Critics are nearly unanimous in their praise for this film, which celebrates the work and the spirit of legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow. The film does capture Murrow at the height of his powers during a golden age in network news. At great personal risk, Murrow and fellow newsman Fred Friendly challenged the tyranny of Senator Joe McCarthy in the name of free speech and freedom of conscience. Ably directed by George Clooney and filled with strong acting performances, Good Night, and Good Luck perfectly captures the spirit of the time and the tension that permeates every scene like so much lingering cigarette smoke.

But I never quite bought it. There was the whole courage in the face of tyranny thing, which was inspirational enough, but underlaying the entire movie was a smug nostalgia. They don't make 'em like E.R. Murrow anymore! Yeah that's true; as hard as he tries, Keith Olbermann will never measure up.

But this is not 1953, either. Today, instead of Murrow, we have John Stewart. In today's day and age, Murrow would come across as a crank. I'm sorry to say that, but it's true. CBS boss Bill Paley knew it: even as Murrow was dusting off McCarthy, CBS was cutting back on his show and moving it to Sunday.

So: a solid, well-made, entertaining film. A bit heavy on the moralizing, but a worthy study of one man courageously standing up to challenge the powers that be.

Posted by ksmoker at 8:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, I'm flattered to have been tagged by Stephen, so here goes. The deal is to list five things that other people don't know about me, then to tag 5 other people to do the same.

1. The two houses that I grew up in no longer exist. The first house was literally blown away by a tornado in 2003. The second, in which I lived from age 10 to high school graduation, was rendered structurally unsound by the same storm and had to be torn down.
2. I saw Anna Kournikova play in her first US Open at the age of 15. I was sitting too high in the stands for that number to have had any felonious associations for me.
3. I have discharged firearms in anger. I used to hunt and kill groundhogs. I also used to hunt deer, although I never actually shot at one.
4. When I was around twelve years old, my family's dairy farm was featured in some agricultural periodical, maybe Pennsylvania Farmer or Lancaster Farming. The reporter asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I gave him the answer he wanted to hear. Not too much later, I decided that I wanted to be an astrophysicist instead.¹
5. Many people know this already, but just to be sure that the news is out: we are in the process of adopting our second child from China. Our new son, whom we will call Christopher, is two. We hope that he will be with us by late Spring 2007.

Oh, 5 people is too many... Let's just tag Derek, Ted, and Jane. Anyone else who wants to jump on the bandwagon, feel free.

Posted by ksmoker at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After months of anticipation, Ben finally understands what all of the hubbub is about. Yes, he knows the Baby Jesus story, and if asked he'll tell you that Christmas is Jesus' birthday, but it's pretty clear that the concept of a big fat guy in a red suit handing out presents has got the upper hand in his five-year-old imagination.

Here Ben discovers the evidence of Santa's visit. His wonder and astonishment lasted just about as long as it took him to open the presents, then he shifted into hard-core play mode for the next two hours.

We've definitely gotten more in the spirit this year, from the decorating of the tree to the singing of Christmas carols--although I'll be glad to take a break from Ben's relentless requests for "Jingle Bells". Kari and Ben also been having a blast visiting friends and family while I've been laid up with what we suspect is bronchitis. But don't feel sorry for me, despite all my honking and hawking, it's been nice to at least take a break for a few days. And nothing could dampen the excitement of experiencing our first Christmas as parents.

Posted by ksmoker at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Thanks to this pretty cool country identification quiz for helping point out my geographical ignorance. By nailing Yemen and Turkmenistan on the first click, I have a feeling I did better than most, but it's still pretty demoralizing. Final score: 70.

Posted by ksmoker at 7:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)