The world is crashing down around our ears. The signs are everywhere – pontiffs are dying; people with mental problems, agendas and unlimited supplies of bullets are going on killing sprees; every Escalade has a one-armed driver with a cell phone, a steaming hot latte and a meeting to rush to and now this…

A duck is sitting on its eggs outside the white house. A security detail has been assigned to look after “Duck Cheney” and a sign has been put up to ask tourists, onlookers and well-wishers not to disturb the poor bird.

The sign says QUITE PLEASE. Once again. The sign says QUITE please.

No wonder the country is going to the dogs. We have a President who can’t string a sentence together and a government that can’t spell QUIET.

So I’ve been deceiving you all. As well as this blog for the movie there’s also an identical one at the proper movie web-site which is www.callbackthemovie.com (direct link to the blog is www.callbackthemovie.com/blog/ ). In the interests of time and space the blog will continue there. See you in a second…

So the Schiavo/Schindler fight to end/prolong Terri Schiavo’s life is finally over and it all feels as if there’s been no real victory for anyone. Seeing as you ask I have three things to say…

1) Though I disagree with their beliefs and though I feel justice, both moral and legal, was finally served, I admire the Schindlers for trying so hard to keep their daughter alive.

2) I applaud Michael Schiavo for sticking by his guns for fifteen years. The dignity with which he has quietly gone about his business is remarkable. A lesser man may have just walked away but he stuck by his promise to his wife.

3) I want the world to know that If I should ever become brain dead (and no, making videos for hair-metal bands in the 80’s and watching every episode of Mythbusters does NOT mean I’m brain dead) I want the plug pulled right away. But don’t starve me to death – please give me a bottle of Corona, a box of Rasinettes and then slam me with the big morphine shot so I can go with a big smile on my face.

I’ve watched someone die and held their hand as they slipped away. It’s an extra-ordinary, life-changing experience to observe. Though we live constantly in denial of it, sooner or later we will all pass along that road. Let’s hope that you and me can do it more quietly and without people fighting on the street outside.

P.S. I promise my next blog will be more up-beat…they’ve all been a bit dismal this year haven’t they?

It’s my birthday but I’m sad this evening. 10 people are dead and 13 wounded after an un-named young man stole his Grandfather’s pistol, killed his grandparents and then went to school killing a teacher, a security officer and other students before ending his own life.

OK so we’ll probably never get the NRA and their pals in the Republican party to ban guns entirely but consider this: To obtain a fire-arm in Britain you have to make an application for a firearms licence to the Home Office Firearms Section. Amongst the three strict criteria to get a licence you must prove “you are a fit and proper person of good character suitable to be entrusted with prohibited weapons/ammunition.” As I recall this involves getting letters of good character from your local Justice Of The Peace, Judge or the like.

In addition once you pass the “he’s a decent sort of chap” test all guns must be locked up in a gun case or safe that must be bolted to a structural wall – the Home Office pamphlet regarding these cabinets even goes into great detail about the thickness of steel used to make such cabinets and how the hinges should be built. Also guns need to be locked up separately from ammunition.

I wonder if these simple rules applied here in the USA, rules that need not interfere with “the right to bear arms,” whether those ten people in Minnesota would all be alive tonight.

Check out http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs3/firearms2.html

I just heard that yesterday you were with us and today you are not. I’m in shock. You had a heart as big as the city of LA and the damn thing went and let you down. Thank-you for all the hard work; thank-you for all the great people you brought in; thank-you for all the cussing and face-scrunching and thank-you for posting that really daft picture of me on your web-site. Most of all thank-you for being you and caring.

You promised me you were going to get me some hot babes for Callback so I’ll have to find another way now – but that’s not the point. Point is you were prepared to do it without a thought. Thank-you for being so generous.

I guess you’re scoping out the angels now. Let me know how it goes. R.I.P. Scottie Lazarus.

I saw Downfall last night and it brought up many issues for me both personal and historical. I’ve discussed my feelings about the war and growing up in Germany at length elsewhere so let’s move right along to history and topicality.

This film describes Hitler’s last 12 days as seen through the eyes of Traudl Junge his personal secretary and it re-examines many of the issues discussed in Anthony Beevor’s book ‘Berlin: The Downfall 1945’ which we’ll get to shortly. The film, which is excellent, has attracted much comment for depicting Hitler as a human being rather than a manifestation of pure evil. Let’s be clear: the man was a human being and he was surrounded by other human beings who did his bidding and as a result the world was dragged into a five year conflict during which 50 million people would die. This film is a useful reminder of how one man’s obsession can lead nations and continents astray. That Hitler implemented the most barborous culling of innocent humanity that history has ever seen is well known; that his blind ego took him and his armies half way across Europe is also without question. What the film (and Beevor’s book) usefully illuminates is how deeply selfish and corrupt his vision for Germany and world domination was.

Hitler berates his generals for not listening to him when quite clearly they are at their wits end trying to reason with a man who never went to staff college and was fixated on flag-decked maps that bore no relationship to any kind of reality. (See also Beevor’s excellent Stalingrad for further evidence of this foolishness). Clearly Hitler harbored enormous hatred for the intelligent, educated German military minds that surrounded him; most likely a result of his insecurity at never having risen above the rank of Corporal.

Hitler successfully surrounded himself with psychotics and sychophants who constantly fed fuel to his burning ego – anyone who chose to disagree was branded a traitor and was sacked (if they were lucky) or shot: when one of his desperate generals, facing the firing squad, confronts Hitler with the truth about the military situation and shows some strategic sense Hitler promotes him and gives him the unenviable job of defending Berlin. The horrified general responds: “I’d rather have been shot.”

The most telling indictment however is Hitler’s distaste for the very people he had supposedly done all his beastly work for: the German people. As the Russian tanks draw closer Hitler orders every bridge, waterworks, power station and other public utility to be destroyed. Albert Speer reasons with Hitler telling him that his dearly beloved countrymen will need these important items when the war is over. Hitler spits back that the German people don’t deserve it and they should suffer for letting him down so badly. Yet the contrary is true. The German people didn’t deserve Hitler. This after all was a noble and beautiful country with a long history of great art and culture.

I think it is important that the film shows Hitler to be mere flesh and blood. Dismissing him as pure evil, like a being from another universe, is a way to avoid the issue that we are all potentially culpable if we allow someone that bad and evil to thrive in our midst. We need to be reminded that evil lurks among us and we must always be on our guard. A poll in Britain recently revealed this staggering piece of information: 90% of people under 20 believe that Hitler was a fictional character.

Useful reading:
Berlin: The Downfall 1945 – Antony Beevor
Stanlingrad – Antony Beevor
Delivered From Evil: The Saga of World War II – Robert Leckie
Hitler – Alan Bullock

BUSH WATCH
Valentine’s Day
The Prosecutor: One final question Sister Prejean. Could you please repeat for the jury your thoughts on The President.
Sister. Prejean: I hate the way he uses religion. It’s a sacrilege to me.
The Prosecutor (To the Judge): I rest my case M’Lud.

(Sister Helen Prejean, writer of Dead Man Walking, is quoted from the February 21st edition of TIME Magazine