esrosedotblog

ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)

One of the best film noir; John Huston directs a cast of low lifes all blackmailing and one-upping one another. It got four Oscar nominations and is one of the NYTimes Best 1176 Films.

Jean Hagen is here for the second day in a row. Yesterday she was a comic bimbo in ADAMS RIB and today, the only sympathetic, if naive, character in this whirling cesspool. She is in love with that heel Sterling Hayden and it is totally unrequited. They have the ending together and it is a whopper. Very nice.

The thing about noir is that one becomes attached to the whirling cesspool characters in an odd and, I suppose, manipulative way. We hope that, somehow, they will succeed or overcome their nasty character defects or just fucking get away with it. They do not. So we are doubly whiplashed.

Marilyn Monroe appears here early in her career and does nicely. She dominates every scene she is in. One cannot doubt her 'potential'. She certainly has Louis Calhern wrapped around her little finger. Or whatever.

It is a great film.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Oh. One note I cannot fit into the 'review' of the film. All of the characters in this are character regulars. None have good teeth. The age of the cap has not arrived. Nor that awful whitening thing that everyone seems to be doing today. How eerie. All that white, bright. Just like a Tide wash.

Anyway, it seems a whole lot more believable to have thugs who smoke and live hard to have bad teeth. How disrupting to see a modern film where similar types look dentally together.

PACKERS BEAT THE REDSKINS

The incumbent President has been re-elected every time that the Washington Redskins won their last game before the election.

Today the Redskins lost

Packers indeed. Pack up George.

Packers Beat Redskins for 3rd Win in Row.

WARREN OHIO

30,000 people. Three days to go.

ADAMS RIB (1949)

The real life lovers Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy pretend to be married in this George Cukor comedy. It is today's movie, one of the NYTimes 1176 BestFilms and, if you notice, an 'a'. We have gone back in the list to pick up new DVD's that have appeared since we started this.

In many ways, this is a standard romantic comedy. Couple of lawyers are in love; he gets a case, she takes the defense; another lower class wife/husband. Lawyers play out the battle of the sexes. Everyone wins.

What makes this one different is, of course, Tracy and Hepburn; but also the actors in support: Judy Holiday, Tom Ewell, Jean Hagen and, best of all, David Wayne who manages to steal every scene that he is in.

First of all, this is a great film. I saw it when it came out! Yes. I was 12! I remember dialogue and scenes. I gave it a 5 out of 5 then and I give it a 5 out of Netflix5 now. If you want to see the Tracy/Hepburn magic at work, this is the film for you.

HALLOWEEN

Here is an opening line to make you close down and look for an excuse to be somewhere else: "When I was a kid................." But, in this case I think that it is a good thing.

When I was a kid, Halloween was as special a time as it is today. There are a lot of people making out that Halloween is bigger and better than it 'used to be'. But, that ain't so.

Everything that there was then, is with us now. Maybe not the Haunted Houses; the commercial kind. We had real ones! There were parades. There was candy. They had not invented razor blades in apples yet, but there were people you would not dare to visit; dark porches, outened lights. (Yes: 'outened'. I grew up in Eastern Pennsylvania; the Penn-Dutch influence in the lingo).

When I grew up and went off to college, Halloween became unimportant; of no significance; beneath the dignity of a young adult. But, when my own kids showed up, the holiday came alive again. I got to relive the fun of closed doors, the anonymity of the mask, the crunch of the leaf, the chill of the air. Yeah.

With all this prep, it wasn't too far a leap to get into Homo-Halloween when I came out of the closet. If you are queer, Halloween is the national holiday. The traditional tricks or treats are not necessarily at the same level, but they are there for the ambitious. There were parties everywhere. One would not lack for a social opportunity to dress up.

This still plays itself out in Palm Springs, though we do not engage with it. There is something about Halloween and palm trees that isn't quite right. There is a chill in the air; at least by our definition. There is a full moon tonight. There will be lottsa' people in costumes down on Arenas Way; the mini-gay bar/shop strip. But the smell of the leaf is not the same. There is no crunch. It is all costumes. True, there are the hot-boyz to look at. The well garbed gay shows a lot of skin on Halloween. But we can see the hunks any day. It is a winter resort, after all.

Now, we live in a neighborhood with few kids. There will be no trick or treaters. Down the hill, the teen age neighbor kids have decorated their house to a fare-the-well. I enjoy watching it develop. They do a great job.

So, I am thinking of taking Franklin out after supper. We would not ask him to wear a costume. After all, he is already 'dressed'. It will be dark because we change the clocks tonight. There is a black cat down the street that he loves to 'hunt' and sometimes encounters. That will provide a dollop of suspense. Maybe between the cat, the dog, and the two of us, we can scare up a little Halloween magic. I even know where there are some crunchy leaves; a rogue maple someone put in their yard. And the moon. We have most of the stuff to make it work! We might even knock on some doors. Trick or treat!

HIGH FIVE

Today's movie is CHINATOWN (1974). Here we have Roman Polansky directing, Robert Towne writing, and Robert Evans producing at the top of their careers. Nicholson and Dunaway are in full bloom with the old and wise and spare work of John Houston to keep them in line. It is a near perfect combination.

I have not seen this in a long time and was surprised to find that my memory was black and white. While muted, it is in color and Polansky uses the colors to work with the plot. Good stuff. A lot of sunlight beaming here and there. It is surely LA.

Somehow this all means a bit more to me as I now live where the 'water wars' still play a daily role in moral and political decisions. In the film, they are working to water the Valley and then annex it to LA. Here we are trying to develop a desert valley and extend the metroplex that these guys started in the era of the film. Resonance.

As indicated, I will give this a five out of Netflix5. It is an 8.4 at IMDb which is rather high for such a fussy bunch of cinemaphilic voters.

SURPRISE!

So we have been waiting for the October surprise. There is the flap over the missing explosives at Camp Ca Ca and bush' 72 hour evasion with the answer: which is that it's either the troops' or Kerry's fault OR that it did not happen.

Another surprise is the increase in unemployment today.

There is another economic suprise (well not really) that consumer confidence is down in two surveys.

What else? There is the NASA whistleblower who gave the speech yesterday about how the bushers suppress scientific evidence. He got shushed on greenhouse and decided not to take it anymore.

Then there is Eminem's Mosh which I have seen. I still can't understand most of the words but the graphics are brilliantly nasty to the bush. It is numero uno onna da chahts!

How about the FBI opening a new front investigating Halliburton? Do you think someone 'inside' has it in for the assholes who blame them for everything as well as their crazy Ashcroft super?

Clinton rejoins the fray and pulls Kerry 120,000 people in Billy Penn Square in Philly.

They have to fret that the international watch dog has found 100,000 more Iraqi deaths than the adminininnies have reported. That would translate to more than a million Americans on a percentage basis. But, yeh, they are brown people so........

And there is more.

But, who could top the Boston World Series win? Massachusetts guys on a roll and Theo says take the mo and vote for change. He really did. Wow.

So many October surprises. So little time for Rove to fuck them around into a negative message against Kerry. Even 'masterminds' need a break sometimes. Or some leeway between surprises.

BILLJOHN

I am still in reverb about Clinton's intro of Kerry on Monday. It has been quite a week.

TODAY'S HIGH

Madison Wisconsin--80,000 unscreened, regular people; some of whom may be Republicans with Bush T-shirts! Look at America junior:

GOIN' NUTS

This is the first time that I have seriously missed being in Boston. I would have liked to make contact with the insanity last night when the Sox won it in FOUR!

I can only imagine the honking, street screaming, rampant up and down craziness that must have burst from the breasts of people who were not even BORN when the Sox won the Series before. When was it? Forget it.

I have to tell you that I am not a baseball fan and only tepid as far as the Sox are concerned. I followed them up the ladder too many times and then fell off; or the ladder got moved while I was climbing. I am not good at the pursuit of losers. I will not even pretend to be too elated at the win and/or become a Monday morning faithful fan. That would be like our friend who won't put any Kerry stickers on his car unless Kerry wins!

On the other hand, I never lost my interest in the Sox organization. I liked the Yawkeys a lot; even if they were racist. Hey, none of us are perfect! But they were a family and they ran it that way. Fenway Park is there today ONLY because of them. There would be rubble pile and one of those tasteless monstrosities with a fake name. Some goddam corporate crap. I hate that.

Today's management of the Sox is no less fascinating than the players. I have been taken with the daring appointment of Theo Epstein as General Manager and the acquisition of the iconoclast Bill James to run the numbers. This is the handiwork of Larry Luchino, the team president and ceo. For a full rundown see the Times great rundown of Epstein and the new organization: A New-Age General Manager Helps End an Age-Old Curse.

Of course, we have to recognize the wisdom of the new owner. It is his money. They are now only second to the Yankees in annual operating cost. This stuff has always interested me more than what happens on the field.

When I was working in management training, I always wished for an assignment with a baseball team. I made some attempts but I never made it to 'the show'.

'CLIPSED

Franklin and I went for a bonus walk after dinner, in the dark, and—wow—there was the moon about one quarter eclipsed.

I knew it was coming but forgot about it. We had a rainy day and so I had written it off. But, the sky is clearing and there it is.

I think that this is the first time we have seen an eclipse over the desert. The moon is rising off the eastern mountains and is very very 'large'.

OK. That is it. No more mooning. Back to the Sox who are now 3-0 in the 4th.

TODAY

It is raining but Franklin and I got out between the heavy stuff.

We are now a fully cellular, mobile, wireless family and are at work loading phone numbers into the machines and trying to work through the vagaries of the LG design paradigm which is just different enough from our former Nokia to vex.

I am still behind and this was not helped, although I cannot complain, it is free, by Blogger's crashes earlier today. OK. I wasn't really trying to get anything up anyhow. I was still trying to get phone numbers loaded.

I am stunned to hear that the Eminem video which, (you may be surprised to hear) I have seen, is number one on MTV. They had considered not running it. This has to be unprecedented. It is killer anti bush and pro voting. Wow. In a word. It begins in a school with M&M reading My Pet Goat (upside down) and runs from there. Animation too. Another wow.

Finally, this has got to be the best idea that I have seen for awhile. Take a look at VISUALIZE WINNING. It will do your heart good.

Today in Rochester, MN.

exCELLent

Today was all about aquiring our permanent full time wireless, mobile, cellular phones so there is not a whole lot of bloggin'.

But I do have a wonderful 4.5 minute meditation for you:

FINAL PASS

Mister Justice says that I get the final pass.

I have completed my thirty days of Federal Jury Service and all I had to do was make four phone calls.

Whatta snap! Why was I worried? Why did I go to Riverside to see how to park and all that. Why are my jury clothes hanging in the guest closet so I can make an early morning change without bothering John?

Why? Because I am one good citizen! I was ready. I stood on the precipice.

Now I can use all this week to worry about the election!

I am very pleased with this art. I have gotten Ms. Justice three different ways and so I googled mister justice and here he is! And a hunk too. Did you notice that he has pushed back the blindfold the better to see us with. I think he has rendered a decision. Thumbs up.

OK. Back to work.

PHILLY STAKE

WORKMEN

We live in a time and place where people bitch a lot about the people they get to have work done. In the past, we have had little such negative experience. Well, there was that goddam asshole painter who took us for a ride our first year. The one I threw out. He couldn't get 'done'. But that is it.

Maybe we learned our lesson and picked good after that. Maybe we are good clients. Maybe we are lucky. Maybe there are more good craftsmen around than people like to think.

Certainly part of it is a willingness to pay a good wage. I have never bargained with a contractor. It was either a good price or not. If we could not afford it we shouldn't do it.

With the pool reconstruction, we have a lot of workmen around: first the two pool men who came to pump it out; then, the seven demo guys; after that, four plumber and/or electricians.; the two gardener types, father and son, who came to clean up after the plumbers and put the dirt back into the holes they made and now the tile guys who are prepping the surface prior to concrete work on the rim. They will come back and put tile on the surface they are now prepping. And there will be God knows how many plastering guys.

Add them all up: 17 craftsmen! Plus Joe, the general contractor who is overseeing it all and making the dance work.

I say 'craftsmen' because each group (well it is a stretch for operating the pool pump and de-watering the pool) has been extraordinary in the care and attentiveness to the job. The guys who are out there now are prepping the tile work; rough and then fine. Today they were going over the surface with a bubble and making it perfectly plumb. Now it is curing and they are going to go over it again.

I like watching. I try not to get in the way or ask too many questions. Mild affiliation. I mostly stand and watch at the edges and admire the care they put into the work.

In addition to the pool guys, today we have the VERIZON guy. No one picked him. He just arrived. An hour or two before the 3-day deadline on Saturday.

Now, I was not too kind to the company the other day. But, today, I have to admit that this guy, Tim, is way beyond the call of duty. The problems that we had were multiple and the result of water damage on desert damaged wires (it is a dry heat); short circuits. After some trouble shooting Saturday and spotty results he unilaterally decided to rewire the entire house from the service box to all of the jacks. He has even uncovered a new jack which we did not know about next to our bed. He will be here all day.

He has been quiet, deliberate, low profile; a craftsman. I would see him stop and think. Deliberate; both in the ett and ate pronunciations. A gentleman. And we got all new wiring.

And when he left the goddam dial tone still did not work! So. Sometimes no matter how good they look, they still don't get the problem solved. We are now backlisted until November 3d. Off to the mobile store tomorrow.

AFRICA

Director Claire Denis has done several films on Africa, where she grew up in a colonial outpost. Her very first work is CHOCOLAT (1988) ; today's film and the most intimate to Denis' experience. It is autobiographical and tells the story of a French outpost in the African bush during the last day's of colonial rule in Camaroon.

It is very quiet and well paced; creatively discontinous. It follows a time line episodically. We are left to fill in the middle parts. It evokes the life very convincingly. The relationships of the black natives and the white family are laid out very carefully. The house servants' intimacy with the French mom and pop and daughter (Denis) are lovingly rendered and all of it is seen through the child's eyes and the adult's memory. It is a flashback.

All is peaceful and pastoral until a plane is forced to land nearby and the passengers must stay with the family. The fragile balance of everyday living is thrown off by their presence and subtle elements of racism, sexuality, and family relationships grow into major conflicts. Roger Ebert can, once again, be depended upon to unravel all the little threads for us.

This, along with Denis' BEAU TRAVAIL is a NY Times 1176 Best Film. In many ways the two are similar. Quiet, carefully controlled colonial relationships are upset by one event showing the situation's fragility and the inevitability of collapse.

Don't get this film confused with AU CHOCOLAT. There is no Johnny Depp in this one. But get it.

I will give it a 5 out of Netflix5.

KILGORE TROUT

Kurt Vonnegut emerged from the drama pages of The Los Angeles Times this morning. I double-taked. Kurt Vonnegut. Imagine. He is still alive. Born 1922; figure it out, yeh, 82. Ripe.

They are reviving his play (I think the only one but I am too lazy to look it up) Happy Birthday Wanda June. It is comedy (of course) based on what happens when Odysseus returns from the war. It became a cult classic, not because he intended to write about Viet Nam, but because VN was happening and anything construable as anti-war became anti-war. Of course, Vonnegut was a pacifist and all which did not hurt.

That is about all that there is to it. There was a time when we awaited each new Vonnegut book with excited anticipation. He was funny and spot on. A good read. I suppose that he still is. I am almost tempted to go back and do it again.

I just realized in a link test that you have to pay to read this article unless you subscribe to the paper. Go to Vonnegutia instead. It will be a lot more satisfying than this trivial little article. KV is the main point anyway. Tooweet! And so on.

PUEBLO, CO 102304

10,000 people. No pre-qualification. No loyalty oaths. Wear whatever t-shirts you want. 10,000 people. I have been to Pueblo Colorado. It is a small town and hard to get to.

MINNEAPOLIS MN 102204

30,000 people came out for Kerry, Cleland and Mondale. What a sight.

DIRECTED

Today's movie was ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1974); one of Martin Scorcese's light ones; a NYTimes 1176Best Film.

A great cast overcomes a difficult plot. It is hard to suspend disbelief at times. It turns realistic and fantastic at a moment's notice. I think that it is a case where the directors hand is a bit heavy; he is making a 'work' rather than telling a story.

We liked it though. It is involving and entertaining and gets the job done. Diane Ladd got an Oscar nomination for the role of Flo.

Funny; as in weird. I don't have a lot to say about it. It is unique.

If anyone wants to read more here is Roger Ebert's review. It is all there.

Let's give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

NOPHONE

We are in our third day with no phone service.

It went out the other day during the heavy rain storm that we had. This, in itself, is not unusual. Desert phone gear dessicates and then when it gets damp or wet, bad things happen to the terminals.

I reported the outage. What I found is that the reporting is all voice-activated v-mail now. Or, one can go on the internet. If you want a live person who 'cannot do or know anymore than you will do or know using this auto-system' (probably because they are sitting in Bangladesh); you are out of luck.

Since I was out with the cell phone in the car (we can't get a reliable signal at the house with Cingular--gotta change it I suppose--I used the voice-act. It was OK until at some point, in the wrapup, 'she' said the problem would be cleared by 10/23/04 at 6 PM. I scoffed! THREE DAYS?!?! I exhaled and scoffed so vehemently that the scoff knocked the voice activated out and I got a hang up. Evidently, while an automated voice, the lady in question would not put up with nastiness. I had to do it all over again.

Now, we are listed for a repair on the internet as well. So I know that it is listed. I can see it. But, still no fix. It is not yet October 23 at 6 PM (tonight) so there is not a lot that I can do about it but wait it out. Did I mention that the three days is a grace period (in the contract) and that after the fourth day they will refund some money.

There are two parts to this. One is that this is one more example of real service approaching zero. When we moved here, we had old, inefficient, nearly bankrupt GTE as our phone company.

They were OK. When things went down you would call and there would be a real person who would actually make an appointment with you. I remember being upset that they would not make it more precise than AM or PM. Little did I know. The truck would show up. If it did not, then you could call in and, as I remember, they would even let you talk to a dispatcher rep. How lame is that? Look. No wonder they went out of business: "People moving ideas".

Then GTE got merged or swallowed into Verizon. I can't even google an image of a GTE artifact beyond this poor logo copy. Then Verizon and NYNEX ate each other. Eat me.

Somewhere Bell Atlantic is in there. Remember when it was a 'problem' that big bad ATT had all the phone business. That nasty service oriented Bell System. The bastards. They would pester you with service calls and you had to talk to real people when you had a problem. They would come when they said they would, the shits.

Now we are on the reverse path of the orbit. Our phone company is now a megaplex. And all automatic. And very distant and inhuman. There is no appeal. I suppose that I could go to a Verizon store and trash it but that won't get my phone fixed. They will also tell me that they only know what I do.

The second thing is that we are out of a phone and likely to be for the forseeable future. Interesting that once I get beyond taking it all too personally and ranting about the state of our nation and so on, it is not too bad.

There are no election calls. Friends can be called on the cell to let them know we are out of touch for awhile. There is the wonder of email. I cannot make any calls without going outside but that is a result of a poor choice in vendors for cell phones. But even that is not so bad.

We considered, and may still be, going all mobile. We could kill two birds or rather revive two birds by getting a new company for the mobile. The guys who work here on the pool have no trouble getting and recieving calls. It would be easy to find out who they have and just get that service so I could recieve calls at home.

Another thing. My cell-er is falling apart. It is the classic Nokia wedge. No frills. Well, it is blue.

But we are loathe to go all cell. We would not have the same number. Our 800 number that people use to call us would not be possible. Actually, it may be time to retire this anyway. We got it so our moms could call. They haven't called since 1996 and 1997 respectively. And are not going to. The kids use it but they are grown up. They make good money. They can pay for their own calls. And so on.

I guess it is not going to work. The cell phones are so fucking little! And you have to carry them all the time. I have seen this; I have written about this; I have laughed at this.

I don't think we are going to go mobile. But then again, as I write all this down, maybe this is God's way of telling us that it is time to get up with the front of the wave and just call Verizon and tell them to fuck off and disconnect us. But. I will have to get the new cell phone first.

KNEEDY

Today's movie was LE GENOU DE CLAIRE (CLAIRE'S KNEE) (1970). This Eric Rohmer talker is one of the series of 4 (?) 'moral tales'. We will see CHLOE IN THE AFTERNOON in a day or two. MY NIGHT AT MAUDS will come, of course, with the "m's". I will let Ebert tell you about this one. His reaction is a pretty good matchup for mine. It is rather Humbert Humbert/Lolita but I don't think we are supposed to think that.

Rohmer has his admirers. This film made the NYTimes 1176Best Films list. I enjoyed it. I trimmed my expectations almost immediately when I got that there was going to be a lot of two heads talking. That is not a bad thing. It is beautifully done. But there is no plot and little action. The most energy on the screen will be a volley ball game and one mostly shirtless young man who is Claire's actual suitor Gilles.

This is not my first Rohmer film but his work is evanescent. For a good rundown of the pros and cons take a look at the IMDb writeup on Rohmer. He inspired the line by Gene Hackman in NIGHT MOVES: "I saw a Rohmer film once. It was kind of like watching paint dry." The line itself is now a standard for anything that is, well, sloooooooow.

I liked the interplay of the 'hero's' talk and the real world action around him. He is wrong about almost all his assumptions. There is a lot of old/young stuff. He is way old before his time. And so on. It sure has my thinking about it.

I will give it a Netflix4 out of 5.

FULL OF BEANS

Paul Nitze was a giant. He was the architect of our nuclear arms policies and when it was time to take them down, he was instrumental in the negotiations to disarm. He is, famously, the American in the play 'Walk in the Woods'.

Here, at 93, he is being honored with the naming of a ship. That is Secretary of Defense Cohen at his side.

Nitze was apolitical. An activist. He is one of those semi-visible people; the ones who do the real work of government while the politics get played out in other arenas.

For me, he is a hero. The single most dramatic event of my life was the collapse of the Soviet Union. He was a clear player in its demise but also understood the need for mutuality and for the remaining members of the Union, notably the Russians, to maintain respect and dignity at the end of the proceedings.

I like that he refused to be appointed to a position by the 8th President he worked for; George the First. Nitze saw that is was a ceremonial position meant to burnish the faltering Bush image and told them to put it in their hat.

LEST WE FORGET

Just to put things in perspective, Viggo Mortensen is 46 today.

I worry that sometimes the important things get buried by the drama of the election time.

Viggo is a heart thumper at any age and, while we may not see him for awhile (he is a sporadic success, not continuous), he is always close to our hearts and minds. And once you've got them, we will follow you anywhere.

I missed HIDALGO but look forward to seeing it on DVD. And soon it will be time to watch the whole Tolkien thing again. Hobbit!

LOOK OUT

Here comes the Big Dog:

Clinton will rise from sick bed to join campaign.

He can do this.

Shit. John got on a plane and went to see our new house at six weeks. And he had sextuple bypass. It will speed Clinton's cure.

I already got a letter from Bill, himself, today. He is typing.

FEEL GOOD

Now this is really nice: Kids Opt for Kerry in Bellwether Poll. I wondered about the word bellwether. I thought it was like sticking your finger in the air to test the weather. No.

Etymology: Middle English, leading sheep of a flock, leader, from belle bell + wether; from the practice of belling the leader of a flock.

John Kerry is joined on stage by former Sen. John Glenn as he greets a crowd of 12,000 attending a rally at Dragon Stadium, home of minor league baseball's Dayton Dragons. I love John Glenn. Look at the old soldier.

THE 'L' WORD

No. Not that one Mary! This one: What made America strong?.

This is a great peace of work. It will bring you out of the closet, loud and proud shouting the 'l' word!.

UNTIED

Tucker Carlson, is a nasty piece of work hiding under a bow tie; one of those pretty boys with the smirky smile who thinks his shit doesn't stink.

It is nice to see him get messed up some by Jon Stewart. Read about it in the New York Times: No Jokes or Spin. It's Time (Gasp) to Talk. Or see video link below to watch it.

Tucker is the last mannekin in a long line of store dummies posing as thinkers on CNN. Some of the original members of the show were not too bad if you could swallow the concept of rant and spin. Michael Kinsley and others have gone on to better things. Even Pat Buchanan got out before it got super nasty.

This bunch and most of the sad CNN crowd are the bus and truck version of the original show. A sad spectacle of mugging and smarm. There are tapes all over the blogs to look at the wonderful exchange. Stewart fired back again when he returned to his own show Monday night.

Incidentally, I love now that you can see the good parts of teevee without watching teevee!

OVER WHEN?

I am delighted to see that Kerry has no intention of getting Gored when the election results are in: Kerry Strategy: Don't Repeat Gore Mistakes.

No early concession speeches. Swat teams of lawyers and other experts ready to fly in full fuel charter jets to battle ground states. Immediate initiative to form a transition team. In other words, proactive presidency.

It is a little scary that it has come down to this; but I remember the sad spectacle of Gore, being outfoxed at every turn by the predatory weasels of the bush team.

Of course, in the end, it was gore who gored himself. He stood alone with the results. He had lousy advisers and no depth. He lacked all the hired Clinton hands because he was too frightened or proud, or both at the same time, to ask the Big Dog for help. The bushers had the consigliore Baker and all the rest of Poppy's hired guns ready to go.

I do not think that will happen again. There will be a strong fight until it is over; whenever over happens. But it will happen more on Kerry's terms than bush'. What goes around comes around.

SNOW

All kinds of weather news. Today, for the first time this year, there is snow on the mountains particularly up north; the San Gorgonio ridge.

This is not too early for it although it has been a few years since it came this early. It is neat to see and it is up there!

We will keep a snow watch. There really needs to be a good pack all along the California ridges from north to south. The aquifers are going down from the drought. Well, also that I am drinking it and using it to water my grass, but never mind that. We need the snow.

We will not get very close to any of it until, maybe, the holiday; for nostalgia purposes. If there is a snow cover on Idyllwild, just behind us, up there, we will go for a ride and look at it. We might get out and walk on it. It is just possible that we will get Franklin to play in it. But, he, like we, does/do not like to get wet and cold. Snow has both negatives. They trump 'pretty'; the only known positive for being around it while it is doing its aquifer filling job.

YOU VEE

Now, class; this is climatology part two.

Yesterday, we discussed the rain shadow; why it is so dry here. There is another consideration that I did not high light (so to speak).

Remember what we said about the high mountain; how it affects us?

Yes! The desert is fundamentally dry because we live in a rain shadow. The clouds require enough moisture, lift, and force to get over the biiiiiig high mountains. Mostly, they hang on the other side and drop most of their moisture before coming over to us.

But, wait! There is something else going on!

To make it even harder for the wet air to get here, we have an updraft of hot dry air that comes off the desert floor. That stops any stray moisture that gets over the top; on a good day you can see the hot air 'eating' the clouds. As a result, the moisture, lift and force have to be even greater to combat this thermal effect.

Ironically, the hot draft is a result of the dryness created by the rain shadow in the first place.

Hey! Are you paying attention to this?

Wake up goddamit!

Where was I? Oh. Rain shadow. Dry. Heat. A cycle is set up. When the desert air is dry, the sun's ultraviolet rays beat through the protection of the atmosphere and smack into the also dry soil of the desert floor. There ain't no water in the soil to absorb the heat by making steam (humidity) and so the uv energy is transformed into infra red energy. Now that range of the spectrum is heat. Sure, you can feel the sun with the ultra violet and you can get a bad sunburn if you don't use a PSF 40 or something. But the IR is the hot side of the light spectrum. What your stove puts out.

We can feel the heat rising off the surface. It gets so friggin' hot on the sand you could cook an egg. Or your feet, if you are dumbass enough to go barefoot.

This is why, as soon as the sun goes down, we get a 30 degree drop in the ambient (look it up) temperature. No moisture. Nowhere. Not in the ground, not in the air. Take a bottle of water with you, pardner, or there won't be any water in you either.

OK, let's wrap this shit up. The dryness is self perpetuating, in that the thermals make it even harder to rain on our parade.

The uv is so important to the effect that, in fall and winter, when the sun starts to come in at a steeper angle and the days get shorter, it is easier for the wet weather to get over.

I am getting so done with this. Let's take a break. I am thirsty.

CREEPIN'

I have been through the day's slog through the blogs and have a headache from all the issues coming down here in the last two weeks. I am encouraged by the flow of it all. Inch by inch, my man is winning the hearts and minds of the people who count.

John, who is usually a member in good standing of the Pessimist Party, predicts a landslide for Kerry. I am the usual optimist, yet, many days, I get limp over the latest piece of gooper demagoguery, dirty tricks or media laziness.

But I will survive. I have resigned from the debating society. My blog is now working towards an angst free environment.

I have said what I needed to say and am now at peace; waiting for the results. In the meantime, look at this fine picture. Sunday. 10,000 people in a park in Florida. Unscreened. Wearing any tee shirt they want. No bullshit about loyalty oaths. Now, this is winning, no matter how it all turns out in the end.

Let's look closer!

PASS

Well, there we go. Another week and my nation does not need me.

I am standing by for Federal Jury Duty for all of October. They book me in on a Tuesday then I call the night before. So far, I have been waved on to the next Tuesday to call the next Monday. This time I will have to check in for possible duty October 25.

So far, this has been a piece of cake. A phone call here, a phone call there. No commuting to Riverside where the Court sits. Good deal.

I think that the week of the 25th is my last week. Or maybe not. Let's see. The thing began October 2, so, it would be over thirty day's later. November 1st. Good. I won't miss the election.