Tonight please remember the immortal words of Grace Jones: "If everyone stopped moving, no one would get hurt!"

Happy New Year! But...

Merry Merry, Happy Happy

A new trailer for THE LINCOLN LAWYER

Nice to see Bryan Cranston finally making the cut. He plays my favorite character in the film. Detective Lankford.... Watch out!

Lest we forget....

"We've got to keep our heads until this Peace craze blows over."

Here's a guy who believed in the "Trickle Up" theory.

Whatever happened to the good old days when guys like Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor?

Now it's just the other way around - and the poor seem to like it that way! WTH?

Hey people! Quit letting these guys snow you. There will be no "Trickle Down" bonanza. It's never happened and it never will. It's a hoax. Quit buying it. You look silly. Let's draw the line this year. Now. I'm talking to you, Dems, lame ducks or not.

Hey Billionaires! How about kicking back some of that hard earned dough you got (partially through bribery and manipulation of the laws of our land) and let the villagers eat and get warm this winter? They'll give it all back to you quickly enough. And maybe with a quick jolt of optimism they will breed a new generation of customer, er, villager, so that you can continue to expand your businesses and live in a country that doesn't resemble the Third World.

After all, you want the streets safe when you cruise them in your Bentleys and Jag-U-ars, don't you?

He doesn't look like Jimmy Stewart, but he kicks more ass than Mr. Smith

While President Obama was breaking out his Bill Clinton machine for a little damage control, Bernie Sanders was opening up an eight and a half hour can of whoop-ass.

I know he's not the only one in Washington who understands what's really going on in this country, but he's one of the few who seems troubled enough to talk about it openly. And at great length.

Go Bernie, go! I'll vote for you next time if you want to run for President - and if they let you live.

Someone left the liquor cabinet unlocked again....

Don't you hate it when the relatives get smashed and start telling the ugly truth in public?

Lion + White Tiger = Cameron & Zabu!

Big Cat Halloween - TIGERS LIONS VS PUMPKINS!

Funny Crazy BIG CAT SOUNDS!

He stands alone

Another troubling dispatch from St. Louis

Watch out!

Public Enemy #1 (In Boca Raton)

Have you seen this otter?

Out-Of-Control Otter Terrorizes Boca Raton

Two people, dog attacked by vicious otter

By BRIAN HAMACHER

Updated 9:00 AM EST, Tue, Nov 23, 2010

BUZZ UP!

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An out-of-control otter that has attacked two people and a dog in the past week has become public enemy number one in Boca Raton.

Animal Care & Control and the Palm Beach County Health Departmentsent out an alert Monday warning people of the nasty otter that could be rabid, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

The otter is behind an attack at the Boca Chase Development last Thursday on a an 8-year-old golden retriever named Chester, who escaped the encounter with just a few scratches.

Two more attacks, this time on two people, happened Sunday morning.

Animals in the News

Weirdest Creatures of the World

"The otter ran out and attacked the two people unprovoked," Animal Control spokeswoman Karen Buchan told the Sun-Sentinel.

There are several bodies of water in the Boca Chase neighborhood where the otter can come and go from. Animal control is trying traps baited with tuna to catch him, but so far he hasn't been found. They're also passing out fliers throughout nearby neighborhoods for people to be on the lookout for the otter.

First Published: Nov 23, 2010 8:49 AM EST

I guess this means THE GREAT GATSBY remake is still on

Engine Shuts Down on Leonardo DiCaprio's Plane

Nov. 22, 2010, 1:45 PM EST

Entertainment Tonight.

Leonardo DiCaprio narrowly avoided a plane crash, according to reports.

Us magazine says that Leo was on a Delta flight en route to Moscow when one of the engines shut down. The mid-air emergency forced the plane back to JFK International Airport in NYC to make an emergency landing. He "wishes to commend the actions of the pilot and flight crew in bringing the plane to a safe landing," his rep tells the mag.

No injuries were reported among the actor or other passengers. In fact, a source on the scene says the even signed autographs for crew members after they had landed safely.

Happy Thanksgiving from Spencer the Gardener

Score!

Bring me the Head of Baz Lurhmann!

He must be stopped!

It's Official: Carey Mulligan Cast as Daisy in 'Great Gatsby'

Baz Lurhmann, Leo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, The Great Gatsby

Which of these words don't belong in that list? Great. And Gatsby.

Are there no adult actors in Hollywood who could have been cast? This is Gatsby by way of Bugsy Malone.

Nooooooooooo.

(Or we can look at it this way. We all just saved $14 a piece.)

Attention Members of the Academy!

I'm not sure if this should be nominated in the Best Documentary category, Best Foreign Film category, or both. (My guess is: Both!)

Have you got your Rut on, yet?

"Part of me would love to live in the near-future world Scott Phillips has imagined in Rut, but only a little 

part. The rest of me is happy just to read about this, um, direction in which we humans might be headed. 

Another great novel from one of our best."  

 -- Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter  

 

RUT 

A wild (and free) novel by 

Scott Phillips 

 

LATEST NOVEL BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE ICE HARVEST IS FUNNY AS HELL. 

 

RUT, Scott Phillips’ latest novel, takes readers to the Rocky Mountains circa 2050, where the once- 

thriving burg of Gower is about to become a 21st-century ghost town. Thanks to extreme weather and 

plenty of toxic waste, the skiers and celebrities are gone, along with the money and the veneer of 

civilization. What’s left? Old-time religion and brand-new pharmaceuticals, bad food and warm beer, 

mutated animals and small-town gossip. Can the town survive? We’ll see. 

A dystopian novel with difference—RUT is hilarious and horrifying. Phillips creates a richly imagined 

world that serves as a funhouse mirror for our own times. It’s filled with an unforgettable cast of spot- 

on original characters who struggle, steal, lie, fight, drink, cheat, and scheme their way to better days. 

Or China. Or anywhere but Gower. Sly and cool, absurd and archly perceptive, RUT resonates with the 

best work of Kurt Vonnegut and Thomas Pynchon, all in a wonderfully weird tale unlike any other. 

RUT is the latest book from the renegade CONCORD FREE PRESS, which publishes novels 

and gives them away for free, asking that readers make a voluntary donation to a local charity or 

individual in need. Its first four books have already generated more than $150,000 in donations 

to hundreds of causes and individuals in need throughout the world. The press is making waves 

in the publishing industry with its unique, generosity-based publishing model, while inspiring 

praise from writers and readers for its radical rethinking of what a book can be.  

 

Phillips is the author of three previous novels—THE ICE HARVEST, THE WALKAWAY, and 

COTTONWOOD. John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton starred in the 2005 feature film 

adaptation of THE ICE HARVEST, which was directed by Harold Ramis. Why did Phillips 

choose to publish with the admittedly unconventional Concord Free Press? “Having spent many 

many years in the gaping, bloody maw of mainstream publishing, I'm very excited to be working 

with the Concord Free Press, with its fresh take on the dissemination of literature and its eagerness 

to put something new and different into print,” he says. “Working with them has been one of the 

real pleasures of my professional life.”  

 

Beginning on October 25, 2010, the Concord Free Press will distribute all 3,000 trade 

paperback copies of RUT through its network of independent bookstores and requests via its 

web site, www.concordfreepress.com. Readers chart their donations on the Concord Free Press 

site, then pass the book on.  

 

ABOUT THE CONCORD FREE PRESS 

Founded in 2008 by novelist Stona Fitch, the Concord Free Press (www.concordfreepress.com) 

is a non-profit foundation dedicated to pushing the boundaries of publishing and connecting 

reading and giving like never before. Its Advisory Board includes Megan Abbott, Russell 

Banks, Hamilton Fish, Stephen McCauley, Joyce Carol Oates, Francine Prose, and others. 

 

"An innovative publishing effort that one-ups Abbie Hoffman's yippie manifesto, Steal 

This Book." - Washington Post 

 

“A gem of a publishing house.”  

-- Callie Crossley, NPR 

 

“A grand experiment in subversive altruism.” 

—ForeWord Magazine 

Chrystal

Lisa Blount and George Hickenlooper

Lisa Blount died a few days ago at the tragically young age of 53. Among her list of much more prestigious movies she also appeared in the little seen film SOUTH OF RENO, which is one of the best movies I was involved with back in my screenwriting days. She also starred in a really terrific little chiller the year before, John Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS. If you're looking for some Halloween styled viewing tonight, maybe you could give this one a try. It features some truly haunting imagery and Lisa turns in a terrific performance, as usual.

She won an Oscar a few years ago for a short film she produced and gave the most moving speech of the night as she discussed the ageism in Hollywood which had inspired her to explore avenues behind the camera in the hopes of staying in the game just a bit longer. You could feel the collective wave of fearful recognition sweep through the room. I always felt there was an underlying sadness in Lisa's performances. It's there in AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN. It's there in SOUTH OF RENO. It's even there in PRINCE OF DARKNESS.

It's this sense of melancholia that always gave her performances that extra weight that would make you remember her long after the screen had grown dark.

It's hard to believe the week could get worse, but it did. George Hickenlooper died yesterday. He was only 47. He was a talented and prolific filmmaker. His film, CASINO JACK, starring Kevin Spacey opens soon. Below is the preview for one of his best, and most underrated films.

This is turning out to be a really terrible Halloween at my house and my heart is too heavy to wish you a Happy one. But I will wish you safe travel on your own roads. Life is short. Grab it while you can.

Think about this the next time the rich guys suggest you make things better for them so that their wealth can "Trickle Down" to us:

¹trick·le

 vi \ˈtri-kəl\

trick·ledtrick·ling

Definition of TRICKLE

1

a : to issue or fall in dropsb : to flow in a thin gentle stream

2

a : to move or go one by one or little by little trickle inb : to dissipate slowly trickled away

Examples of TRICKLE

1. Tears trickled down her cheeks.
2. Water was trickling out of the gutter.
3. People trickled into the theater.
4. Donations have been trickling in.

Origin of TRICKLE

Middle English trikelen, of imitative origin

First Known Use: 14th century

trick·le

   [trik-uhl]  Show IPAverb, -led, -ling, noun

–verb (used without object)

1.

to flow or fall by drops, or in a small, gentle stream: Tears trickled down her cheeks.

2.

to come, go, or pass bit by bit, slowly, or irregularly: The  guests trickled out of the room.

–verb (used with object)

3.

to cause to trickle.

–noun

4.

a trickling flow or stream.

5.

a small, slow, or irregular quantity of anything coming,    going, or proceeding: a trickle of visitors throughout the   day.

Origin: 
1325–75;  ME triklen, trekelen  (v.), appar. sandhi var. of strikle, perh. equiv. to strike  (in obs. sense “flow”) + -le

—Related forms

trick·ling·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 
4.  dribble, seepage, drip. 

How kind of them to allow us to share a few drips of their overflow. I can see why everyone who buys into this digs it so much. By all means, let's get them some more tax cuts.

Suckers.

That's not money-water you feel sprinkling down on the back of your neck.

That's a fat-cat taking a leak.