Author Archives: williamjcobb

Deer & Coyotes in the New Year

I’ve had deer and coyotes in my yard at the start of this new year, so something must be right with the world. I double-checked and corroborated that the mountain scenes in True Grit were filmed near Santa Fe, which … Continue reading

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"True Grit" in the True West

So last night I saw the Coen Brothers’ True Grit in the mountain town of Canon City, Colorado, which was at one point in the 1880s the stagecoach stop east of Bighorn Canyon. A Western in a town of the … Continue reading

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Peter Benchley's "Jaws," the Novel, as Toothsome Holiday Reading

One thing good about the holidays, and about being away from home and routine, is Weird Reading. I have a first edition hardback of Peter Benchley’s “Jaws” (1973) on my bookshelf in Colorado, and picked it up to pass the … Continue reading

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Review of The New Yorker's "20 Under 40" Anthology, and a Nod to Holiday Pleasures, of the Guilty Variety

I’m on holiday vacation, offline for the most part, doing all those things one does on holiday, like witness TV programs I generally wouldn’t be caught dead watching, such as anything involving “. . . With the Stars!” in the … Continue reading

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On Chuck Closterman's Zombie Analogy and Stephen Graham Jones's "The Ones That Got Away"

It seems everyone is trying to deconstruct and decode the recent zombie craze, including Gail Collins in the NY Times, who wrote a funny piece about the zombie Congress, and this morning Chuck Closterman has a good(ish) piece in the … Continue reading

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On the New Yorker's "20 Under 40" Anthology: Attack of the Dinner Party Zombies!

So I’ve been swamped with work the last few days, not to mention trying to decide what Christmas presents to give family members who fall into the Seriously Irritating category (Ah, festive cheer!), but I have managed to review The … Continue reading

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A Reason for Holiday Glee: Coen Brothers' "True Grit" to Open December 22nd

So the filmmakers who are putting pretty much everyone else to shame have a Christmas present (and they’re Jewish, to boot) for the world, their adaptation of True Grit, starring Jeff Bridges stepping into John Wayne’s boots. Here’s the official … Continue reading

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Oil Reserves Drop by 90% and Electric Cars Throb: Is That Peak Oil or Are You Just Glad to See Me?

I’m a fan of the concept of Peak Oil, even if I don’t know how valid the actuality of it is: In a nutshell, it makes sense to me that oil will eventually reach it’s peak, that is, the halfway … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Weird Science | Leave a comment

New Harry Potter Film Promises to Change Your Life

This week Jon (Sometimes Funny) Stewart had an amusing riff on the Palin brats in the news, dancing and otherwise, and mocked putting a gun in his mouth to end it all due to the absurdity of attention to such … Continue reading

Posted in books/film, Film | Leave a comment

The People Smarter Than Voters? Obama's Approval Rating at 63%, With a Dig at Spineless Turncoats on the Comedy Channel

After all the mainstream blather about the recent midterm elections being a repudiation (as opposed to ‘refudiation,’ which is what Sarah Palin does every time she opens her mama-grizzly mouth) of Obama and his policies, this little gem today makes … Continue reading

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