Assortment

I was going to link a couple of posts at Small Dead Animals, but I got to scrolling and saw that it’s all good, so just go over and start browsing.

Welcome to Gotham and Gomorrah!

Michael Bloomberg wants you to downsize.

ObamaCare: the opiate of the masses?

Hey, maybe the whole U.S. government is an ATF sting operation.

Robert Avrech has some fine tributes to Joan Fontaine and Peter O’Toole (and some interesting tidbits about Ava Gardner).

Happy birthday, Federal Reserve! (So why don’t you die, already?)

Grassroots taking hold even in the tough streets of Chicago.

Yesterday, Mrs. Paco and I went to see The Desolation of Smaug, the second in Peter Jackson’s series based on Tolkien’s The Hobbit (we never saw the first installment). Now, we haven’t been to a movie in ages, but when did theaters start running 30 minutes worth of previews? Or has it always been that way, and maybe I just forgot? I mean, there have always been previews, of course, but I don’t recollect having to sit through a half hour of them. One thing I couldn’t help but notice was that the trailers were all from action films, and you could pretty much switch scenes from one movie to another with little or no break in the continuity of each film. Anyhow, we enjoyed Smaug, but here’s a tip for the producer: if the Orcs are supposed to be such fearsome creatures, the occasional elf or dwarf is going to have to, you know, die sometimes. The elves, particularly, are not entirely credible as almost invincible ninjas. Loved the dragon, though. Having him slither under, and gradually emerge from, those enormous mounds of gold coins was inspired. And the scenery (New Zealand?) is awesome.