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February 26, 2015
It's legal, mostly: DC's Hip-osie may now rock the ganj'.
As of 12:01 a.m. today, persons 21 and older in the District of Columbia can:
• Possess 2 ounces or less of marijuana;
• Share 1 ounce or less with another person at least 21 years old, as long as no money, goods or services change hands;
• Cultivate up to six marijuana plants, but have no more than three mature plants, in their primary home; and
• Use marijuana on private property.
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Warner Bros.
Posted by JD Hull at 06:25 PM | Comments (0)
Did the House Appropriations Committee just go hippie on us?
The congressional staff of a respected seven-term Ohio Republican routinely filed all office documents relating to "Indians" under "Environmental Matters", the staffers apparently having decided that Native Americans were primarily part of the nation's natural resources and outdoor life.
Note that on its agenda--it is copied in part below right after the picture of the late Mr. Rogers--that the now GOP-run House Appropriations Committee yesterday morning heard budget testimony in the Rayburn House Office Building on "Quality of Life in the Military".
A good thing? A Birkenstock creepy thing? Did the Republican takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives last month for the first time in almost a decade somehow create a magnanimous, kinder, gentler and more caring-sharing GOP-controlled House we can all enjoy? Or did a rogue very young sweet, male Gen-Y committee staffer or intern totally lose it a couple of weeks ago in styling hearings of the House Appropriations Committee--and no one has noticed yet?
And can we get a transcript?
We're not sure what happened here. We do know that, not that long ago, the congressional staff of a respected seven-term member (R-Ohio) routinely filed all office documents relating to "Indians" under "Environmental Matters", the staff having decided that Native Americans were primarily part of the nation's natural resources and outdoor life. So a hearing entitled "Quality of Life in the Military"? Get the net.
From the website of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday:
Budget Hearing - Quality of Life in the Military
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 9:30 AM in 2362-B Rayburn
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies
Witnesses
Command Sergeant Major Daniel A. Dailey
United States Army
Master Chief Petty Officer Michael D. Stevens
United States Navy
Sergeant Major Ronald Green
United States Marine Corps
Chief Master Sergeant James A. Cody
United States Air Force
Posted by JD Hull at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2015
"50 Shades of Grey" is an overwhelmingly limp cinematic experience bordering on fraud. Do not see it.
In case you're Bevis or Butthead and might actually like this movie I won't spoil it for you by backing up this post with any concrete examples--but I made the mistake of seeing "50 of Shades Grey" on Friday night late with a D.C. yuppie 30-and 40-something audience that found it just as empty as I did in every respect. After the first 45 minutes, viewers laughed derisively, left early or talked with their friends in the hallways and restrooms. This movie has less sensuality and sexual tension than either Pee-wee Herman movie made 20 years ago. Not an exaggeration.
I knew nothing about "Shades" before buying my ticket except for what I could pick up from the outsized ad campaign. There was a huge build-up for this film, which apparently was based on a book which the movie is said is to fairly follow in substance and tone. The disappointment delivered from these towering expectations that the film--even if it failed at box office or with critics--would at least be on occasions "hot" or "unique" borders on outright fraud. It is not.
(Note to self: Fraud, misrepresentation and/or at least a detrimental reliance theory under the Restatement of Ks (2nd) comes to mind. Again, as with the Pee-wee Herman comment above, I am not kidding.)
"Shades" is not hot, cute, tense. edgy, erotic or sexy. "Neutered" is the word I'd use for the male lead, who comes off as a shallow twit masquerading as existential hero and lonely tortured artist. The female lead is sufficiently pathetic playing the role but convinced me she is as asexual in real life as she was in this movie. I half-jokingly mentioned to a friend that this entire BDSM farce must have been cooked up by either Brits and/or Gen-Y Americans who are taking a "guess" at what eroticism, spontaneity and sport-swiving might have been like when Baby Boomers were as sexually active as deranged rabbits between the early 60s and mid-80s until AIDS came along. Anyway, they guessed wrong. Boomers have special equipment, procedures and protocols for work and maybe fly-fishing--but not for sex. Sex, at least for happy people, is reinvented, over and over again.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)