tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154247662009-11-01T10:38:23.005-05:00Opinions, thoughts, & recommendations.Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-36013665239219077002009-11-01T09:25:00.003-05:002009-11-01T10:38:23.015-05:00

In the Washington Post of 30 October 2009, Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols call for government subsidies for print news media. In this desperate bid to save their own outdated jobs, they use a sort of twisted logic that only a carnival sideshow contortionist could truly appreciate.They argue... well, read it for yourself:What's notable about Obama's response to the question, posed during an

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/11/failing-newspapers-let-them-go.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-61453135682043791122009-10-29T17:20:00.006-05:002009-10-30T00:35:39.687-05:00

The results are in. Edmunds.com is reporting that, according to their analysis, the government's "Cash for Clunkers" program cost the taxpayers a whopping $24,000.00 per vehicle sold. Twenty four thousand dollars per car is a pretty hefty price tag.(Taking their cue from Prince, the government refers to the "Cash for Clunkers" program as "The program formerly referred to as the 'Cash for Clunkers

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/10/cash-for-clunkers-behind-24k-per.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-67284815689998079552009-10-21T10:05:00.004-05:002009-10-21T11:13:23.344-05:00

Good gravy... I'm beginning to feel a bit like Job.First it was my stove: only two of the eyes were working, then the thing started sparking whenever I turned on the left-front eye. So I replaced it. The toaster oven went bye-bye, too... I found that out when while the stove was out of commission. New toaster oven.Then my kitchen faucet sprang a leak. New faucet, new sprayer, too, since the old

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/10/appliance-trouble.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-54607830620695564802009-10-20T19:00:00.009-05:002009-10-21T11:17:12.467-05:00

It's out. Here's the full text of the Baucus bill... not a summary. http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2009press/prb101909.pdfThanks to AudacityWatch.com for the link. Obviously, I haven't had time to read all 1502 pages... I've skimmed through some of it.Section 1301 describes how you will be taxed if you do not maintain health insurance (whether you need it or not) to the tune of $750 per "

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/10/update-on-baucus-healthcare-bill.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-21312214128111215362009-10-18T20:30:00.006-05:002009-10-19T12:02:21.465-05:00

From the occasional reviews you read here you might get the idea that I often wait until long after a movie is out of the theatres and onto DVD before I watch it. You'd be right. You might also get the idea that I'm more likely to write a bad review than a good one. Right again. It's very rare for a movie to be good enough to move me to write a review. The reasons are two-fold.1. Movies that

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/10/outlander.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-62596893288603321002009-10-10T10:15:00.015-05:002009-10-20T18:59:58.796-05:00

Have you read the various healthcare plans put forth by the Democrats? If you're like most of the Democrats voting on these things, you haven't.In the House, there's H.R. 3200 "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009" (text) (pdf)In the Senate, there's the Baucus Health Reform Plan (link) Now, this one is interesting, in that Senator Baucus claims that it's too difficult to post the full

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/10/what-obamas-healthcare-plan-doesnt.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-10670805047668293132009-10-07T17:21:00.002-05:002009-10-07T18:49:57.685-05:00

...Politics. Yeah, we've got trouble right here in Union. And I hate talking politics.As widely reported (link), Former Union county sheriff Howard Wells and four others have been indicted for various alleged crimes. (These are on top of two high-profile convictions last year: our former mayor, Bruce Morgan, and former City of Union Building and Zoning director Jeffrey Lawson for extortion and

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com1http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/10/with-capital-t-and-that-rhymes-with-p.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-44047869770859159642009-09-26T12:13:00.004-05:002009-09-28T00:31:21.143-05:00

After having watched that turkey the other day, I am so incredibly jazzed to have seen The Hunt for Gollum, a 40-minute fan film from Independent Online Cinema.Here's the trailer.Director Chris Bouchard and his crew at Independent Online Cinema have nailed everything. The cinematography, the costumes, the music, the acting, the locations, the CGI... 100% spot-on. And most amazingly, they did it

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com2http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/09/best-fan-film-ever.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-27981328745480739112009-09-25T18:52:00.007-05:002009-09-27T12:14:11.728-05:00

I wish I were moved to write more positive reviews. Star Trek was refreshing. Sadly, Battle for Terra isn't. It could have been. It should have been. Here's the trailer:I'm going to start this with saying something positive. The animation is competently done, and the video has a really cool 3D cover. There. I've said it.Now, you can't view the trailer without noticing this is a "message movie".

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/09/battle-for-terra-yawn.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-86747768664255841942009-07-11T15:05:00.004-05:002009-07-11T17:53:36.727-05:00

An extremely interesting debate between Michael Shermer and Dinesh D’Souza.Part 1: MonologuesPart 2: DialogFor what it's worth, and for my own part, I think D'Souza "wins" the debate hands-down. D'Souza is the better speaker, more natural, and comes across as more reasonable. He's also more focused on the core aspect of the debate. He looks at the bigger picture of values that are central to all

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/07/is-christianity-good-for-world.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-66215242691962730952009-07-11T14:37:00.002-05:002009-07-11T14:43:05.270-05:00

Michael Shermer has posted a rather interesting take on Liberals, Conservatives, & Libertarians on his blog, called Left, Right & Center. I've weighed in several places in the comments, as "DangerMouse".

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/07/left-right-center.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-34106375996278858552009-07-04T11:20:00.003-05:002009-07-04T11:23:52.171-05:00

Happy Independence Day, especially to those people who have fought and sacrificed for our freedoms (including my friends Bob Pierotti and Diane Arstein, who posed for this picture so many years ago).

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/07/happy-independence-day.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-24122847265825685292009-06-19T00:58:00.002-05:002009-06-19T01:05:28.379-05:00

I've updated my music pages, replacing the static ones with Blogger pages. This allows me to update more frequently and easily, and it also provides up-to-date RSS and Atom feeds without me having to hand-code them as before.With the update we have some new music:Doves is a funereal tribute to a neighbor.Numbers on a Clock is an ode to Time.I've got more new and old songs to post in the future.

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/06/new-music-2-new-songs.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-69958761438653535692009-06-16T10:56:00.004-05:002009-06-17T08:58:49.522-05:00

I'm more than slightly sick of hearing that Journalism is dying. Mostly this is coming from print journalists who have finally noticed that the newspapers for which they work are going the way of the dodo. They whine and moan about the Web, and blogging, and how all of this is diluting the information stream and degrading the quality of reporting.It's bullshit, every single cotton-pickin' word of

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/06/journalism-is-dying-whatever-shall-we.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-67807346243549688842009-06-05T15:32:00.004-05:002009-06-06T07:47:20.685-05:00

Well, last night was opening night of Can't Live With 'Em, this summer's Boogaloo play, in which I play Benny, a blind roofer.The opening went more smoothly than we could have imagined, although another actor, who shall remain nameless to protect his dignity, forgot to say his most crucial line, which was critical to establish the storyline for all the scenes that followed. Despite repeated hints

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/06/cant-live-with-em.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-28422137941473003512009-05-24T13:00:00.003-05:002009-05-24T13:31:47.622-05:00

I know I said I'd post this tomorrow, but the last one was kind of sad, and I feel obligated to make up for it. I've written about my mother before, in eulogy. This is more of a straight remembrance of who she was.What I can say about my mother is that she was simply the best person I have ever known, in the most literal sense.First, I'll get the unpleasantness out of the way. She left my father

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/05/memorial-day-part-2.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-36058142652102719622009-05-24T12:51:00.004-05:002009-06-09T08:34:16.816-05:00

It's Memorial Day tomorrow, in which we remember and honor those who have lost their lives in defense of their country. I certainly am doing that, complete with the traditional hot dogs and grilling out, but from the very name of the holiday I can't help but observe it in a broader sense as well, and remember all of those that we've lost. So today I'm going to post a remembrance of my father, and

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/05/memorial-day.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-45732188494050634332009-05-09T07:59:00.007-05:002009-05-10T23:15:43.714-05:00

Warning: if you don't like spoilers, don't read this. True Trek fans don't mind the spoilers.I'm a Star Trek fan from Day One. I vividly remember watching the Man Trap episode on Sep 8, 1966. I was only 4 years old at the time, and it was the most terrifying thing I'd seen up to that date. Today I know enough not to confuse it with hard science fiction, but I'm willing to set aside physics for

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/05/star-trek-is-winner.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-2852981323146021902009-05-07T23:22:00.004-05:002009-05-07T23:31:40.023-05:00

"In My Memory" is a song William Hoover and I wrote for the 2009 Boogaloo Folk Life production of "Can't Live With 'Em". You can probably guess from the title that the theme is relationships.Now, my opinion is biased, but I quite like this one.

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/05/new-music-in-my-memory.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-38889789907569327422009-05-02T12:41:00.002-05:002009-05-02T12:46:03.954-05:00

Believe it or not I've actually recorded Billy Jean. It's crap... don't say I didn't warn you.I sincerely hope it inspires someone to go forth and do a better job so I can link to their version instead. As usual, it's released under a Creative Commons - attribution, share-alike, non-commercial license to make that possible. If you think you can make money with it, then more power to you... write

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/05/new-music-billy-jean.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-838996154648643892009-04-15T22:14:00.001-05:002009-04-20T00:17:14.840-05:00

(Oy veh. I tried posting on this topic on the 15th and Blogger lost it during the post. Did I mention I hate web apps? Well, I do.)On "Tax Day", April 15th, 2009, thousands of Americans turned out to protest at hundreds of "tea parties" across the country. Sadly, the President doesn't even begin to understand the nature of these protests or what the country wants. He thinks it's a motivated by

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/04/tea-parties-obama-doesnt-get-it.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-54345219962678120782009-03-24T23:00:00.001-05:002009-03-24T23:00:55.684-05:00

I'm not commenting on Obama's speech tonight. I'll wait for a transcript first.

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/03/oy-veh.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-5566099439987052262009-03-23T22:31:00.008-05:002009-03-24T00:00:12.942-05:00

I'm not super-rich. By the standards of this country I'm not even sort of rich. As I'm fond of saying, I want to make a living, not a killing. I'm a single wage earner in a household of six people, for cryin' out loud. But I paid attention enough when I was a kid to know how well off we are today.My father was a native American. He was born in this country with nothing. My grandparents on my

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/03/wealth-capitalism-and-greed.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-39258217466839849672009-03-20T08:31:00.007-05:002009-03-20T14:21:05.131-05:00

Good Lord! I haven't updated this blog in months. Have I been that busy? Well... yes, actually, but that tale can wait. As for right now, I'm waiting on a script to finish running on my computer, so I'll post this little story:On December 6th, 1985 I was in an auto accident in the UK. I remember the date vividly, as this was the opening night of Guys and Dolls, and I was in one of the lead

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/03/story-and-endorsement.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15424766.post-12501569583789690582009-01-06T15:42:00.003-05:002009-01-06T15:59:43.060-05:00

I was going to resolve to not make any resolutions, but then I realized that that's the one resolution that breaks itself. So here they are:1. Eat only at mealtimes.2. Clean my basement.3. Put out a new VIC release4. Learn Java5. Listen to my backlog of audio dramas.

Dave Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617556290378317379noreply@blogger.com0http://www.cratchit.org/dleigh/2009/01/2009-resolutions.html