Sentential Links

Yeah, I've stopped numbering these. No real reason why, I just got tired of having to go back and look it up each time out. Anyway, the linkage:

:: Good evening... come on in. Why don't you get yourself some popcorn and a Coke from our stunning black-on-silver art-deco refreshment stand? (Be nice to the charming and vivacious young lady manning the counter; you'll find her attitude very different from the sullen mouth-breathers at the multiplex. She actually likes her job.) Yes, I know our modestly sized bags of corn look puny compared to those MegaTubs you're accustomed to getting at the other places, but trust me: this is all you need. (Errr...no. I mean, I'm with him all the way, except for the giant megatub of popcorn. When it comes in tubs, anyway. Nowadays, most times you get a bag.)

:: Really? Dreaming of overalls is good luck?? Dreaming of presents means you will always be showered with gifts?!? Is this pop psychology or pop mysticism?? (Yeesh, that's weird, is what that is. I don't dream of overalls, to my knowledge...hmmm....)

:: If you’ve ever said to yourself, “Enh, I’m not going to give the new revamped Dick Tracy a chance until it inexplicably includes a panel featuring a villain quoting from Men Without Hats’ 1982 smash hit ‘Safety Dance,’” then you are officially out of excuses, my friend.

:: And 24 makes interesting villains and then just stubbornly refuses to examine them or even allow them to speak. I know it’s supposed to be this Rah Rah Jack Bauer Punches People In the Soul show, but in its first seasons it was often quite deft and interesting–right up until we should actually hear the whyporn, and then the YOU JUST WOULDN’T GET ME scowly crap starts up, every single damn season.

:: In spite of the extreme importance that Dickens places on Marley's death right away in his story, all the film versions so far have left Marley out of the earliest scenes. Alastair Sim's is the first to introduce him this soon. (Michael May is surveying all the various versions of A Christmas Carol that are out there. Good stuff, as always!)

:: Okay, this is all going to be heavily theoretical, possibly annoying, and maybe even misguided, but I've been thinking about this a lot and I need to try and verbalize this. And just to get the trigger out of the way, this is going to be some thoughts about racism, intentional and unintentional, in pop culture. (This is a fascinating post about race in Sesame Street and Star Trek. Check it out.)

More next week!