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"Chili Palmer - it's chilly outside and it's Chili inside. It's a regular fuckin' Chili-fest!"
So said Ray Barboni, played by Dennis Farina, at the beginning of 1995's "Get Shorty." Right now I am watching "Get Shorty" for about the sixth or seventh time and the third time in a week. The movie is starring John Travolta as Chili, Gene Hackman as dumb-ass movie producer Harry Zimm, Rene Russo as horror film actress Karen Flores, and Danny DeVito as actor Martin Weir. The movie's got a great bunch of supporting actors as well including the aforementioned Dennis Farina who plays an outstanding part; Delroy Lindo, who you've seen in any number of supporting roles in everything from "Romeo Must Die" to "Broken Arrow" and "The Devil's Advocate;" "The Soprano's" James Gandolfini; and Jon Gries, who I barely recognized from his part as Uncle Rico in "Napolean Dynamite."
Aside from the writing and the cast, though, the most striking thing for me in "Get Shorty" is how freakin' cool Chili Palmer is. I really can't think of a cooler character in any movie off the top of my head. Sure, Dirty Harry is cool, as is Randle McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and Tyler Durden in "Fight Club." The problem is that none of them are just as even-tempered and unwaveringly cool as Chili. From the pre-Barboni-confrontation statement he makes at the beginning of the movie "I'm not gonna say any more than I have to, if that" to his repeated easy beatings of Bo Catlett's bodyguard Bear, Chili is damn cool.
Think you know a cooler movie character? Email me - subgenus @ subgenus.net
Kopp
Friday, January 12, 2007
Monday, January 08, 2007
Pimping
Recently I have been learning a lot about Buddhism and today was listening to a talk on occupations. In Buddhism, the noble eightfold path is the path that the Buddha laid out to help practitioners reach enlightenment. Buddhists don't believe that the path is magical or anything like that, but they view it as a practical way to get to the goal of enlightenment. Right Livelihood is the fifth step of the eightfold path which also includes right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Anyway, Buddhists believe that there are certain occupations that are just not in sync with the path to enlightenment. Making and selling weapons is one such occupation, as is being involved in the raising and slaughter of animals (though Buddhists are ok with buying the meat from non-Buddhist butchers). Another job that is a no-go is anything that has to do with the selling of humans. Back in the day of Buddha, this referred first and foremost to slavery, but there are still some jobs (most not legal) today that involve this.
A job that the speaker mentioned was being a pimp. Though prostitution is not looked on badly by Buddhists (at least in comparison to the way the institution regarded in the West), the speaker said that since pimps sell the prostitutes, the job qualifies as buying and selling humans and is therefore no good. It got me thinking - does a pimp really buy and sell people? In some cases yes. For pimps overseas that are dealing in the trade of young boys and girls who really have no choice in the matter, pimps are certainly doing that. In, say, the US, though, many pimps could be seen as an example of outsourcing certain aspects of a job. Pimps can provide overall management, coordination, collection, protection, and scheduling for a prostitute - all value added services in the flesh industry.
Not that I'm planning on moving into the pimping industry or anything. I just thought it important to point out that for anyone that's a Buddhist, but has a yen to move into pimping, that it may be possible to do that and still stay on the eightfold path. It's just very important that you make sure that you clearly define your role as pimp - you are not there to sell the prostitute, rather you are there to facilitate situations where the prostitute can offer his or her services to a customer, as well as provide certain administrative and back office functions.
Kopp
Anyway, Buddhists believe that there are certain occupations that are just not in sync with the path to enlightenment. Making and selling weapons is one such occupation, as is being involved in the raising and slaughter of animals (though Buddhists are ok with buying the meat from non-Buddhist butchers). Another job that is a no-go is anything that has to do with the selling of humans. Back in the day of Buddha, this referred first and foremost to slavery, but there are still some jobs (most not legal) today that involve this.
A job that the speaker mentioned was being a pimp. Though prostitution is not looked on badly by Buddhists (at least in comparison to the way the institution regarded in the West), the speaker said that since pimps sell the prostitutes, the job qualifies as buying and selling humans and is therefore no good. It got me thinking - does a pimp really buy and sell people? In some cases yes. For pimps overseas that are dealing in the trade of young boys and girls who really have no choice in the matter, pimps are certainly doing that. In, say, the US, though, many pimps could be seen as an example of outsourcing certain aspects of a job. Pimps can provide overall management, coordination, collection, protection, and scheduling for a prostitute - all value added services in the flesh industry.
Not that I'm planning on moving into the pimping industry or anything. I just thought it important to point out that for anyone that's a Buddhist, but has a yen to move into pimping, that it may be possible to do that and still stay on the eightfold path. It's just very important that you make sure that you clearly define your role as pimp - you are not there to sell the prostitute, rather you are there to facilitate situations where the prostitute can offer his or her services to a customer, as well as provide certain administrative and back office functions.
Kopp
The Box Song
As much as I'd love to just blindly hate Justin Timberlake the way I hate Dave Matthews, he just seems to get himself involved in projects that make me can't help but like the guy. Most recently was the SNL "A Special Christmas Box" project. I'm sure most everyone has seen this already, but if you haven't, be sure to watch this:
A Special Christmas Box
Just be warned, this is the uncensored version.
Kopp
A Special Christmas Box
Just be warned, this is the uncensored version.
Kopp
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