November 18, 2004
Pissing on the Sparkplug
Ah, what lessons the great films of the 80's can teach us.
On election day, the words of (Detroit's own) Curtis Armstrong, in his classic role as Booger in Revenge of the Nerds, echoed through my mind as the election broke away from John Kerry: "We got Bush...We got Bush."
How RotN reverberates through our culture!. The dialog that follows Booger's cry of victory, another off-color term for the pudenda, is spoken in a full "me rikey flied lice" accent by Brian Tochi, an actor who would go on to play Leonardo in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and to a career in broadcast journalism, working alongside the young Anderson Cooper on Channel 1 in the early 90's. So there was dreamy young Coop and...Takashi from RotN, telling me that George Bush is invading Iraq.
The wacky world of Whittle.
Anyhoo, you'll notice, on the left side bar, a new Sesame Street terror alert meter that I think is pretty cute. It's supposed to change automatically each time the Department of Homeland Security issues a new alert.
Yeah, I'll second that.
Barry Corbin rocks. Not only does he boast over 100 entries in the IMDB, but performs audiobooks and for video games. Seriously, have a look, this guy works hard. Mr. President, if you're reading this, consider Mr. Corbin for your cabinet. He'll piss on a sparkplug if he thinks it'll do any good. This is a man I can trust.
Sesame Street terror alert courtesy of www.geekandproud.net. Photo and sound file courtesy of www.barrycorbin.net.
On election day, the words of (Detroit's own) Curtis Armstrong, in his classic role as Booger in Revenge of the Nerds, echoed through my mind as the election broke away from John Kerry: "We got Bush...We got Bush."
How RotN reverberates through our culture!. The dialog that follows Booger's cry of victory, another off-color term for the pudenda, is spoken in a full "me rikey flied lice" accent by Brian Tochi, an actor who would go on to play Leonardo in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and to a career in broadcast journalism, working alongside the young Anderson Cooper on Channel 1 in the early 90's. So there was dreamy young Coop and...Takashi from RotN, telling me that George Bush is invading Iraq.
The wacky world of Whittle.
Anyhoo, you'll notice, on the left side bar, a new Sesame Street terror alert meter that I think is pretty cute. It's supposed to change automatically each time the Department of Homeland Security issues a new alert.
You can click on the alert icon at left to go to the creator's homepage. I dunno how long I'll keep it on the page. Probably until the novelty wears off for me.
Oh, yeah, 80's movies.
Well, it should come as no surprise to anybody that I don't find the DHS's color-code scale particularly effective, but it reminds me affectionately of the movie WarGames - the Cold War teen suspense dramedy that introduced an entire generation of American kids to the DefCon scale.
The actor that gave the scale its gravitas was the redoubtable Barry Corbin as the wise-talkin' General "I'd piss on a spark plug if I thought it'd do any good" Berringer. Barry Corbin was all over the cinema in the 80's, lending his distinctive and unaffected Texas drawl to movies like Urban Cowboy, The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia, Six Pack, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He's now on network television in One Tree Hill.
Well, it turns out Mr. Corbin maintains a sprawling, incredibly detailed and feature-rich website with sound and video clips and articles and downloadable collages from the movies and TV shows that made him one of the most easily recognized "ohhhh yeah, that dude" character actors out there (along with Clint Howard and M. Emmet Walsh):
Yeah, that dude. He was such the no-bullshit general. This is the kind of role they'd give to Billy Bob Thorton now. If you think about Corbin's part in WarGames - it's a really nuanced performance. He goes through professionalism, anger, frustration, joy, fear, resignation - it's a great part played great. I think I might genuinely sleep better at night if Tom Ridge resigned and Bush appointed General Berringer to head the Department of Homeland security. If Barringer came on CNN and told us we were at DefCon Elmo, I'd grab the duct tape, the iPod, grab Simba, and duck 'n cover.
With that kind of twang, he could likely speak truth to power in the house of Bush. He take one look at the color code system, walk on into the oval office, and throw that cowpie where it belongs. I'll let the General speak for himself.
Oh, yeah, 80's movies.
Well, it should come as no surprise to anybody that I don't find the DHS's color-code scale particularly effective, but it reminds me affectionately of the movie WarGames - the Cold War teen suspense dramedy that introduced an entire generation of American kids to the DefCon scale.
The actor that gave the scale its gravitas was the redoubtable Barry Corbin as the wise-talkin' General "I'd piss on a spark plug if I thought it'd do any good" Berringer. Barry Corbin was all over the cinema in the 80's, lending his distinctive and unaffected Texas drawl to movies like Urban Cowboy, The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia, Six Pack, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He's now on network television in One Tree Hill.
Well, it turns out Mr. Corbin maintains a sprawling, incredibly detailed and feature-rich website with sound and video clips and articles and downloadable collages from the movies and TV shows that made him one of the most easily recognized "ohhhh yeah, that dude" character actors out there (along with Clint Howard and M. Emmet Walsh):
Yeah, that dude. He was such the no-bullshit general. This is the kind of role they'd give to Billy Bob Thorton now. If you think about Corbin's part in WarGames - it's a really nuanced performance. He goes through professionalism, anger, frustration, joy, fear, resignation - it's a great part played great. I think I might genuinely sleep better at night if Tom Ridge resigned and Bush appointed General Berringer to head the Department of Homeland security. If Barringer came on CNN and told us we were at DefCon Elmo, I'd grab the duct tape, the iPod, grab Simba, and duck 'n cover.
With that kind of twang, he could likely speak truth to power in the house of Bush. He take one look at the color code system, walk on into the oval office, and throw that cowpie where it belongs. I'll let the General speak for himself.
Barry Corbin rocks. Not only does he boast over 100 entries in the IMDB, but performs audiobooks and for video games. Seriously, have a look, this guy works hard. Mr. President, if you're reading this, consider Mr. Corbin for your cabinet. He'll piss on a sparkplug if he thinks it'll do any good. This is a man I can trust.
