The Somewhat Good, The Somewhat Bad and the Somewhat Ugly

In short, I enjoyed the heck out of this film.

The locations and set designs were awesome and breathtaking. Special kudos goes out to ILM and Digital Domain for the incredible visual effects & animation.

Of special note too was the obvious chemistry between the actors, who appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves on screen. I also appreciated the additional screen time given to the supporting actors—many of whom gave some of the most memorable and even touching performances of the film.

The final maelstrom battle was brilliantly filmed and executed, giving you the exhilaration of being on a roller coaster ride. During of which, one scene in particular, caused the audience to applaud and howl with laughter. Not wanting to give away any spoilers, I’ll just leave it at that.

Also worth mentioning was the much-anticipated cameo by Keith Richards. Again, without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that his on screen presence was surprisingly good. I can now certainly understand why the other actors were so taken with him during his brief stay on set.

Other stand-out performances were given by the always-great, Geoffrey Rush (Captain Barbossa), Naomie Harris (Tia Dalma), Bill Nighy (Davy Jones), Jack Davenport (Commodore James Norrington) and Chow Yun-Fat (Captain Sao Feng) as well as the remaining supporting cast members—just superb acting all around.

The only negative for me was that the script appeared too bogged down with needless chit chat along with a somewhat confusing storyline. I personally experienced some difficulty here ‘n there in following along with the plot, what with all the various character accents and everyone talking over one another during the midst of explosions and swordplay. I also found the continuity to be sorely lacking in some spots, but when you’re talking about fish-faced pirates and the living conversing with the dead....well...it does seems a bit silly to nitpick such things.

I mean, let’s face it, you don’t go to see a film like this for the brilliantly-written script. You go for the fun of sitting in a theatre full of excited kids, giddy teenage girls and likewise adults who take anticipated-delight in each and every scene unfolding before them.

No Rosie O’ Donnell’s, No Sean Hannity’s, No Politics....just real, average Americans experiencing the joy of film together.

And during this Memorial Day Weekend, I can think of nothing more patriotic than that.

P.S. Once again, be advised that you’ll want to stay through the end of the credits for a short bonus scene. In addition I’ll add that, although this was supposed to be the final installment, the filmmakers have none too cleverly left the ending open just enough to allow for a POTC4. And if the early box office numbers are any indication (along with Depp’s admission that he’d be more than agreeable to reprising Jack in the future), I think we’re pretty much guaranteed another episode.

When painting there is a point u must step away from the canvas as the work is done.

To be successful, the network must “have good shows that appeal to listeners and sponsors, plain and simple, just like any other radio syndicator.”

you know, like......

.........radio that’s an alternative to the usual, bumper sticker Rush wannabe.............

Lloyd

One of the world’s most prestigious health journals has lashed a fast-growing trend in the United States and Britain for ”designer vaginas,” the tabloid term for cosmetic surgery to the female genitalia.

The fashion is being driven by commercial and media pressures that exploit women’s insecurities and is fraught with unknowns, including a risk to sexual arousal, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) says.

Known as elective genitoplasty, the surgery usually entails shortening or changing the shape of the outer lips, or labia, but may also include reduction in the hood of skin covering the clitoris or shortening the vagina itself.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the practice is spreading fast in the United States as well as in Britain, but the picture is unclear, the BMJ says.

Not only is there a disturbing lack of data about the phenomenon, there has been negligible assessment about surgical after-effects—and almost zero reflexion as to whether a labial “problem” exists in the first place, the BMJ says angrily.

In 2004-5, 800 “labial reductions” were conducted by Britain’s state-run National Health Service (NHS), more than a doubling of the figure of six years earlier. Other operations were carried out by the private sector, although the full figures are unknown.

The authors of the article, London gynaecologist Sarah Creighton and clinical psychologist Lih Mei Liao, conducted their own small-scale probe into why women sought this surgery.

“Our patients sometimes cited restrictions on lifestyle as reasons for their decision,” they say.

“These restrictions included inability to wear tight clothing, go to the beach, take communal showers or ride a bicycle comfortably, or avoidance of some sexual practices.

“Men, however, do not usually want the size of their genitals reduced for such reasons.

I guess you set the standard...
---Mech

~*~

FreeRepublic

The following photo of Al Gore was taken by me at his appearance on May 23, 2007 at the Marin Veterans’ Auditorium, in the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael, California.

At the end of my photo essay about that event, I invited readers to send in their versions of what Al Gore’s secret message might be. The response was overwhelming! All the outstanding submissions are displayed on this results page.

First, here is the original photo and caption—for those of you who want to download it and give it a try yourselves—followed by the readers’ hilarious renditions of Al’s secret message.

Switzerland’s reputation as a haven of tolerance for immigrants has been undermined in recent weeks by calls for a ban on new minarets, a mysterious synagogue blaze and neo-Nazi threats to disrupt national day celebrations.

Switzerland is known for public order and efficiency. Its neutral status and high living standards, as well as its need for lower cost workers, have historically attracted refugees from conflicts around Europe and the world.

But with rising immigration -- and lack of integration caused partly by tight laws on handing out Swiss passports—religious and ethnic tension has been on the rise, particularly focusing on Muslims.

“Radical Islam is a huge foreign political factor,” said Swiss culture and politics expert Jonathan Steinberg of the University of Pennsylvania. “None of the immigration before constituted an international threat. Now they do.”

ROSIE O’Donnell left “The View” with a bang, not a whimper, following her on-air smackdown with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Wednesday.

Yesterday, Rosie’s chief writer, Janette Barber, was allegedly escorted from the building after she was caught drawing moustaches on photographs of Hasselbeck that hang in the “View” studios.

Yesterday, O’Donnell posted a video that may have symbolized how she’s feeling about “The View.”

The tape consisted of ducks swimming in a pond accompanied by an audio track of the John Mayer song “Vultures,” whose lyrics include “How will I hold my head to keep from going under?”

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appeared in public for the first time in months on Friday, delivering a fiery anti-American sermon to thousands of followers and demanding U.S. troops leave Iraq.

It was not immediately clear why he chose to return now to his base in the Shiite holy city of Najaf from Iran. His speech had new nationalist overtones, calling on Sunnis to join with him in the fight against the U.S. presence. He also criticized the government’s inability to provide reliable services to its people.

“Nationalist overtones?” It appears his Sith masters in Iran have been giving him some PR lessons.

Funny that Mookie shows up now… Just as several brigades of US forces are about to arrive in Iraq.

Hey guys… One shot, one kill!

Military generals and the families of fallen soldiers were among hundreds of people who attended a ceremony Thursday to honor 37 special operations soldiers killed during combat in the past year, as well as five men who died during the Korean War.

The names of the soldiers were etched into a memorial wall at Fort Bragg, bringing the total to almost 1,000 names of Green Berets and Army Rangers. Five soldiers killed during the Korean War also were added, including one man whose mission was only recently declassified.

“Their deeds are legends and we will recount them for years,” Lt. Gen. Richard Wagner, commander of the Army Special Operations Command, told about 500 people sitting under tents on a plaza at this large Army base.

The soldiers killed in the last year were “fighting what will probably become our nation’s longest war,” Wagner said, adding that the soldiers “come from strong families, and communities of character.”

And the heroes honored are…

oops...

Here’s a fone number you can use to call your Senator FREE and have a good chance of getting through:  800-882-2005 Oh, BTW, they’ll give you instructions on how to tell your “representatives” that to “Support immigration reform that protects families and workers,” but you can give any message you wish once you’re connected.

Who’s picking up the tab for this expensive little set-up?  *cough*SOROS*cough*

So much for the value of immigrants…

“We’re living in a nation beset by suicidal maniacs,” Thompson said, launching into criticism of the immigration bill.
A strong supporter of the Iraq war, Thompson criticized Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for publicly stating the war has been lost—“fine, fine message to those people giving their lives for us”—and the Democrats for debating a timetable for “surrender.”

“Al-Qaida have a 100-year plan,” Thompson said. “We have a plan until the next election.”

if he had a lawn you’d better get off it

Jed
1993-2007

I’m probably going to miss him the most.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are among the presidential candidates who will be invited to appear and speak at an “exopolitics” conference in Washington this September.

Exopolitics?

“[T]he social, political and media aspects of 60 years of denial of an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race - exopolitics,” explains Stephen Bassett, executive director of the Paradigm Research Group, which has lined up a “powerful” group of speakers for its “X-Conference 2007.”

These speakers “collectively hold enough knowledge of extraterrestrial-related phenomena and governmental involvement with this phenomena to end the state-imposed truth embargo tomorrow. All it would take is for the political leaders and the political media to pay attention,” he says.

Every member of Congress will be invited to the conference, where they will be told that as many as half of all Americans (that’s a lot of voters) believe in extraterrestrial origins for at least some of the unidentified objects seen, photographed, filmed and tracked on radar in the skies above earth.

So Congress and W want to grant “Z Visas” to the terrestrial alien invaders.  So what’s the deal?  Will the nuts at this conference propose we issue “X Visas” to extraterrestrial alien invaders coming here to do the work earthlings won’t do?