Posted 11:35pm
pst, Sunday, July 24, 2005
San
Diego art pick-ups
Eric Powell's
the Goon
Thought
I'd follow up my San Diego Comic-Con
movie post with
some of my art pick-ups. This year
as last,
I snagged an Eric Powell Goon page.
Eric's changed his style a bit since
last year, but he's as popular as ever.
I noticed
a lot more Goon t-shirts this year.
While standing at his table this year,
two guys form Comedy Central's Reno
911 fawned over his stuff. I asked
him about a movie version of his property
and he said that Dark Horse has been
approached from a couple of studios.
nothing firm yet, but he's excited
by the possibility. Despite the newfound
noteriety, Eric's super-grounded and
friendly to all who approach.
Not a
lot of Spidey art this year, but I
did get a couple of Spider-man related
sketches. First, this Mary Jane Watson
sketch from Cliff Chiang:
Then
an MJ sketch from Cameron Stewart:
Not a bad bunch of pieces. Had a good
time again this year in San Diego.
Next post, I'll try to play a little
catch up on the Karl Rove meltdown.
::Permalink::
Posted 12:15am
pst, Monday, July
18, 2005
San
Diego: Hollywood South
Bryan
Singer, Superman Returns panel
Just
returned from this year's Comic-Con
International in San Diego. Best year
yet for celebrity appearances, and
that's saying a lot. Past guests include
James Cameron, Ang Lee, Angelina Jolie,
Kate Beckingsale, Halle Berry, Jude
Law, Keanu Reeves, Ben Affleck, Arnold
Schwarzennger and more.
I skipped
the "V is for Vendetta" panel
on Friday with Natalie Portman and
Joel Silver.
Saturday
morning we lined up a 8am for the 10:30
Superman panel with Bryan Singer. He
showed a 3 minute trailer for the film.
It rocks. He said he's making a sequel
to Superman 1 and ignoring the other
films and it certainly looked like
he nailed it. When I heard John Williams
music (he's keeping it), I got goosebumps.
He's also using outtakes of Brando
to play Jor-El, another great idea).
They showed a very sinister looking
Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. I can't
wait for this one; it looks amazing.
I ducked
out of the big room and skipped the "Aeon
Flux" panel with Charlize Theron.
Also passed on the Kevin Smith panel,
as I'd already seen him two previous
times.
I went
back in for the "Serenity" panel
with Joss Whedon and the cast of the
film. I didn't really follow "Firefly",
the short-lived show on which the film
is based, but I did think the cast
came across as entertaining and genuine.
I'll probably catch this when it comes
out later this year.
Morena
Baccarini & Jewel Staite, Serenity
panel
Hung
around for Sony's panel for "The
Fog", "Zathura"
and "Ghost Rider". "Zathura"
is a quasi-sequel to "Jumanji".
Director Jon Favreau was on hand to
show an 8-minute clip. It looked like
great family fun.
LEFT:
Jon Favreau, Zathura panel. RIGHT:
Eva Mendes, Ghost Rider (click to
enlarge)
Next,
Scott Speedman and Kate Beckinsale
for "Underworld: Evolution".
Kate was gorgeous as always. That was
followed by the Ghost Rider presentation.
The guests included producer Avi Arad,
director Mark Steven Johnson and star
Eva Mendes. Nick Cage was shooting
a movie and unable to attend. Johnson
debuted a short teaser, but did not
have any shots of the flaming skull
of Ghost Rider yet.
Kate
Beckinsale, Underworld: Evolution
New Line
had their panel. Rob Cohen, director
of the upcoming Stealth, showed up
with all three of his stars... Josh
Lucas (Hulk), Jessica Biel (Blade:
Trinity) and last year's Best Actor
Jamie Foxx. Foxx was funny and engaging.
Jamie
Foxx, Jessica Biel of Stealth (click
to enlarge)
Then
Paramount did their King Kong presentation
with a Peter Jackson video which included
three minutes of rough footage of Kong
fighting two t-rexes. Then the three
stars made a surprise appearance...
Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Best Actor
Adian Brody!
Adrien
Brody, Naomi Watts, Jack Black, King
Kong panel
(click to enlarge)
Then
the night wrapped up with a 45-minute
set by Tenacious D (Jack Black
& Kyle Gass) who rocked the motherfucking
house! No pictures were allowed during
this set.
Tremendous
movie presentations and overall, a
good con this year.
::Permalink::
Posted 12:12am
pst, Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Scott
McClellan, butt monkey
Larry Downing/Reuters
White
House Press Secretary Scott McClellan
on the Plame leak.... this shit writes
itself.
White
House press gaggle with Scott McClellan,
7/22/03:
McClellan: That is
not the way this President or this
White House operates. And there is
absolutely no information that has
come to my attention or that I have
seen that suggests that there is
any truth to that suggestion. And,
certainly, no one in this White House
would have given authority to take
such a step.
White
House press gaggle with Scott McClellan,
9/29/03:
Question: You said
this morning, quote, "The president
knows that Karl Rove wasn't involved." How
does he know that?
McClellan: Well, I've
made it very clear that it was a
ridiculous suggestion in the first
place. ... I've said that it's not
true. ... And I have spoken with
Karl Rove.
Question: It doesn't
take much for the president to ask
a senior official working for him,
to just lay the question out for
a few people and end this controversy
today.
McClellan: Do you have
specific information to bring to
our attention? ... Are we supposed
to chase down every anonymous report
in the newspaper? We'd spend all
our time doing that."
Question: When you
talked to Mr. Rove, did you discuss, "Did
you ever have this information?"
McClellan: I've made
it very clear, he was not involved,
that there's no truth to the suggestion
that he was.
White House press
gaggle with Scott McClellan, 7/11/05:
Question: Do you want to retract
your statement that Rove -- Karl
Rove was not involved in the Valerie
Plame expose? -- involved?
McClellan: This is -- no, I appreciate
the question. This is an ongoing
investigation at this point. The
President directed the White House
to cooperate fully with the investigation,
and as part of cooperating fully
with the investigation, that means
we're not going to be commenting
on it while it is ongoing.
Question: But Rove has apparently
commented, through his lawyer, that
he was definitely involved.
McClellan: You're asking me to comment
on an ongoing investigation.
Question: I'm saying, why did you
stand there and say he was not involved?
McClellan: Again, while there is
an ongoing investigation, I'm not
going to be commenting on it, nor
is --
Question: -- any remorse?
McClellan: -- nor is the White House,
because the President wanted us to
cooperate fully with the investigation,
and that's what we're doing.
Question: That's not an answer.
Question: It's not an answer. And
you were perfectly willing to comment
from that podium while the investigation
was going on, and try to clear Karl
Rove. Why the double standard? Why
were you willing to say Karl Rove
was not involved when -- and talk
at length about it, when the investigation
was going on, and now that he's been
caught red-handed, all of a sudden
you've got a new line?
McClellan: No, I don't think it
is the way you characterize it, as
new, because I have said for quite
some time that this is an ongoing
investigation, and we're not going
to get into discussing it while it's
an ongoing investigation. I've really
said all I'm going to say on it.
Question: But you did -- you did
discuss it while it was an ongoing
investigation. You stood there and
told the American people Karl Rove
wasn't involved.
McClellan: I've said all I'm going
to say on it. Go ahead, April.
[...]
Question: Scott, is the President
aware of Karl Rove's role in leaking
information about Joe Wilson's wife?
McClellan: Again, this is a Question
relating to an ongoing investigation,
and you have my response.
Question: Scott, without commenting
on the investigation, you said in
September of '03, if anyone in this
administration was involved in it,
they would no longer be in this administration.
Does that standard still hold?
McClellan: Again, I appreciate all
these questions. They are questions
relating to an ongoing investigation,
and the President directed us to
cooperate fully with that investigation.
No one wants to get to the bottom
of it more than he does and --
Question: -- the standard then still
apply?
McClellan: The investigation is
ongoing, Peter, and we're just not
going to -- we're not going to --
Question: Did the President set
a timetable --
Question: It's not about the investigation,
it's about the White House decision--
McClellan: We're not going to talk
about it further from this podium.
[...]
Q: Scott, can I ask you this: Did
Karl Rove commit a crime?
McClellan: Again, David [Gregory
of NBC], this is a question relating
to a ongoing investigation, and you
have my response related to the investigation.
And I don't think you should read
anything into it other than: We're
going to continue not to comment
on it while it's ongoing.
Question: Do you stand by your statement
from the fall of 2003, when you were
asked specifically about Karl and
Elliot Abrams and Scooter Libby,
and you said, "I've gone to
each of those gentlemen, and they
have told me they are not involved
in this"?
McClellan: And if you will recall,
I said that, as part of helping the
investigators move forward on the
investigation, we're not going to
get into commenting on it. That was
something I stated back near that
time as well.
Question: Scott, this is ridiculous.
The notion that you're going to stand
before us, after having commented
with that level of detail, and tell
people watching this that somehow
you've decided not to talk. You've
got a public record out there. Do
you stand by your remarks from that
podium or not?
McClellan: I'm well aware, like
you, of what was previously said.
And I will be glad to talk about
it at the appropriate time. The appropriate
time is when the investigation...
Question: (inaudible) when it's
appropriate and when it's inappropriate?
McClellan: If you'll let me finish.
Question: No, you're not finishing.
You're not saying anything. You stood
at that podium and said that Karl
Rove was not involved. And now we
find out that he spoke about Joseph
Wilson's wife. So don't you owe the
American public a fuller explanation.
Was he involved or was he not? Because
contrary to what you told the American
people, he did indeed talk about
his wife, didn't he?
MCCLELLAN: There will be a time
to talk about this, but now is not
the time to talk about it.
Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney told the Washington Post in Moday's edition that
Rove did rat out Wilson's wife in an attempt to discredit him, but not by name.
Instead of naming "Valerie Plame", he simply said "Wilson's wife".
Here's the Rove quote
from Time Magazine's notes:
ROVE:
"Wilson's wife, who apparently
works at the agency on WMD issues
who authorized the trip"
To quote Josh Marshall: "I'm
no lawyer. But I'd hate to go into
court with my case resting on that
distinction."
Robert Luskin, Karl
Rove's attorney:
'"Rove did not mention her
name to Cooper. This was not an effort
to encourage Time to disclose her
identity. What he was doing was discouraging
Time from perpetuating some statements
that had been made publicly and weren't
true."
John Aravosis, AmericaBlog:
"Ah, right. So Rove outed Wilson's
wife as a CIA agent to a reporter,
without attribution, in order that
TIME magazine NOT use the information
he was secretly slipping them. Because,
as we all know, the best way to get
a reporter NOT to use secret information
is to ACTUALLY GIVE THE SECRET INFORMATION
TO THE REPORTER."
Well, I'm off to San Diego for this weekend's Comic Con International. I'll update
early next week with photos.
::Permalink::
Posted 8:25am
pst, Monday, July 4, 2005
I
have a dream
Photoshop Illustration courtesy of Daily
Kos
During Friday night's taping of the McLaughlin
Group, panelist Lawrence O'Donnell spilled
the beans that Karl Rove was the leaker in the Valerie Plame case.
If true, it's what every left-wing blogger has been hoping for: a big fish.
Rove's attorney Robert Luskin pleaded Rove's
innocence Saturday night, but O'Donnell isn't biting.
The right-wing blogosphere is already hatching
out Rove defenses. Here's a couple of my favorites:
1. Rove didn't "knowingly" reveal Plame was a covert
C.I.A. agent
or
2. It's yet to be determined if that information was even classified
Bullshit (cough) bullshit.
Here's a trio of quotes (easilly Googlable) for
the right-wingers:
CNN.com, September 29, 2003:
[Scott] McClellan said that if anyone at the White House
leaked Plame's identity, he should be fired, and pursued to the "fullest
extent. No one was authorized to do this. That is simply
not the way this White House operates and if someone leaked classified information
it is a very serious matter," he said.
George W. Bush, October 6, 2003:
"This is a very serious matter, and our administration takes it seriously.
As members of the press corps here know, I have, at times, complained about
leaks of security information, whether the leaks be in the legislative branch
or in the executive branch. And I take those leaks very seriously [...] and
this is a serious charge, by the way. We're talking about a criminal
action."
MSNBC host Chris Matthews, talking to Plame's husband, Ambassador
Joseph Wilson, August 22, 2003:
"I just got off the phone with Karl Rove, who said your wife was fair
game."
Seems pretty cut and dried to me.
It would be hard to believe that Bush knew nothing
of the plan if Rove were involved. But it's also too much to hope that a Rove
arrest could lead to a domino effect in the administration.
::Permalink::
