9/17/05

Ahhhhh Saturday, I'm still awake after working six days in a row. I worked for a co-worker last night (the good part is she is working my shift on Sunday night). I haven't had a lot of time to write in the old blog this week and sometimes I just don't feel like writing but I do now.

I recently watched a 2000 primetime cartoon series that aired on NBC. It's called God, The Devil, and Bob. It only aired for four episodes but the dvd contains all 13 eps that were filmed. It tells the touching story of God making a bet with the Devil that if God can find one person to convince Him the world is worth saving, He won't destroy it. The Devil, of course, is allowed to pick the person and he picks Bob. Bob is a slightly below average intelligence, dim-witted, father and husband. He works at an auto plant and hangs out at a bar called the Classy Chassis. The episodes deal with issues such as God's girlfriend, adultery, and free speech as Bob tries to convince God that the world is worth saving. Needless to say, the Christian conservatives had a hand in getting this yanked off the air. I don't know why, it's entertaining, mildly humorous, completely perverse in its view of God and the Devil. By the way, God looks like Jerry Garcia and talks like James Garner; the Devil is a sensitive, insecure dude who talks with a Scottish accent. He even has a sidekick, whom he abuses, called Smack (how appropriate). Some of the other voices, besides Garner's, is Alan Cumming, Laurie Metcalf, French Stewart, and Nancy Cartwright.

Oscar video pick of the week: A 1929 movie that yielded a Best Actress Oscar for Norma Shearer (the 3rd woman to win the award). The Divorcee tells of a woman (Shearer) whose husband cheats on her and when she evens the field her husband can't deal with it. He leaves her and wants nothing more to do with her. This is a female empowering movie and I could not take my eyes off of Shearer. She was truly riveting and reminded me of other riveting actresses such as Sally Field and Jessica Lange in her earlier roles. The kind of actress that one wants to focus on and then finds that the other action(s) in the scene are being missed. Shearer was also reportedly the first choice for Scarlett O'Hara in the film Gone With the Wind but the public didn't like that idea. Imagine the different casting choices today if the public had that much influence on who plays what roles. Shearer turned down the role in Mrs. Miniver that eventually went to Greer Garson (Garson even won an Oscar, damn, tough luck Shearer).

I'll be gathering more pics this week. Enjoy your Saturday.

paul