Yes, Virginia, Manohla Dargis May Well be an Idiot

Although politically we're generally pretty lefty, we're feeling like Brock Yates on potentially lethal cocktail of bad speed and cheap whiskey right now, all due to Manohla Dargis' review of Cars in the NYT. Now, we admit that story-wise Pixar has crafted stronger efforts, but the sheer love of automobilia and the intrinsic understanding of the pleasure of driving is implicit in the film, and because of that, to us, Cars is our favorite of any of Pixar's efforts. Tony Shalhoub as a Fiat Cinquecento tire-dealership owner? What's not to love about that bit of casting brilliance, character execution and detail? More after the jump; slight spoiler alert for those bent on clicking through who haven't seen the film. Because we love bands like Jawbreaker, Rites of Spring and H sker D , we totally welled up when the Paul Newman-voiced Doc showed up in his "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" livery. In fact, we even spilled over a bit. Sure, the film is sentimental for a bygone era, but so are many of Pixar's films; it's one of the reasons they appeal to adults and children alike. While six-year-olds won't understand the significance of Strip Weathers' #43 Plymouth Superbird, gearhead adults sure as hell will. Quoth the Manohla: "There, on a derelict lick of asphalt, he meets a pileup of metal and ethnic clich s, including a tow truck with a deep-fried accent (Larry the Cable Guy as Mater) and a lowrider that apparently hopped in from East L.A. (Cheech Marin as Ramone)." But here's the deal: we drove around Pedro this afternoon with Bumbeck. The bombas and lowriders were out in force. And who drives them? Dudes who talk like Cheech, a man who invented his own loving/acid homage to the vatos locos and pachucos of East LA. What's more, those guys essentially invented custom car culture, at least as it existed after the heyday of rich folks with custom-bodied Delahayes. But we think that Dargis probably wouldn't understand the cultural heritage there; the role it's played in the history of America — a place where things now are both recycled and slightly recyclable — including NASCAR. But Lasseter combined four periods of the sport's history, illustrating the richness of motorsport heritage, as well as the pleasure of just getting in one's car with no destination in mind and just seeing the world. Dear Manohla should get out of New York more; she's obviously never tried to find pair of 235/75/R15s in Lordsburg, New Mexico during a two-day blast to Austin. And secretly enjoyed every minute of it. Criticizing Cars for not featuring hybrids is like criticizing Chinatown for not having a primarily-Asian cast. And New Yorkers wonder why even the solipsistic navel-gazers on the Left Coast stereotype them as ridiculously self-centered and self-righteous? We're beginning to think that our brother and sister on the streets of NYC are right: Dargis is fucking crazy. 'Cars' Is a Drive Down a Lonely Highway [New York Times] Related: Jamie Kitman Takes on Product Placement [Internal]

Trade Online All Capitals Markets - HY Markets

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Craig Kucia

Currently on view at SHAHEEN Modern and Contemporary Art in Cleveland, Ohio is a solo exhibition of work by Craig Kucia, entitled we left with our hearts tired. Kucia's paintings offer entree into a dreamy land of nostalgia, memory and curiosity-- a virtual huddle of memories rendered in bright crayola hues. He renders scenes that appear innocent and playful at first, because of their cheery palette and storybook imagery, but we soon find that within the paintings hide layers of deeper meaning and even somber sensibilities. The quirky titles paired with the paintings will most often confound you if your goal is to use them as a reference point for deeper understanding into what is offered visually. Taken from lines that the artist has overheard in conversation or song, or read throughout the years, the seemingly nonsensical phrases are works of art in and of themselves, rather than simple captions for the paintings they give name to. They are poetic pieces, almost designating Kucia's paintings multi-media by offering another layer to their construction. We left with our hearts tired is on view through June 5th.
Craig Kucia studied art at the Chelsea School of Art in London and the Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland, Ohio. He received his MFA at the Edinburgh College of Art in Edinburgh, Scotland. His work is in the permanent collections of the Miami Museum of Art and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. He has exhibited at Kevin Bruk Gallery, Miami; Blum & Poe, in their Santa Monica space; Marlborough Chelsea, New York and Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, among others.

Campaign targets Obama speech at Notre Dame

NEW YORK (AP) - A campaign by outraged Roman Catholics to keep President Obama from delivering the commencement address at Notre Dame shows that the gulf between the Catholic Church and backers of abortion rights remains deep.Yet the effort to get the school to rescind its invitation to Obama also highlights a political disconnect between the conservative Catholic hierarchy and millions of U.S. Catholic voters.Since the White House announced in March that Obama had accepted Notre Dame's invitation to speak on May 17, more than 358,000 people have signed an online petition demanding that the university take back the offer. The Cardinal Newman Society an advocacy group for Catholic colleges that circulated the position, said the invitation violated a 2004 bishops' mandate that stated, "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles."One Catholic leader, Archbishop Raymond Burke, accused Obama of pushing an anti-life, anti-family agenda. Burke, the first American to lead the Vatican supreme court, said Friday it was "a scandal" that Notre Dame had invited Obama to speak.Catholic activists and bishops have been outspoken in their criticism of Obama. By comparison, they had only occasional disagreements with President George W. Bush, primarily over the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which the Vatican condemned but many conservative Catholics supporters.They cite Obama's support for abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research, and his repeal of a policy that denied federal dollars to international relief organizations that provide abortions or abortion-related information. They remain angry with Obama's support for legislation that would prohibit state and local governments from interfering with a woman's right to obtain an abortion.Obama also has been criticized by Catholics and other opponents of legal abortion for telling Pastor Rick Warren at a campaign forum last summer that the question of when life begins was "above my pay grade."Yet polling and other evidence shows that Catholic voters have a largely positive view of the president, closely tracking other national polling. Obama's standing is more evidence that U.S. Catholics don't always follow the Church hierarchy, whether on issues such as abortion and contraception or political preferences. Also, the president's community service background and his opposition to the Iraq war appeal to some Catholics.As a candidate, Obama worked hard to woo Catholic voters. He chose an observant Catholic, Joe Biden, as his running mate, and Biden campaigned hard for the ticket in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, which have large Catholic communities. But Biden also supports abortion rights, putting him at odds with the bishops and many conservative Catholics.Obama is also widely popular among Hispanics, a fast-growing growing Catholic population in the U.S.Patrick Whelan, a physician at Harvard Medical School and president of Catholic Democrats, said that by taking such a hard line against Obama, bishops and other conservative leaders risked driving Catholics away from the church rather than cool their support for the president."There are unintended consequences to this kind of angry, vituperative language about their opponents," Whelan said. "By making themselves pawns of the conservative right, the bishops are playing into a cycle of decline for our church."Notre Dame students are generally enthusiastic about Obama's impending visit to their northern Indiana campus. He won about 57% of the students' vote in a mock election in October, compared with 41% for Republican John McCain, an abortion rights opponent.Obama, a Protestant, won 54% of the Catholic vote in the 2008 general election and continues to be viewed more favorably by Catholics than by Protestants. A Quinnipiac University poll released in late April found that white Catholics approve of Obama's job performance by a 57-33% margin, while white Protestants are split 44-42% in favor.Catholics have sided with the winner in eight of the past nine presidential elections. That suggests their votes generally mirror national political trends and are not overly influenced by a candidate's abortion position.The only exception to the pattern was in 2000, when Catholics narrowly favored Democrat Al Gore, a Protestant abortion-rights supporter, over Bush, a Protestant whose views on abortion were seen as more in line with Catholic teaching. Gore won the popular vote in the disputed election that year.In 2004, Catholic voters chose Bush over Democrat John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights.J. Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University who has studied the Catholic vote, said observant Catholics tend be more conservative and much more skeptical of Obama than those who don't practice the faith."There are large number of voters who are nominally Catholic but are not regular churchgoers and not tied in with Catholic life in any meaningful way," Wilson said. "Many of these people know nothing about what the bishops are saying about political matters because they're not in church to hear them."Indeed, a new Pew Research Center poll found that 45% of Catholics who regularly attend Mass said it was wrong for Notre Dame to invite Obama to speak. Fifty-six percent of nonobservant Catholics said the school was right to invite him.Many prominent Catholic politicians have been condemned by the church for supporting legal abortion. Most have been Democrats, including Sen. Ted Kennedy, whose brother, John F. Kennedy, was the first Catholic president. Others include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Geraldine Ferraro, the party's 1984 vice presidential nominee and the first woman to appear on a major party ticket.In 2004, St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said he would deny communion to Kerry because of the senator's support for abortion rights. He made the same threat against Rudy Giuliani, a Catholic and former New York mayor who ran for the Republican presidential nomination last year.Former Democratic New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, a Catholic and abortion rights supporter, tangled with the church hierarchy during his three terms in office. He delivered a well-regarded speech at Notre Dame in 1984 explaining that Catholic lawmakers cannot impose their religious beliefs on the public at large.Cuomo recently sent a letter to Notre Dame outlining his views on Obama's impending speech there, and shared a copy with The Associated Press."The president's appearance at Notre Dame will not in any way serve as an acceptance or condonation of his position on abortion and stem cells, but rather will provide the university the opportunity to reject freely and clearly those positions for all the world to hear and read," Cuomo wrote. "Better that confident and respectful stance by the university than a defensive and impolite insult to our nation's respected and singularly important world leader, who demonstrated his respect to Notre Dame by agreeing to come to the university."

British Psychological Society guidelines on memory

The British Psychological Society has published guidelines on latest evidence on human memory and how that evidence could be of use to the legal professions. Its a very handy overview prepared by experts in the field.
As the principal authors Martin A. Conway and Emily A. Holmes explain in the introduction to the report:
The guidelines and key points should then be taken as they are intended – as guidelines and not absolute statements. Because they are based on widely agreed and acknowledged scientific findings they provide a far more rigorously informed understanding of human memory than that available from commonly held beliefs. In this respect they give courts a much firmer basis for accurate decision-making.
According to the press release (11 July):
The report has some sobering key points on the reliability of peoples memories in court cases. Key points of Memory and Law include:
The content of memories arises from an individuals comprehension of an experience, both conscious and non-conscious. This content can be further modified and changed by subsequent recall
Any account of a memory will feature forgotten details and gaps
People can remember events that they have not in reality experienced
You can find out more about the research and download the full report via the BPS website here.
Photo credit: Martin Deutsch, Creative Commons License

Five Reason Why Now is a Good Time to Buy Stuff

Long-time readers of Savvy Frugality might be surprised by today's headline. After I'll, Savvy Frugality is usually recommending that people hang on to their hard-earned money, put it in emergency savings and invest it for the future. Well, sure...you should be doing all of those things. After all, we really don't NEED to buy all of the stuff we are buying. That's why credit card debt is such a big problem in the U.S. However, if you already have the money, and you actually do need to make a significant purchase, there is no better time than the present. You might be thinking "What? That's crazy! We're experiencing the worst economy since the Great Depression!" Actually, only certain sectors of the economy are experiencing hard times. There are segments of the population which, so far, have been largely unaffected by the current economic crisis. That doesn't mean times aren't hard in the U.S. right now. They certainly are. They are just more difficult for some people right now than others, depending upon what region of the U.S. you live in and what you do for a living. For example, now is not a great time to work for an auto manufacturer or mortgage lender. While some are speculating the current recession will last another year or two, other economists say that the second half of 2009 could actually see the U.S. beginning to recover from its current economic woes.But, I digress. Why should you buy stuff now? Five reasons:1. Homes are on sale! Banks have to do something with all of those foreclosures, and with the housing market in the tank sellers are desperate to unload their homes. If you have a decent credit rating and are in need of a home, this is actually a great time to buy a house.2. Cars are on sale! They aren't just on sale, car dealerships are frantically trying to get people on the lot to unload their merchandise. Some dealerships are even offering "buy one, get one free" deals. When is the last time you saw that? Probably never. Of course, we've previously mentioned Hyundai's deal: if you lose your job within a year of buying a new Hyundai, just take it back to the dealership, no questions asked.3. Stocks are on sale! Yeah, my stocks got hammered, along with everybody else's. But, I'm still buying. Why? Stocks are relatively cheap these days. Almost all of the so-called blue chip stocks are selling for much less than they are worth. The stock prices will go up again, someday. Wait too long to get in on the market, and you risk missing out on those gains. 4. Retailers need the business. As a result, they are offering some pretty good deals on the stuff they sell. Some retailers will even haggle over the price on the tag, and that includes big-ticket items like electronics and appliances. If you need it, and you have the cash (for God's sake, don't run up your credit card right now), this is a good time to take advantage of these deals. Retailers who are efficient, can run lean, and offer good deals will weather the current storm. Those who can't (Circuit City, Linens 'n Things), won't. 5. Bottom line: if you're a buyer, times are good. If you're a seller...not so much. The term "buyers' market" is being applied to many areas of the economy right now. That means that sellers aren't getting full value for the stuff they are selling, but buyers are getting great deals. If you need it, if you can afford it, and if you have the cash...there are some great bargains to be had. We listed just a few examples, but there are many others. Deals like this don't come around often. Unfortunately, the deals come at the expense of some hard-hit businesses.

Game Boy

Seven of the best sites about Nintendos Game Boy. Know of another site that should be included here? Leave your suggestions at the bottom of the page. (Related searches: Used Video Games, Nintendo Wii, Wii Games) 1. GameBoy.com - At the official site of the Nintendo Game Boy, youll find features and buying information for the companys newest introductions, including the Game Boy Advance SP (an updated and improved Advance) and the Game Boy Micro. A list of sources for older Game Boy systems, games and accessories no longer readily available at retailers is also included. Youll be directed to sister Nintendo sites to learn more about the newest Pokeman and Final Fantasy V games for Game Boy Advance. (www.gameboy.com) 2. Game Boy at Wikipedia.org - Learn more about the history and success of the Game Boy line of handheld video game consoles from Nintendo here. Among the information included are product features, technical specs, accessories, a list of games for the original Game Boy and units sold since the products inception. You can also see photos of various generations of Nintendo Game Boy handhelds and access a wide range of outside resources. (en.wikipedia.org) 3. Game Boy at eBay - Nearly 20,000 new and used Game Boy systems, games and accessories up for auction or immediate sale here. Find vintage games and the newest products and releases. (shop.ebay.com) 4. Game Boy at Amazon.com - Find thousands of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, consoles and accessories for sale here. Youll have access to a wide range of games including Pokeman, Tetris, Super Mario Brothers and more. Products include customer ratings and reviews. Products are shipped from Amazon, directly from the manufacturers or from outside sellers (who are also rated). (www.amazon.com) 5. Game Boy and Students Celebrate 20 Years of Synergy - May 2009 article looks at the relationship between the Game Boy from Nintendo, celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2009, and the students who basically grew up along with it. (www.pcccourier.com) 6. Game Boy Special: Replacing the Screen - Nine-minute video shows you how to replace the screen in your Game Boy device, which can start to break if not stored properly. Even if your Game Boy isnt broken, you can get a look inside the device and see how it works. (www.youtube.com) 7. GameBoyCheats.net - Youll find nearly 2,000 cheats, hints and codes for Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Color here, including the most popular  cheats for Pokeman games, Zelda games and Super Mario games. (www.gameboycheats.net) More related searches: Nintendo DS Lite