’re not a hypocrite.
Alan K. Henderson uses Ann Coulter as an excuse to give us Henderson’s Rules Of Name-Calling. The one rule he missed is “no name-calling”.
Sholom sent in two posts for this week’s Carny but I have a non-strict rule against two posts from the same individual in one edition of CoTV. I present the first I read. Anarcho-Judaism: Come, let us rejioce! I think he really means “rejioce” as it’s spelt that way with great regularity.
Wayne Hurlbert presents Business ideas: Understanding wisdom. I don’t know what he’s talking about but maybe I’m not ready to hear it yet.
Okay, just kidding. I’m a smart-ass. What can I say?
Andrew Ian Dodge channels our very own Bigwig in Camoron wants to stop you flying. They’re two sides of the same coin, ladies and gentlemen.
Jack Yoest presents Job Interview: How To Tell If the Candidate Will Lie, Cheat, Steal?
I know I promised no more personal asides, but I lied. I have to say that everyone I know at work is uniformly wonderful to work with. I’ve never met a larger group of smart, dedicated, hard-working, competent individuals. And my boss doesn’t even read this blog.
Marsha Hudnall brings up another subject close to my heart. Diet and Fitness: Binge Eating Overtakes Other Eating Disorders. MA, hope you’re alive and well out there and I hope you beat it.
Riversider echoes a German Trade Unionists Call For Mobilisation.
Leon Gettler tells how Conrad Black fell for website hoax.
Lastly, Madeleine Begun Kane defends her right to free speech in Why I Don’t Hate My Hate Mail.
Also lastly, Lisa gives Rubber ducky birthday party ideas.
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That’s it for this week’s CoTV. Thanks to all for their good submissions. If you’d like your post to be considered for inclusion in the Carnival of the Vanities, please submit your post through Blog Carnival. Your post may or may not be included in this space at roughly the same time next week.
Until then, thanks for visiting and enjoy the Carnival of the Vanities.
We begin with a “thank you for the shoutout” w00t!
Yes, I did mean “rejioce”; it’s somewhat of an inside joke on the unmentionable Bizayon.
The other one was a long-winded piece about a kike blog carnival called Haveil Havalim.
I know I am a little behind the curve here, but was out of town last week – just wanted to say thanks for including my post in the Carny. That said, I have one quibble – There is no point in me throwing a pop quiz – if you are just going to give away the answer.
FWIW – the most recent edition of the Carnival of Divided Government was just posted.