Beltmann

Tagging Santana for 3 HR was quite satisfying... and Ben Sheets looked dominant again, even though he didn't quite have his best stuff today.

As a Midwesterner who lives in a small, rural town, I thought Obama's comments were right on, and yesterday's and today's elaborations were insightful. (Acknowledging community "malaise" might not win elections, but it's still honest leadership.) This feigned "outrage" is yet another case of opponents willfully ignoring Obama's obvious intended meaning--here, empathy for working-class frustrations--in order to twist the words to gain empty political points. That's politics as usual, I know, but here the hypocrisy is stunning. Consider John McCain's similar argument from last December: "I

The Hunting Party isn't great, but it's fun.

I'm guessing this is similar to your Africa project from a few years ago? If so, I'll try to list some recent films that might work. Several have co-origins, but all are largely German: Requiem / Schmid / 2006 The Lives of Others / von Donnersmarck / 2006 Our Daily Bread / Geyrhalter / 2005 Sophie Scholl: The Final Days / Rothemund / 2005 Workingman's Death / Glawogger / 2005 Fateless / Koltai / 2005 Downfall / Hirschbiegel / 2004 Before the Fall (Napola) / Gansel / 2004 The Edukators / Weingartner / 2004 Good Bye, Lenin! / Becker / 2003 Schultze Gets the Blues / Schorr / 2003 Shattered Gl

The Brew Crew bats have been weak tonight--although Braun just homered, so that's something.

Well, I guess I'll be buying this, then.

Gotta admit, I'm excited. Heard about this a while back, but didn't know when it was scheduled for release.

Ben Sheets threw a complete game shutout today, the second of his career. Brewers have really been clicking so far.

Flight of the Red Balloon / Hou Hsiao-hsien / Taiwan / 2007 I'm not a tremendous fan of Hou--I typically admire his movies more than connect with them--but this, a reworking of Lamorisse's classic The Red Balloon (1956), is one of his most accessible works.

I'm one of the few people I know who likes The Greatest Show on Earth. Heston was not an actor of nuance--too often he seemed heavy-handed, wooden--but he was a star for many reasons: He had an epic physicality, a stone-chiseled face, surprising authority, and a commanding erudition. His striking presence on screen is undeniable, and he is woven into the fabric of some of Hollywood's best years.

That's where I would start.

"Well, then, I just hate you... and I hate your ASS FACE!"

I don't there's much substantial difference between saying "Lieberman is wrong" and saying "I disagree with Lieberman." Everybody understands that the former statement comes with qualification; the latter is generally implied within the former.

Prince Fielder to protest Miller Park sausage race

He looked flat-out awful today... we could get that kind work from Derrick Turnbow, and on the cheap.

Wow... yes, he's one of my favorite "unsung" players. Miss him around these parts.

What she said was, "for the first time in my adult life I'm really proud...," which implies that she was proud before, but now is very proud. More importantly, she clearly was referring strictly to American politics, not America in general. I watched that entire speech on TV, heard the comment in context, and it was completely uncontroversial. This became a controversy only when the right-wing talking heads decided to willfully misinterpret the comment in order to cynically score dumb gotcha points. Progressives for Obama [editorial at The Nation]

I thought I was the only one who thought Superbad was spectacularly overrated. NW: Bielinsky's Nine Queens is one of the niftiest "puzzle" movies I've ever seen, so I've been meaning to watch his follow-up, The Aura, for some time. I'm pressing play in a few minutes.

It was a great summer job... we spent more time laughing our heads off than actually working. I kinda miss it.

Vlad. Coolage.

There's nothing pleasant about the abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, but it's gripping in every respect and absolutely as good as they say. One of the best movies I've seen in recent months.

At the Circus is a bit of a chore... not the Marx Brothers at their finest.

While in college one of my summer jobs was as a school district janitor. We used to use all kinds of potent chemicals. I remember one floor stripper was called Dragon Attack, and we were warned to never touch the undiluted stuff. Eventually the state banned that stuff (but the school hoarded a big supply so we used it for another year or two). Also, I remember using a different floor stripper on a staircase, which required sitting and scrubbing by hand. I guess I wasn't paying attention and realized I was sitting in "stripper juice"--believe, me the jokes never got old--only after my shor