Slumdog Millionaire

The Academy Awards are over and Slumdog Millionaire won Eight Oscars. Eight Oscars, this must be a great movie I thought. So me and my Honey Bunney decided to go see how great of a movie it is. We caught an afternoon matinee for Five bucks and a free pocorn. After seeing the movie I will say it is a movie worth seeing. Is it Eigth Oscars good? I don't think so.

If you have not seen the movie, again it is worth seeing. The movie is a love story about two kids Jamal and Latika who grow up destined to be together. Jamal ends up a contestant on Indias version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". Jamal answers all of the questions correctly and of course before he can answer the last question time on the show runs out and Jamal will have to return tomorow to answer the last question. As Jamal is leaving the Television Studio he is arrested and interogated by the police. The Police want to know if he is cheating or how he knows all the answers. Jamal starts to tell them how he has come to know each and every answer. Each answer is connected to an event in his life that he could not forget.

It shows Jamal and his older brother Salim and how they grew up in Mumbai. How Jamal meets Latika and loses touch with her. How he finds her only to lose her again. Jamal knows if he can get on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" that Latika will see him and come back to him.

The movie is a coming of age story, a love story, a gangster story, a good movie not a great one. I was entertained but, it did not make me want to cheer or cry or get angry or be overly happy in the end. I was not emotionally connected to the charecters in any way. Gran Torino was a much better movie in making the audience emotionally connected to the charecters and the story. (See my review of Gran Torino). Overall I would give Slumdog Millionaire Four and a half Twirls with a couple of moth catcher hand moves thrown in. A good movie worth seeing but not a great movie worth Eight Oscars. Twirls are based on a five Twirl system.

Bigotry

Since President Obama started to run for President I started to receive bigoted e-mails disguised as jokes. I was hoping that once he became the most powerful man in the world that the bigotry towards at least Obama the man would stop. It hasn't it has gotten worse. In the past week here are some of the disgusting e-mails that I have received.

We should start looking for a new President now. When was the last time you knew of a N****r to hold a job for four years.

Pictures of the White House in total decay, weeds in the burned out grass, paint peeling, a rusted pool with dirty water. You get the idea.

The inn***eration.

What do you call Barrack Obama now that he is President, N****r

Explain to me how 2 million blacks can go to Washington in 8 degree weather but, 200,000 blacks could not get out of New Orleans in good weather with 5 days notice.

Do you know why it is cold and snowy outside? For 200 years white people have been saying that it will be a cold day in hell before a black man becomes President.

I had one good Republican tell me that he was glad that Obama had won the Presidency. He has to succeed otherwise he will fuck it up for the rest of the N****rs.

I don't care if you are Democrat or Republican if you are a decent human being you can't find any of these remarks funny. Personally they turn my stomach. Why would anyone pass this garbage on in an e-mail? I am asking for an explanation if anyone has one.

I could kind of understand if the e-mails were coming from uneducated white males who grew up in a black neighborhood where they were persecuted for being a minority. That is not who is sending this shit. No, this crap is being sent by college educated, white males, who have enlisted in the military and served as civil servants. These same people will exclaim "God Bless America" the greatest country on earth. But they will not stand behind a Harvard educated man because he is half black. If you fought for this nation, doesn't that mean that you fought for all people of this nation not just the white ones. If you are a civil servant that means you have a big enough heart to want to help people, all people not just the white ones. If you are college educated you should be smart enough to know this stuff is not funny.

I have been told to lighten up, that all of these "jokes" are meant to be funny, I am too serious, I can't take a joke. If you know me, you know I love to laugh. Bigotry is not funny. It is 2,009, it is time to judge men for their accomplishments and not by the color of their skin. E-mails like the ones mentioned above go straight to my trash file they don't get passed along. I hope more people will do the same.

P.S. I don't mean to offend any one and I am not pointing a finger at any one, I just don't want to be confronted by the bigoted e-mails any more. Do not pass them along, just keep them under your pointy white hats.

Derek Trucks Band HOB 2/11/09

I need to take some advice from Greg Cielec, the famed music critic, author, teacher, coach, friend and so much more, he told me that when he goes to review a band he takes notes during the concert. Seems simple but I didn't do it and today I can't remember the name of the songs that DTB played. I will say that if you wanted to hear short songs with catchy lyrics played like they are on the radio you came to the wrong concert.

Derek came out at exactly 9:00 and played for 2 hours and 15 minutes and played 14 songs. He opened with "Down Don't Bother Me" and "Down In The Flood" from his new Already Free CD. The only other two songs I can recall from his new CD were the title tune "Already Free" and "I Know". His third song slid into "Sahib Teri Bandi" a classic instrumental song and a fan favorite. The Derek Trucks Band plays a rock and roll, bluesy form of jazz with a tinge of African and Indian overtones. You should have heard Derek's instrumental version of Julie Andrews "My Favorite Things" with an interlude of Jimi Hendrix's "Who Knows". I don't think Julie Andrews knew her song could sound this good. No one plays a slide guitar that sounds any thing like Derek's. Another highlight was "Soul Of A Man" Mike Mattison's vocals were superb on this one. Actually Mike Mattison vocals were superb all night when he was on stage, remember DTB likes its instrumentals and jams so Mike dissappears form the stage at times. Todd Smallie is a reserved Bass guitarist who I feel needs to step to the front on a song or two. He is very accomplished on his instrument but very reserved just the same. The ever popular Yonrico Scott was on drums adding a deep back beat joined by Count M'Butu on congas and tambourines. Kofi Burbridge added the right keyboards and flute to every song. The night was a great night of World Music and Peace and Love. OK not the love part.

I felt no love towards some of my felow concert goers. I had two chicks with a guy in a wheel chair next to me that talked incessantly the whole concert. SHUT UP AND LISTEN. My Honey Bunny had a guy standing three people away from her that was trying to talk louder than the music, he eventually left to go bother other people. Then the gray haired gentleman in front of me pushed past me six times to go to the bar before he and his partner decided they had had enough and staggered out of the show with five songs to go. Is there such a thing as concert etiquette any more. Even with all of the distractions I rate it a five twirl show.

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is over. Bruce Springsteen did a good job on the half time entertainment ( I could have done without his new song). I loved the oldies but goodies he did. The commercials were not that good, none of them made me laugh and a few were so strange that everyone I was with just had quizzical looks on their faces. The game was one of the best Super Bowl games I can remember. Shitsburg pulled it out for the win in the end. That made me sad until I realized that all of Pitspukes fans that bet money on the game, lost money, because the Cardinals covered the spread. I gained some solace from the fact that the lovers of piss yellow and tooth decay black lost money because of their team. Hooo Haaa!