The Voices in Frank's Head

For more than three weeks, I've been listening to one pundit after another talk about what the Democrats need to do to win in 2006 or 2008. We need to "get religion" or "abandon our gun-grabbing ways." We need to quit "pandering" to gay folks and support traditional family values. We need to reach out to the South. Thousands of people have come forward with their ideas about what the Democratic party needs to do to be serious contenders in the next election cycle. Thousands opinions. Thousands of commentators. Collectively none of the IQ that God gave to a jar of pickles. Senator John Kerry ran what was arguably the worst presidential campaign ever. He spouted a few soundbites, but never spoke with a clear message. What message he did have seemed to change with alarming regularity. He complained about what President Bush has done over the past four years, but didn't offer a clear alternative to what he would do differently. ...

There's good news and bad news out of Ford Field. The bad news, of course, is that the Indianapolis Colts spanked the Detroit Lions by an astonishing score of 41-9. The good news, though, is that a team from Detroit finally managed to play a complete game against a team from Indianapolis without a brawl breaking out.

I woke up yesterday morning; greeted by two news stories that were bizarre in their contrast. The first was one that I already knew was going to be on the front page of the newspapers. Campus Martius Park opened in downtown Detroit Friday night with much hype, pomp and circumstance. It was beautiful. Calm. Peaceful. It was almost enough to wash away every negative image one might have about Detroit. The other big news story was the one that I had gone to bed on Friday night without hearing. A huge brawl broke out during a Detroit Pistons vs. Indiana Pacers basketball game. At least two fans were hospitalized. Many more were injured. Bottles, cans, chairs and articles of clothing were thrown at the players. It was a nightmare. And it happened in the far-off distant suburb of Auburn Hills, in the heart of northern Oakland county. Almost all of the fans were making a disgrace of the region and basketball were white suburbanites. So, to recap -- a calm, peacefu...

I was browsing through the comments that were left by others to Mitch Albom's column today. One of them really struck me. Here it is, along with my replies. Bush is a true leader.... by: mazenbluman (44/M/Lakeland/ Hamburg MI) 11/03/04 10:37 am Msg: 5 of 54 1 recommendation Weather you like it or not....mitch ought to change his name to bitch, because thats all he did during the campaign(about W that is). kerry was a fraud and now all you union whiners, village idiots and morons who were stupid enough to vote for an American hating communist will have to wait 4 more years! Re: Bush is a true leader.... by: JS_Frank (33/M/Detroit, MI) 11/03/04 08:33 pm Msg: 53 of 54 Yes, George W. Bush is a true leader. The problem is that he always insists on trying to lead in the wrong direction. Re: Bush is a true leader.... by: JS_Frank (33/M/Detroit, MI) 11/03/04 08:45 pm Msg: 54 of 54 By the way, I can't help but feel it's ironic that you call...

Mitch Albom has a column in today's Detroit Free Press . Its title poses a simple question. "After bitterness: will we let winner actually lead us?" It's a interesting and simple question. The answer to it is also very simple. No.

Election 2004 proved two old political adages. First, it's rarely enough to simply point out your opponent's failings, even your opponent has as many as George W. Bush does. You have to show people a better way. Second, you have to define yourself before your opponent gets a chance to. George W. Bush defined himself as a strong leader who could be counted on keep America safe and that Senator Kerry was a flip-flopper. (Personally, I can't believe that either label managed to stick -- especially the first one, but that's life). As an aside note, I think this experience will also result in a bunch of heads being mounted on pikes within the Democratic party's leadership. George W. Bush was arguably the weakest, most ineffective Republican we've seen since the GOP was founded. If the current apparatus of the Democratic Party can't beat him, they really don't have much of a chance to beat anyone. It should be interesting to watch.

Four more years of Bush/Cheney. Four years more jobs going overseas as dead servicemen come home. Four more years of bin Laden wandering around without the President doing much to stop him as honest Americans see their civil rights eroded. For more years of gay couples not being allowed to marry, because that would threaten families, as 51% of straight couples get divorced, because that doesn't threaten the family. Four more years of tax cuts for the richest among us and fewer services for the weakest among us. Four more years of Bush/Cheney.

It's weird how some really little things can bring back huge memories. I went to vote this morning. One of the election officials actually seemed to think that I was my Dad, since I neglected to add the "Junior" at the end of my name when I filled out the little application for a ballot. I guess he's still on the voter rolls, even though he passed away last July. When I walked out of the polling site, it was all I could do to keep from crying.

"Mosh" by Eminem. One of the coolest songs I've heard in a long time.

I saw "Late Nite Catechism 2" at the Max last Thursday night. It was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. In this live performance, sister picks up where she left off with a nun's perspective of life, religion and -- well -- everything else. Totally funny. For anyone who survived Catholic schools, and is in the Detroit area, this is an absolute must see. And for those of you from outside of the D -- it's worth driving a couple of hours to see this one. http://www.detroitsymphony.com/season/production.aspx?performanceid=454

President George W. Bush conceded today that Sadam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. In doing so, he essentially became the last person on the face of the planet to come to this realization. Everyone else knew it months, if not years, ago. Of course, in typical Bush fashion, as he conceded that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he argued that the invasion was still justifiable because Sadam Hussein was stealing money from the U.N.'s oil-for-food program. Really? Interesting. Of course, if one takes that to its logical conclusion then Canada would be justified in launching an invasion of the United States because of all the non-bid contracts that have gone to Halibrton and other companies with political ties to the Bush administration.

There's a new game that I play when a major national or international event happens. First, I turn on CNN to get the basic story and see how they are covering. After that, I take a look at the other news networks to see how those outlets cover the story. The differences between some of the networks can be down right amazing. This morning was a perfect example. There was a rocket attack on the Sheraton Hotel in Baghdad this morning; no deaths or serious injuries but, since the hotel is inside the "Green Zone" and houses Western contractors & journalists, it is quite newsworthy. CNN reported the basic facts as they knew them, spent a lot of time playing up the fact that they had some exclusive video (no one else had video that showed the U.S. military returning fire with tracers) and said that much would depend on how effective the coalition forces were at responding to this attack. I flip over to Fox News. They also outlined the basic facts and show...

For months now, I've been bashing President George W. Bush for, well, pretty much everything. And if I hadn't been busy filming a documentary , I probably would have bashed him even more often then I have. Now, however, it's Senator John Kerry's turn to face my cyber-wrath. Senator Kerry has been bashing President Bush over the economy and the war in Iraq even more frequently than I have. He's the Democratic nominee for the White House so one has to expect that. However, I profoundly disappointed in how little he has done to present the American public with a viable alternative. He's done relatively little to give me the sense that he has a plan to do things better or offer us a better solution. Take the war in Iraq for example. People have been pestering him for details on how he would do things differently ever since he became the Democratic nominee. He finally put forward his plan . Sort of. The thing is only 3 pages long; consisting pr...

There's a funny thing about porn. When it's good, it's really good. But when it's bad, it's beyond terrible. I was watching this live web cast earlier today (because I was sick of cranking out yet another meaningless report for work). There was this web cast of an amatuer couple having sex so I tuned in for the heck of it. The guy never took his long sleeve shirt off (I don't know, maybe that was a blessing in disguise). The chick has obviously not scene the inside of a gym in years. The two of them spent more time discussing what they were going to do then actually doing anything. And I'm not talking about that hot, steamy bedroom kind of talk either. I'm talking about conversations about camera angles and room temperature. Boring ass stuff. All said in with this dull, clincial kind of tone. My thought was, "is the person you're f***ing really that bad that you're gonna think about this stuff?" After a few mi...

Dang, it's been almost an entire month since I've had a chance to post anything in this blog. I've been super busy -- getting ready to film my documentary, dealing with my Mom going into the hospital (she'll be fine), fighting to preserve a historice building that the City wants to tear down and, of course, work. There've been a few times where I thought of something that I wanted to post about, but, I didn't have a computer handy at the time. (Yes, I know -- I need to get a laptop). Anyway, I've got a moment now -- but nothing overwhelming to talk about. As a result, this is going to be Random Thought Day . A collection of a few thoughts that popped into my head when I didn't have a chance to post. None of this is connected by anything other than the fact that it's what I think about when I try to remember some of the posts that I wanted to make over the past month. Every now and then, I think about moving out of Detroit. Chicago is o...

I was walking downtown the other day when I saw a certain face that looked kind of familiar. I soon realized why this person seemed so familiar, I had seen him a television a couple hundred times -- it was Geoffrey Fieger . A part of me wanted to say something to the man, but he was gone before I could figure out what. Of course, after he was gone, a tiny part of me wanted to plug my documentary to him since he's now chair of the Michigan Film Advisory Commission. Oh, well -- maybe next time.

It's odd how simple tasks can get very complicated. Today, for example, I left to get a haircut. I don't really have that much hair to begin with, but what I have left was starting to flop around more than John Kerry's stance on the Iraq war. Anyway, I'm on my way to the barbershop when I get a call on my cell phone. It's a certain aquaintance of mine who works for the City. She says that she's faxing something over to me but, as she put it so dramatically, "it didn't come from me." My curiosity gets the best of me so I turn the car around and head back. I pick up the fax, still warm. It's a letter from Amru Meah, director of Detroit's Buildings & Safety Department, to the City Council. He has declared the old Madison-Lennox Hotel to be threat to public safety and wants to tear it down expeditiously - without the usual procedures and oversight that normally comes with demolishing a historic structure. I'm still not ...

Now is one of the parts of filmmaking that I hate. I've put out a couple of last minute proposals that, if they're accepted soon, will enable me to make my documentary and get it done -- and done right -- in time to submit for Sundance 2005. I've done everything to best of my ability. Now I just have to wait a few more hours to find out if my best is good enough. I hate this part. Waiting truly sucks.

In my blog, I've ranted about one stupid politician after another. I've even ranted about stupidity in the private sector. Today, however, I feel the need to vent about stupid celebrities. Britney Spears was recently spotted wearing a T-shirt with the message, "I'm still a virgin." You know, it's a shame that I didn't get a chance to mention this Britney during any of our numerous conversations. However, the world has certain rules to it. One of them is that after you chose to celebrate your 18th birthday by fucking 18 different guys in one night, you can no longer properly claim to be a virgin. Another one of those rules is that it's no longer proper to claim virgin status once the number of guys you've had sex with reaches the triple digit mark. I know, I really should have mentioned all of this to her. But somehow, I just didn't think of it at the time. Hopefully, someone else will take a moment to explain a few things to h...

When I first got interested in making movies, I did a little research and learned that most Hollywood productions take two years to go from concept to screen.  When I first read that, I thought, "My God -- two years?  How can it possibly take that long to put together a movie that only lasts an 90 - 120 minutes?" Now, I understand. Casting. Financing.  Clearances.  The crew.  Contracts.  Research. And more financing. As I've tried to put together my documentary, the first time I've ever been writer, director and producer on a feature length project, I've discovered just how challenging it can all be.  I keep thinking about that old circus act -- the one where a guy has all of these plates that he's trying to keep spinning.  The second he gets one of them set, another one or two of them start to fall. I'm still doing it.  Absolutely committed that, even if I drop a proverbial plate or two, I'm going to make this film happen...