Cone O’ Doom

Like many Floridians, I know how to make coffee on a grill. I hope I don’t have an opportunity to re-use that skill for the first time since 2004 over the next few days. But the hurricane forecast Cone O’ Doom has the Cracker Compound squarely in its cross-hairs at the moment. In the interim, a few random things that piss me off:

McSame attending hurricane briefings.

“The good news is, obviously, no state is better prepared or organized to deal with whatever comes this way than the state of Florida,” McCain told reporters after his briefing.

McCain has long criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s reaction to Hurricane Katrina, which inundated New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast.  He blamed poor leadership in the storm’s aftermath.

Bullshit. McCain was yukking it up and engaging in a Marie Antoinettish bout of cake-brandishing with Chimpy on the day Katrina drowned New Orleans. How the fuck would he know how prepared Florida is for a hurricane? Because Governor Sunlamp told him so?

I was at the grocery store yesterday to lay in a week’s supply of beer, and it was like the fall of Saigon. I had to use my shopping cart as a battering ram to plow through the crowds of panicky retirees fighting over the few remaining jugs of water. Jesus H. Christ filling celestial sandbags, you’d think they didn’t have perfectly good tubs and swimming pools at home.

US-Cuba relations prevent Hurricane Hunter planes from flying over Cuba to assess the storm.

Prior to the Bush administration’s ramped up hostility toward Cuba (a blatant pander to the elderly exile vote in South Florida), Hurricane Hunter planes were allowed to fly over Cuba to assess hurricanes. They shared all information obtained with the Cuban government. According to the Weather Channel, now they are restricted, so it’s tough for them to get a fix on storm strength and motion.

Yeah, the government of Cuba sucks, but is it really more oppressive and awful than, say Saudi Arabia, where women are barred from driving and voting and are required to scuttle around under drop cloths in public? Nice priorities, Chimpy.

No Country for Old Men.

Okay, I’m a HUGE Coen Brothers fan. I finally got my mitts on the DVD and watched it last night when I couldn’t sleep. I just have two questions: What the fuck? What the figgety fucking FUCK?

[CROSS-POSTED AT BETTY CRACKER]

Posted by Betty Cracker on 08/18/08 at 07:24 AM • Permalink

Jesus H. Christ filling celestial sandbags

Score!

BTW, I’m a big Coen brothers fan, too. I liked how No Country for Old Men was open-ended.  And Anton Chigurh ranks right at the top of the heap as one of the best film villains ever.

FUN FACT: I’ve met the Coen brothers (albeit briefly).  The woman who introduced my wife and me is pals with them.

Governor Sunlamp

Love it!

I saw No Country for the first time the other day too. And being supremely disappointed with the ending of the book was keen to see how they played it.

The movie was i thought pretty stunning, really faithful to the way Cormac Mcarthy writes, evoked the world weary desolate isolation that he loves so much. A solid, slow burn contemporary Western (very much in the mould of Three Burials, funnily enough also starring Tommy Lee Jones) and the ending i actually thought played a lot better in the film than it did in the book.

I can see why people would either love it or hate it though.

My husband teases me about requiring Hollywood endings, but I don’t think I’m completely guilty of that. I could’ve lived with the open endedness better if the whole effect weren’t so unrelentingly grim. The Coen Bros usually make me laugh like hell, even in horrifying scenes. Not this one, though.

You’re right, K, about the villainous Anton. He was one scary MoFo. That’s so cool that you got to meet the Bros!

D, I never read the book. Was it worth a read despite your disappointment with the ending?

Betty, well, Burn After Reading looks like fun and a return to form.

Yes, I’m looking forward to Burn! Just the trailer shot of Brad Pitt getting 5 in the snot locker is worth the price of admission! Also, the CB movies that feature Frances McDormand tend to be winners. Though she wasn’t in O Brother, which is one of the best movies ever, IMO.

I happened to like it Betty, but was a bit thrown off by it.  My wife, who is Spanish was extremely hyped to see Bardem in it...but wanted to bash my head in at the movies as he was the only person she could understand, outside of the cowboy mumblings.

Betty - Yeah absolutely worth a look. Cormac Mcarthy is not only really easy to read he’s a beautifully lyrical descriptive writer. It’s very very bleak (i think the film captured it perfectly) but if you like your first two thirds of a novel to be a tense noir western with the ultimate bad guy then definitely give it a shot.
The Road (Which i think is being made into a film with Viggo Mortenson) is also exceptional...but not exactly fun time reading...what with the post apocalyptic landscape and the cannibals and such.

"Yeah, the government of Cuba sucks, but is it really more oppressive and awful than, say Saudi Arabia, where women are barred from driving and voting and are required to scuttle around under drop cloths in public? Nice priorities, Chimpy.”

“But Betty, Cuba doesn’t suck up to mah family or have teh oil like the Sauds do.  Get it sweetie?
Luv ya,
Chimpy”