THE WHITE HOUSE: NO SHIRT, NO TIE, NO SERVICE

Is the Super Bowl over yet?

No?

Well, I’ll post this anyway on the off-chance that you’ll see it. Because this is more important than whether the Cowboys beat the Redskins (or whoever).

ITEM [via Def Agent lorilori ]: Former Bush White House chief of staff Andrew Card and conservative talk show host Michael Medved lament that Barack Obama is ruining the White House by not following the dress code.

No, really.

MEDVED: He’s working there late at night. He comes in relatively late, two hours later than President Bush used to come in at his desk. And he’s dropped this rule that everybody has to wear jacket and tie in the Oval Office.

CARD: Yes, I’m disappointed to see the casual, laissez faire, short sleeves, no shirt and tie, no jacket, kind of locker room experience that seems to be taking place in this White House and the Oval Office.

To which I said, “No shirt?”

Economy’s in the tank, unemployment’s up, two unfinished wars running? Leave it to conservatives to dither about f***ing dress codes.



Dumb casual,

This is dF

SUPERDOGS, BRAD PITT AND CIGARETTES

Or: Stuff I watched on my days off...

Bolt
Basically it’s a Truman Show take on the super-powered dog genre (and yes, there is one), and it’s okay, but it says a lot about me that I find a dog with superpowers more believable than the idea that a TV production company would go to such expensive lengths to fool a dog into thinking he has superpowers. It also says a lot about me that my expectations were lowered the moment I noticed Miley Cyrus’ name in the voice credits.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
One of those Oscar-bait films with good acting and superb direction, but not a whole lot happens. The “old guy grows younger” gimmick seems too glossed over, as if Button’s condition is a quirky inconvenience (with admittedly tragic consequences) instead of something that violates the known physics of the universe. Even leaving that aside, for a film supposedly about a guy whose reverse aging makes him an outsider, he seems to get by pretty well throughout the picture. The only thing he really struggles with is his uncertain future, and even that’s downplayed.

Thank You For Smoking
I’ve seen clips of this, but never the whole thing. As satires go, it’s well-written, delightfully savage stuff, and you know it works because people on both sides of the argument either see it as backing their argument or blatantly biased propaganda for the other side. Oh, and it’s funny as hell.

Smoke if you got ‘em,

This is dF