One of the most sought-after songs I have on my list is proving to be extremely difficult to find. It appeared in the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Then it hits me...DAMN! this movie is almost twenty years old, and the song was one of the most endearing factors of the film. The “bus passengers” gave Kirk and Spock grateful applause when the Punker (played by Kirk Thatcher) was silenced...along with the loud tune on his boombox...with the Vulcan neck pinch!
Oh, I’m digressing again. The name of the song? “I Hate You,” performed by the Edge of Etiquette. Here are the lyrics:

Just what is the future?
The things we’ve done and said.
Let’s just push the button.
We’d be better off dead!

And I hate you!
and I berate you !
and I can’t wait to get to you…

The sins of all the fathers,
being dumped on us – the sons
The only choice we’re given is:
How many megatons?

So I eschew you!
And I say “SCREW YOU”!
And I hope you’re blue too!

We’re all bloody worthless,
Just greedy human scum,
The numbers all add up
to a negative sum…

And I hate you!
And I hate you!
And I hate you...too!

I’m sure an original recording of “I Hate You” exists somewhere. I think I will write Mr. Thatcher and see if he can do something to get this song released to the public. It’s time has been long in coming. I know lots of Star Trek Fans will agree.

Last night, the Miss America pageant was held. Some notables about the event, which was won by Miss Oklahoma, Jennifer Berry:
• The pageant was moved from its previous host city, Atlantic City, NJ, to Las Vegas.
• There was a four-month delay, due to a scramble to find a TV network to host it, which they did: Country Music Television. This meant the previous Miss America, Deidre Downs, got to wear the crown for 16 months.
• The Miss Congeniality award was revived after 32 years. It was won by Miss Hawaii, Malika Dudley.
• During the preliminaries, Miss Nevada made what is considered by the MSM to be a controversial statement regarding Yucca Mountain, the national nuclear waste facility in nearby Nye County.
Now, is it possible that I may watch this pageant when it next arrives on the TV screens? Could be...if I have cable TV by then!

It’s an institute you can’t disparage...la la la la!
Look who just got married again! To his ex, no less! Gee, is it because he got out of the rappin’ business? Hard to say.
Let’s see how long this re-union lasts. Good Luck to the both of you. You’re gonna need it!

One of my favorite online comic strips, Chris Muir’s Day By Day, has finally introduced the Sunday Funnies format!
Go Ye and check it out. The Macker Commands It!

King Kong is Most Excellent! It is indeed a faithful, modern interpretation of the 1933 original, set in the same time period, radically unlike the 1976 debacle where Kong was hawking gasoline of all things. UGH.
Director Peter Jackson takes full advantage of Andy Serkis’ three years of experience with Gollum...and transformed it into the Big Ape himself! Serkis also played Lumpy the cook. The sheer length of the movie (over three hours) also lends enough time to develop the characters; Naomi Watts’ poignant portrayal of Ann Darrow is the equal of Fay Wray (who died last year). I didn’t expect to see Jack Black, but there he was as Carl Denham, the core capitalist.
In addition, as great as the original was, Skull Island is transformed into a modern-day Monster Island (but thank goodness Godzilla doesn’t show up!); one has to wonder what civilization existed there to build the wall against the likes of Kong and the dinosaurs, not to mention the various other creatures which existed there.
Hat tips were in evidence; even Fay Wray and RKO Pictures (the original producers) were saluted. Yet the funniest scene of the movies was during Kong’s rampage in New York City: let’s just say he was on ice for a while!
King Kong is rated PG-13 for frightening adventure violence and some disturbing images. Be prepared to make a pit stop before you get seated, and don’t forget afterward. You will not be disappointed at all. My rating: 9.5.
Note to Mr. Jackson: Please get to work on adapting The Hobbit the way it should BE adapted.

...once this guy is gone. And he’s taking his staff with him too.
I once listened (and watched) Howard Stern, his raunchy content was amusing at first, but like South Park, it got old real quick and I tuned out. I won’t miss him one bit when he goes to Sirius satellite radio. I’m not about to fork out $X just to hear him either.

I. Cannot. Believe. Paramount. Is. Contemplating. This.
Why the hell can’t Kirk stay dead? Yes, you read right. This science fiction fan (and has been one nearly all his life) knows that there are things in Life more important, and this is definitely NOT one of those things.

In a recent e-mail exchange with Atlas of Atlas Shrugs (who I discovered over at LGF), I found out that she is a big Frank Sinatra Fan. So I decided to recommend to her an album by a crooner from the holodeck, Vic Fontaine...otherwise known as James Darren. The album (yes, I’ll always call them albums even though they’re on CDs now!) is called ”This One’s From The Heart,” has many Sinatra covers he performed on DS9, and is available on iTunes.
Watch for other musical recommendations from The Macker in the future!

I haven’t watched this show much. Maybe 1 or 2 episodes, but not any with Martha Stewart on it. Looks like it didn’t take very long for Donald Trump to fire her though:

“I thought I was replacing The Donald,” Stewart says in the current issue of the magazine. “It was even discussed that I would be firing The Donald on the first show.”
When did Trump learn that she intended to bump him off his own show? “I don’t think he ever knew,” Stewart told the magazine.

As cold-hearted as she may be, she didn’t measure up to Trump on her version of “The Apprentice.” He may want to rid himself of this franchise, but he will have to wait until he can find someone of his stature to take over. Nice try, Martha.

The main reason I don’t go to a lot of movies is because 20 bucks is 20 bucks is 20 bucks. And that’s just for ONE person. If it isn’t an absolutely critical movie to go see, I’d just as soon wait for the DVD to come out...oh that’s right, Star Wars Episode III is released on Tuesday!
James over at his new blog memo to: reams one particular filmmaker on this subject. No, it isn’t George Lucas either.
Back to Star Wars for a moment. Now the entire series of movies will be out, watch how sky-high sales will go for just this DVD set. I’d be interested to see the numbers. But it’s not high on my list...the other series which was once thought to be a knock-off of Star Wars IS. I wish my mom could get Internet access and could tolerate the computer screen (she has low vision)...she’d also be able to take the hint!
I know, I know, it’s wishful thinking.

The actor who played Hikaru Sulu for many years on Star Trek has publicly announced that he is gay.
OK, so what?
I had no idea that he was, until now of course. A whole bunch of other sites are discussing it and it seems they go over people’s public appearances with a fine-tooth comb. I had the same reaction to this that I did with Michael Stipe of R.E.M.
OK, so what? Time to move along. Next news, please....

It didn’t hit me until just now. It’s been 25 years since The Blues Brothers, one of the greatest movies ever filmed, was released. God, I loved that movie, because it so reminded me of how great a city Chicago WAS.
Not anymore...now I refer to it as Народный Социалистический Город-Государство Чикага, or the “People’s Socialist City-State of Chicago.”
Yes, I do miss the OLD Chicago. Not the one where Mayor Daley puts up 2,000 CCTV cameras around the city...or prohibits picture taking of some damned bean.
No, the Terrorists didn’t turn Chicago into a People’s Socialist City-State. The Donks beat them to it.
Yes, I do miss the OLD Chicago.

Lord, it was so nice to go see a movie again. The last time I went, it was $8.50 to get in. Last night, I found it’s now $9.00. But at least I was comforted (HA!) by the fact that the concessions prices didn’t go up. I don’t know what it is that makes movie popcorn so addicting, it just is. But I digress.
Prior to seeing Serenity, I had not previously viewed any of the episodes of the short-lived Fox TV series Firefly, so this is the first movie I had seen in a long, long time where I wasn’t biased about it in either direction. And I must say I really liked it a lot!
The movie is set in the early 26th century, about 500 years after Humanity (in the form of the Sino-American Alliance) left the Earth after its resources had been depleted. Scores of planets were terraformed to accomodate the emigrating population, and Earth is a place which is not forgotten, but remembered in every culture. A war was fought between the Alliance and the “Brownshirts” who resisted the Alliance’s goal of consolidating all Human planets under a single government...and the Brownshirts LOST. As a result, the core planets are controlled by the Alliance and the outer planets are free-for-alls, much like the American West of the 19th Century. In my book, it’s a unique setting which adds much realism. Sure beats the snot out of the last time I saw a Science Fiction Western...imagine a barroom brawl in 1/6 Earth gravity, and you get this!
Like the TV series, Serenity centers around Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds (played by Nathan Fillion) and his crew of the Firefly-class transport Serenity, and their ongoing struggle to make a living in the wake of the Unification War. One of the crew hides a terrible secret which threatens all of Humanity and is pursued by the Alliance’s Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor). I was also heartened to see Ron Glass appear in this movie as the Christian pastor Book. I hadn’t seen him since his days on Barney Miller!
Serenity is rated PG-13 for intense violence and action, and some sexual references. Definitely worth going back and watching the TV series (now on DVD in its entirety, alas only 14 episodes). Series creator Joss Whedon should keep this going! My rating: 8.5

My dad went to Oktoberfest back in 1969...and he told me later as I was growing up that at Oktoberfest, the attendees “rent” the beer! I guess to pay it back, they do what is normally done in that case.....
Seems like a lot of Germans have much to drink about this year too: both their economy and foreign policy are in the crapper, and of course there are the Muslims. But will they be sober enough to vote Herr Schroeder out of office on only the second day of the Fest? We’ll find out soon enough.

When I first found out about the web site touting actor Christopher Walken for President in 2008 I thought it was a joke.
Turns out that it is just that, a joke, which disappoints the Saddam LA Times. Says Mara Buxbaum, Walken’s publicist:

“The person who put this together was just trying it as a hoax, I presume. My take on it is it sounds like the person who put this on the Web took his role...in ’Wedding Crashers‘ too seriously and now wants him to run for the presidency.”

Are the Democrats that hard up that they still have to look for a token candidate to take on Shrillary? Guess so...nice try.