I'd like to introduce a couple of fellow Hoosier bloggers (links added at the right):
Gregory Harris who's also into anime and ditching Bush the lesser. He's linked to a Spider-Man quiz that, like him, got 14 out of 15 and should've selected "all of the above".
And Steve Hammer, a columnist for Nuvo that I've linked to in the past.

Mark Evanier has changed his mind and said he will go see Fahrenheit 9/11 when the crowds thin out a bit.
Also, the fact that there are crowds to see it.
And it came in at #1 at the box office, despite playing in less than 2000+ screens than #2 and #3.

I guess the question among you readers of this blog is not "are you going to see it?" but "have you seen it?" I went Friday night. The first theatre I went to was sold out, so I had time to get in at another theatre, where that one filled up as well.
It's a good sign, living in Indiana that's one of the first states to go to the Republicans in presidential elections. But I don't know. It seems a lot of people don't want to believe anything bad about their guy, but they're quick to accept it about the other one. I've tried not to. And I was hoping that if people got informed, or maybe more people got involved, that's even one of the reasons I started this blog. But I don't know. I wish there were a sign...

I got a reply from my congressman requesting Bush be censured for his handling of the war in Iraq. He apologized for the delay in responding, and I couldn't recall when I contacted him about it. Even a search of the archives proved fruitless.
A summary of each paragraph follows, without comment from me, quotes available upon request:
-War on terror, September 11th, no sign of weakness or retreat.
-12 years and Saddam doesn't comply with the Gulf War cease-fire.
-Saddam's regime killed, tortured, raped and terrorized thousands for 20 years.
-Iraq had chemical and biological weapons after 1991, even used mustard and Sarin gas shells recently.
-October 2002, Congress authorized use of force in Iraq. Next month, UN Security Council found Iraq in breach, and vowed consequences if he did not comply. Bush could either "continue to take the word of a madman, or take action to defend the security of America and our allies".
-Our intelligence wasn't accurate, but it wasn't "manipulated or exaggerated by the President or anyone in the Administration".
-The President made the right decision. He should be commended, not censured.

Response is percolating. LIke what does the War on Terror have to do with Iraq, why we waited over 10 years to address Saddam's non-compliance with the cease-fire or his being a bad man, what were we defending when we weren't attacked, saw no signs of being attacked, and none of it manifested during the war (did I miss the improvised mustard and sarin gas attacks?); what wasn't manipulated or exaggerated, and given your letter, and what you say our mandate is, when are we going after China?

Whether he'll get it, I don't know. He's Republican, and I doubt he's going to change. Why, that would be sign of weakness like that weasel Kerry.

Well, as things seem to have lighted up at Harold HIll's Gulag, I thought I'd give you that long-overdue update to my last post about other region DVDs:
I got the region 2 Kill Bill Vol. 1 from Amazon Japan about half a week after ordering it. Played great on the player. Only did an overview of it, confirmed some uncut footage in it (or cut, in the case of Sophie Fatale) and more extras, such as short interviews with some of the key personnel, a storyboard to film comparison of the anime sequence, among others. Also, there was a coupon that appeared to be for seeing Vol 2 in a theatre that looks to be as best as I can make out 200 yen off. Another interesting thing was the phrase (in english) "Kill is Love" that appears on the coupon and different places.
My order from Amazon came 6 days after placing it.
Spaced Tim, a would-be comic artist, is kicked out by his girlfriend. Daisy is looking to move up from squatting. A friendship is struck at a coffee shop, that comes in handy after time of apartment hunting with no luck, and finding a great place requesting a professional couple. They decide to pose as a couple to get the place. Peppered with science fiction and other pop-culture references (a favorite is a couple of scenes in an episode in the first series where their dog is snatched by an animal testing lab and plan to rescue him. The first is the planning that involves going over a 2 meter fences where 2 of the characters echo dialogue about a 2 meter target in Star Wars, the next immediate scene is before they leave, with the background music being a remix of "The Imperial March" from Empire Strikes Back. Tim, assigning code names, gets stuck after assigning "Leia" to Daisy when he gets to Twist, another female, and assigns her "Jabba". During sound off when he calls off Jabba, Twist asks "Is Jabba the Princess?" and the others say "yes" to get her to go along).
About as interesting as Trailer Park Boys, will be subjected to repeat viewings, as there are only 14 episodes (2 seasons of 7 episodes each).
Ghostwatch Haven't seen it yet, just an overview. This is the "War of the Worlds/Blair Witch Project" like fake documentary about ghosts, with a remote from a haunted house When Things Start To Go Very Wrong. First, it is part of a historical series from England's version of the Academy of Television, which our American counterparts might look into doing to raise money for their Museums and various projects. Second, it's interesting to see "Red Dwarf" and "Robot Wars" Craig Charles introduced as a professional ghost hunter. I guess if Dan Ackroyd's interested in the paranormal, anything's possible.
I also picked up a couple of discs from Laser's Edge, a local video store:
StarCrash I remember seeing this as the 2nd bill of a double feature after Rock and Roll High School A Star Wars rip-off done with models and Christmas tree lights for stars. Caroline Munro as Stella Starr, with Marjoe Gortner, David Hasselhoff and Christopher Plummer as the Emperor of the Galaxy. Unfortunately, anything good of the film that remains after removing any nostalgia is further marred by a poor transfer looking like direct from an old film print Woody Allen would've rejected for his sci-fi version of Zelig, and a poor transfer that causes blurry lines on any moving image. I was afraid this was due to the PAL to NTSC television standard conversion, but other discs don't seem to have this problem, or it's very minimal. Also, I have not noticed any sound problems on PAL to NTSC conversion.
Malena On the day when Mussolini declares war, a young Italian boy gets his first bicycle and his first sight of Malena (Monica Bellucci), and a love from afar begins, as she struggles though the tumultuous events of World War II. Another one not watched yet, but said to be longer than the domestic release.
Also, I found a company Niche Flix that like Net Flix will send you DVDs in the mail, but they are more geared for other region and foreign DVDs. I signed up for a trial membership, and got "Dangermouse", Iron Giant (Korean special edition) and Flash Gordon (1980 version, with more extras than the US release, wide screen, and unremovable French subtitles). At least that saves me some money on buying discs sight unseen (plus, I can't find that version of Iron Giant on line, and a US release of that same disc promised soon) So that should keep me busy for awhile.

Long-time readers to this blog might remember that I was interested in being able to watch DVDs from all regions, but waiting for the right chance. Well, while perusing the Home Theatre Forum for discounts on DVDs, there was a posting about a Cheap DVD Player With All Region Hack Code. A quick trip to Radio Shack found this model available for $39.99. A quick setup, and locating a region 2 DVD disc that was in an issue of the Japan Newtype shows that it works! But it took a little working to figure out that to access the menu, you highlight the region, hit enter to clear, then hit 0 and enter to be able to play all region discs.
I have the uncut Kill Bill on order from Amazon Japan, and the copies of Spaced and Ghostwatch that I talked about before from Amazon UK. They say it does a PAL to NTSC conversion, although widescreen PAL discs are stretched out. Should be here in a week or so. Will keep you posted.