esrosedotblog

EVE

I don't believe in New Year's Eve or Day. They are constructions separate from reality; numbers on a paper; an imperfect calendar that has to leap every four years.

But this kind of discussion leads quickly to sticking my head up my ass so I will not go there.

Enough to say that I do not take any of it seriously. It is another day without mail.

My reading for today said it for me and rather succinctly:

"A New Year: 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes - a time to consider directions, goals, and actions. I must make some plans to live a normal life, but also I must live emotionally within a twenty-four-hour frame, for if I do, I don't have to make New Year's resolutions! I can make every day a New Year's day!

RIGHTS

One would hardly expect Arkansas and Montana to be breakthrough states when it comes to gay rights, but here we are.

Montana upholds the rights of gays to recieve domestic partner benefits in the university system and Arkansas upholds the right for gay parents to adopt children.

See this New York Times story.

While the right goes nuts over the marriage issue, the real building blocks of equal rights for gay partners will continue. These are both State constitutional issues and therefore unlikely to be appealable to the Supremes. Progress, one state at a time, just like the fundies.

POWERLESS

Tourists try to rush to safety before the tsunami hit the Hat Rai Lay Beach in Thailand. The water had receded before the deadly wave struck. These people are surely lost.From the New York Times.

This is the only photo that I have seen of 'it' coming. We have a video loop taken from a tall building and it is hard to gauge the height of the wave but not the force of it. You can see the devastation from the first and as the wave recedes it is filled with debris and bodies.

Truly an unimaginable catastrophe.

Finally, too, the lame and late delegation from the US will 'tour' the area; a last errand for Powell.

BEAUTY

I finished Dance With Wolves (1990) today (see yesterday's post).

And yup, it ended kinda like I was afraid it would; but, in between, and for the most part, there were flashes of brilliance and beauty that is rare in a film of this kind; an extended western.

I liked it a lot and will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

I don't suppose that any analogy between what the US Army did to the Sioux and what they are doing today would be too heavy handed.

It has been our approach too many times towards strange, brown people; wherever or whoever they are.

Of course, you could argue that the film was slanted; but, it did not have to work too hard to see the underlying motif in the brutality being used on the battlefield and in military prisons today.

ME ME ME

If you thought bushie gave a shit about anyone or anything but his own sweet self, take a look at his sadly embarrassing and scandalous behavior with the tsunami tragedy.

And not just from the viewpoint of human concern for others.

If there were ever a chance to redeem our reputation with Muslims this is it.

Squandered.

The best thing they can do is criticize Bill Clinton for commenting in London when asked. And then go all defensive like when the UN guy rightly called their initial response stingy.

Meanwhile junior clears brush and idles at the ranch. He didn't even send an emissary or stand-in.

What an asshole.

SERVICE ROBOTIX

I have been having my share of successes and failures with reaching Customer Service reps at companies I do business with. I guess everyone else has too. Look at this in the NYT today: Customer Service: The Hunt for a Human.

I have an alternative view. Humans are not always better. They can have major attitude and will even hang up on you and they can even be using a second language. They don't get the harried consumer's circumlocutions.

I had some trouble with Verizon land lines and the rep was a nasty bitch and would not even get her supervisor as she was 'not allowed to'. She could not and would not tell me anything that was not already discernible or manageable from the web site. She actually read the same screen I was looking at.

I got things worked out on the web site but also had gotten the name of the repair man and the local shop location and used that to leave a message for him to come back. It worked but it was the web site and message machine that did it; robots.

With Verizon Wireless, it is much easier to use the web. Same with a power outage problem at the electric company. The LA Times has a super 'no paper' report and the guy is calling in ten minutes. Let's not underestimate the design acuity of some of the phone system automation. It often works pretty well. There are exceptions. Our gas company still has live service people and they are nice and accurate and dependable. They will actually converse and you can call the same rep back if there is a problem.

You gotta pick and choose. No one company is the same. Using the consumer service email on a company's web site ain't a bad way to get attention. I have often scored this way. One must be patient.

Of course, patience is a virtue and a lot of us, mostly me, are a little short in that department so it is a good exercise in virtuosity, Sometimes the robotic service people are just the ticket. The live ones can be a real pain in the ass. The robots are always impersonal and even polite. Constant. No lip. And they are always there.

HALF

Today's movie was the first half of Dances With Wolves. It is so long that it has an intermission (4 hours).

So far so good. But I think that those cussed white men are going to show up and fuck everything up. They already skinned a bunch of buffalo for the hides and left the carcasses. That bunch got their's though; drawn and quartered and given the kind of death they gave the buffalo.

Anyway it is a great film to watch and I am ready to see the rest of it even though I have some trepidation about how it all might end. I have read a bit of history and it ain't pretty. But maybe things will turn out OK. I will have to wait and see. The wolf and the horse are great. So is Kevin Costner. This got a lot of Oscars.

LIPSYNCA

I liked this very thorough article on tweaking live, and even obviously canned, preformances: Put Your Voice Where Your Mouth Is in the NYT.

When we saw Damn Yankees yesterday, there were occasional times when you could see their lips move wrong but for the most part, we forgot about it. There was no flim flam over who the actual singers were and you cannot dance like that and sing at the same time.

I have been to a lot of concerts where I couldn't hear very well and would have welcomed 'augmentation'.

Anyway it is an interesting rundown of the art and science of dubbing and its history.

TURNABOUT

Having allegedly violated the rights of their prisoners, these guys are, evidently, pretty sensitive when it comes to their own right to do their thing in private: 6 Members of Elite Navy Force Sue News Agency Over Photos in the NY Times.

I guess privacy trumps having your head in a bag with blood dripping down your chest or having some grinning yahoo sitting on you while your buds take a picture to send home.

The world turned upside down. Then again, who would want to go public with their brutality. There has to be a limit somewhere, huh?

I didn't think much of The DaVinci Code myself. I thought the chase novel was a bit over wrought and, to tell the truth, I am not interested enough in christianity to care whether secret societies concocted large flim flams about the story of Jesus. I know that someone did and it is not very subtle. He was a great figure in his time and a bunch of profiteers turned his story upside down to get a religion organized. The work still continues today. Nothing very subtle, that!

But the novel is far more convoluted and filled with wonderful bits which I did enjoy; the description of art and objects and places and situations that do exist. It is fun to watch a chase unfold even if you don't give a shit about the paper thin characters. They have even made an illustrated version of the novel which, in its way, is far more interesting than the book itself. It has good reproductions of the art and it even has a picture of that nasty self-torture thing one of the pious characters wears to keep his mojo up.

Now, in real life, come the detractors and the lawsuits for plagiarism. Success always breeds this kind of thing but it would seem that there is some substance to the charges and the arguments in the case reveal the shakiness of a lot of the 'facts' on which the novel is based. This rundown, The Da Vinci Crock in Salon, nicely summarizes the situation and the work from which the novel was evidently cribbed and an account of the resulting lawsuit.

It is always fun to watch people scurrying around with this kind of thing when the real world is plagued by so many problems that require real examination and attempts for solution. Of course, that too is the story of christianity; all about itself and who has the biggest stick to beat the subject to death.

But, we must have our fun too and this is just more plot about the plot within a plot about a plot. How very interesting. And all those books sold!

TRIPLE

Today's movie is a three bagger. Not only is it (one) a perfect Broadway musical comedy flawlessly translated to film; it is seen (two) in a year when the Red Sox beat the in-clutch Yankees and (three) at a time when the Washington Senators, the team featured in this musical, came home at last in the form of the Nationals. Too bad about the name.

George Abbott was the master musical maker and he is in rare form in this production of Damn Yankees (1958). He has used the original cast except for the addition of Tab Hunter as Shoeless Joe Hardy, the man who sells his soul to the devil to win the pennant for his favorite team. And, the great choreographer for the show Bob Fosse, dances in one number with Gwen Verdon. They were also married. Ray Walston is Applegate, the devil. He was later a martian or something.

The other thing; they have adhered to the book and, except for scenes on the playing field, the sets are very much like on the stage; just a little bigger. Same designers actually.

When you hear someone my age talk about the way musical theater used to be, you could take a look at this film to show you what we mean.

I saw this on the stage in 1954 or 55. My friend Jean Stapleton was in it. It was her first big break and she is in the movie. You can see the beginnings of Edith Bunker in her style; the comical sidekick.

The whole thing just rolls along; tight as a drum. The songs are great and everyone sings for real. I will give it a 5 out of Netflix5.

ALL WET

We are having an unprecedented wet winter and today and tomorrow will add to it with a lot of rain. It is OK, it is badly needed. But all at once? Yes. That is how it works. This is the desert. The land of extremes. Right where we belong.

We live in a rain shadow most of the time but when the jet stream has the force and moisture and lift to get across the range of mountains between us and the coast, we have today's weather. It is a big storm and is really dumping on LA and up the coast to Santa Barbara.

What fun to get toweled down by the other dad when we returned. Franklin went on to roll on the rug and wipe himself and actually have one of those sensual romps that dogs seem to thrive on. I stayed with being toweled off.

We await the next rain lull. The last time this happened he and I said 'fuck it' in the afternoon and took a rather long walk which both of us really enjoyed. Once we get thoroughly wet, we have done it. There is no more wetter to get.

Up to now, Franklin is water averse for the most part. He will walk in the street (no no) to avoid a sprinkler shower. We are glad that he does not like the pool and will not go in voluntarily. This may be a result of having gone in INvoluntarily when he was a pup on two occasions. He may be slowly discovering that his breed is a water breed and that his coat is as waterproof as mine if you shake it occasionally. I do not think that this will lead to a desire to jump in the pool though. I hope.

ANXIETY

For a little perspective in time and size and something else to keep you worrying at 2 AM here comes: When Nature's Wrath Is History's Reminder in today's New York Times.

I betcha it has a lot of stuff you didn't know or perhaps did not want to.

We sit on the edge of one of the 'big ones' that is so fully discussed and illuminated by scientific study that when and if 'it' happens we can go into the hole with the full knowledge of how and why 'it' happened.

Turns out there are a lot of other 'its' out there for which the people on the edge have no clue. They will just fall into the hole wondering whether they left the door open or, well, what?

I don't know that one state is better than another but, in the event, it won't matter as there are only a couple of seconds to consider it anyway. Have some nice flashbacks and let go. If you need some material to fuel your meditation take a look at this tsunami hitting the shore. Don't know where or when; the site is in Dutch or something.

LEFTY

In the sixties, when I was a budding radical/progressive/whatever, the Village Voice was the first alternative newspaper that I ever saw. It was fresh and it was wild. All sorts of new ideas bloomed and so did my consciousness. It was one of the single most formative instrument in my awakening.

In the Voice at that time you could read about the new cinema (Andrew Sarris), left wing politics of all kinds, scurrilous writing about society's sacred cows and bulls, and so on. Jules Feiffer was one of the regulars.

Among all the columnists, Jack Newfield was the most disturbing to read. He ranted and raved and tore at the underpinnings of all the propositions that I had grown to believe; the canon of America. Nothing was safe from his scorn and ridicule; all well documented. I almost had to shield my eyes to read his column.

Jack Newfield died this past week. Here is a wonderful tribute to him by a latter day disciple, Joe Conason. It appears in Salon; an on line 'rag' that aspires to be the new 'Voice'. It does pretty well, but nothing rings so true as those old pages of pulp in the sixties.

OH NO

Someone, other than me, has finally gotten concerned about what we are going to call the decade we are in: Name That Decade. Timothy Noah in Slate runs it down for us. There was an offer of calling this decade the 'ohs' but other than saying 'oh' a lot, no one took it up.

I am even more concerned about all the other decades to come. When we talk about the Tens won't that just sound puny compared to other decade references like 'the Nineties' and, of course, 'the Sixties' which were actually sort of the last half of the numerical sixties and the first half of the seventies. But, no one says 'the Seventies'.

'The Tens' just sounds puny and insignificant next to these mighty numbers late in the last century.

What did they say about the period between 1900 and 1910? Not a lot I suppose as they were ramping up to WWI and that took most of people's energy.

It is a tough one. I will hang in and wait and go with the crowd.

Of course, as you can see from the illustration, the decade ain't always enough information. There are two gay nineties, evidently. The one I missed, the other I lived through.

TRUE STORY

Today's movie was pretty tough to take.

Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be executed (by hanging) in Great Britain and Dance With A Stranger (1985) tells her story.

Miranda Richardson, Rupert Everett, and Ian Holm are seen early in their careers and give really great performances as (respectively) Ellis and the cad who she loved and the man who supported and took care of her. It is not a secret which one she murdered since all England was obsessed with the case for years. But I won't tell you.

The film directed my Mike Newell is rivetting. This despite the fact that, once again, we had trouble getting through the accents; a demonstration that you do not have to understand all the dialogue to get the picture. I did sort of cry at the end after all. Something worked.

Newell did Donny Brasco with the Depper (also a true story) and that movie had the same gritty realism while keeping the thriller thing going. I do not think that this is easy to do at all. Brasco was also based on a true story.

This is a 4 out of a Netflix5 and I wish they had English subtitles (which many heavily accented British films do).

AS YOU GO

There was a sign in one of the eateries I used to work in; shortordering and soda-jerking. It said, in big bold letters: CLEAN AS YOU GO.

The idea was that if you cleaned your mess as you made it, we would all get out of our shift faster, there would be less clutter for others working in the area and, just possibly, if a food inspector came along, we would miss getting cited just on the basis of neatness. In some venues, cleanliness trumps mouse turds.

I have taken this principle and made it a habit in my own cooking life. The dish goes in the rack, the counter gets scrubbed, the trash and leavings from knife work go in the disposal and a used ingredient goes back in the rack or refrigerator.

Cleanup is faster; just do the dishes when the meal is over. The room looks better than if it is all gnarled with flotsam and jetsam and you can find your knife when you want it. It is in the right slot of the knife rack.

It strikes me that this 'clean as you go' principal is one to consider in life too. When you make a mess clean it up as soon as possible. If you lose your temper go, now, to work the problem out sensibly. Wait until you cool off, of course. There is nothing worse than scornful apology. If a mistake is made, correct it quickly and move on.

This kind of behavior reduces the inherent 'kitchen mess' that one carries in living. God knows there is enough unconscious stuff (they tell us) we have had done to us or have perpetrated ourselves or whatever.

I am not sure that I believe this neurosis thing much; it is often a good excuse for bad behavior. You can transform selfish actions into neurotic behavior with just a little mindfucking.

But, I digress. I have to go clean up the mess I made getting this piece together. You know. Checking the spelling (did you know that the spell check doesn't buy 'mindfucking'?) and cleaning up the punctuation; always messy. And so on.

AFTERMATH

It seems pretty trivial to write about a holiday letdown in the same 24 hours that 13000 plus people are swept away by a tsunami. In fact, most stuff pales when one compares. It is simply unimaginable.

They said that there was warning in most places; two and a half hours. But, somehow, people didn't or couldn't get out of the way. Some were snorkeling. Others were fishing. Most were just living in their little houses. You never know. The wheel turns.

As far as we are concerned, there wasn't all that much holiday to be let down from. We sort of did some things that could have happened on the actual holiday. A day late. We got a great boost by spending the day with Randy over from Long Beach and in a longish conference call to an esrose family get-together back east. There were some late Merry phone calls from other friends just catching up. So it was a pretty good day all in all on our side.

Say a prayer for the lost and lorn.

QC

Since I bitch about everything the government is not doing I should comment favorably on this initiative: Program Coaxes Hospitals to See Treatments Under Their Noses.

It seems that with the emphasis on miracle (high cost) drugs and procedures, some hospitals have neglected the basics. The busher's obsession with testing will pay off here, I think.

NICE ENOUGH

We have gotten through most of the big day pretty well. It is amusing that so many people talk about 'getting through it' as though the whole exercise is, well, an exercise; arduous and painful and something to be a bit dreaded.

I suppose that a lot of people have a true happiness on the day. I have never quite managed it. Faking it doesn't quite work in any aspect of life. I suppose that is why we have minimized it. First, the religious aspect is nil for us as we are 'none of the above' in the faith or religion category. I always have to heave the caveat in: that don't mean we ain't spiritual or don't believe in a Higher Power. We just don't take anyone else's word for it.

As a pagan festival it stacks up OK. It certainly has been done that way a whole lot longer than anyone has been doing the xmas thing. It is winter. It is near the solstice. The air is clear. It is relatively silent at night. Yes. And what is more, no one tries to run it down your throat.

The other thing is that we do not shop. We are of a mind that if we want something we should get it at the time and if we do not want something we should not have to smile and thank the other person for it as though we did. That alone reduces 90% of my burden around the day as I am a shitty shopper and have no eye or mind for it. I suppose I am mildly or even wildly agoraphobic. The other side of it is that I have never quite gotten the skill of recieving unwanted gifts gracefully. Somehow I manage to put my foot in it somewhere.

So rather than drag our asses through the day, we have lightened up. We did have our stollen this morning. See below there. Tuesday? No last Friday.

We did our normal Saturday routine. We both went to our respective Meetings. I got to see a lot of friends who put that first as well. John went out to lunch with a friend. I came home and took a nap.

Then I dawdled over lunch. Not a usual routine. Somehow it got to be two pm and we did a joint dog walk. Usually that is only Sunday morning or a day I cannot bike because of weather; I do the am with the boys. That was nice.

The turkey breast is in the oven. I made the cranberry sauce yesterday. Stater Brothers are providing the pumpkin pie. Actually, our yule dinner is pretty much like our thanksgiving. Normally there are no desserts but pumpkin is a vegetable you know.

Soon, 'it' will be over. It was a snap. I had a dose of the 'skeezix' yesterday. Some old emotional, nostalgic, dramatic baggage getting dropped. Once you have those kind of feelings through and out you never have to have them again. John had a nice epiphany about his family. We probably got healthier and saner for the day. Nice.

LIGHTS

I suppose every town has it; the one house that has more holiday lights than any other. Ours is over on the other side of town and is reputed to have hit the 8 million mark. They guy starts to build his display in April. He must have a lot of time on his hands.

Each year the display becomes more, more, and then some more. Now it is over the top. You cannot see the house and he has gone to net lights which allow him to get almost full property coverage front, back and one side; all on the street. People come from miles away to see it.

It is nothing like this that shows style and grace. Now it is just all lights. Mass lights.

I think that Dad and Mom are gone and the, now grown up, kid owns the property. All the restraints are gone.

We went and walked around last night. The best new thing is an assemblage (teevees, computers, and so on) of eight life size reindeer and sleigh. The rest is just simply overkill. I even saw a fog machine working in the back yard. We did not go in.

We took Franklin and met two Airedale families. This is always an event because you do not have to explain life with an Airedale. You just stand and smile as the others tell you how their pooch does the same stuff. Franklin loves attention. Don't we all? Other Airedale owners are especially loving.

Franklin's view of the lights? He peed on the sled and reindeer.

MERRY

Have a wonderful holiday

and join the band.

OLD SOL

I am trying to get the pool heated up with the solar system. We started yesterday, a cloudy day. But today was sunny and so I got four degrees out of it. It is now at 61.

But, then it is cold this week (65/42 kind of cold) so I will lose a degree or two tonight. It is going to be a slow climb.

We also have a new feature on the rehabbed pool. When we are heating the water we can divert the inflow to pipes in the bottom of the pool so the heat rises through the mass of water. In the old pool, the water just came in about a foot deep and so the bottom took a long time to heat. We had to jump in and churn it. We were the spoon. I do not know what the effect of this new feature will be.

The pool is also covered. Eventually, when things get going, that will give us almost ten degrees on its own. There is inertia in all this but the goal is to get it up to 75-80 by January 13 when Dave and Maureen arrive.

That is about 21 days. That would mean squeezing one degree a day out of it. Possible. And probable. I am keeping records. An obsession. But, do not worry. I will not bother you with a day to day rendition of this. Perhaps weekly. Well. Every other day?

GENDER BENDER

Today's movie was The Crying Game (1992) by Neil Jordan.

Knowing the gimmick does not hurt it. We had seen it when it came out. There are many clues along the way. Most of us just didn't pick them up.

It is still pretty good. A NYTimes 1176 Best Film

There is not a lot to say. It is a tight thriller and very well managed throughout. I will give it a 4 out on Netflix5.

In one of those Netflix coincidences that are so weird, we have a double trick in this film. We saw a great Forrest Whitaker cameo a few days ago The Color of Money. And, we will see Miranda Richardson in the next Dance With a Stranger". Both actors appear in this film and turn in bravura performances.

On the other side of things, Jaye Davidson is the center of this film and only made two more. One was Stargate which we watched for fun; Kurt Russell kind of fun. After that, poof; end of career.

Steven Rea has been in a lot of films but I never saw him again. That is a minor disappearance, yet significant, as if I do not see him, he does not exist. He may not know about this.

DAISY

Today we had Peter Bogdanovich's take on Henry James' Daisy Miller (1974). It is one of the NYTimes Best1176 Films and should be.

In ninety concise minutes (a miracle for anything by James) we get a jewel-like rendition of another James character who cannot express his love and loses.

The film has all the polish of the Merchant-Ivory efforts without the wretched excess. Some scenes are breathtaking. The lighting is incredibly good especially in the apparently genuine scenes in Vevé and Rome.

The acting is down the middle but spouting the long Jamesian sentences is a challenge. Bogdanovich directs the dialogue at top speed and some of it is hard to hear. But we get the drift.

Cybill Shepard is type cast as the willful yet superficial Daisy; an all American girl in the middle of a continental tour with a bunch of tight asses. Cloris Leachman is the overwrought mother.

A sad footnote that the 'hero' Barry Brown committed suicide 4 or 5 years after making this film.

Another saddish one is that Bogdanovich was very hot and then he was not; relegated to directing B films or teevee stuff. Another early bloomer wilting on the vine.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

DOG BITES

This in Slate today: Grandpa Got A Dog....Oh No!.

It is a humorous and, I think, insinuatingly nasty piece on sibling rivalry between human kids and a family dog. Extreme examples are given and the point is made. Yet, I can't help feeling as though more is going on here than meets the eye.

There is a reverse form of the 'empty nest' syndrome. When kids leave home, I observe, some of them still yearn for parenting in a way that denies their adulthood. The author seems to fit the mold. Her expectations of her own and other parents, in general, seems to contradict a certain reality: when kids grow up, parents move on.

I have to admit to a certain bias here. We sort of ran away from our kids 8 years ago to get to someplace that was warm and cozy and supportive for us. It is also clear that, in a way, we were running away from home and family and, inevitably kids and grandchildren. OK so far. Lots of grown up adults do this. There are those who choose to stay close and dote or to visit back and forth frequently. We do not. We like the distance and we like the close times together which are less frequent than average but high quality. Or we perceive it that way.

One thing I see that we miss out on is the extent to which a lot of older people are micro-managed by their kids. We have been spared that. I suppose that some of that is because we do not and never have micro-managed our kids' lives. What goes around comes around. We have all minded our own business and, them that don't get caught out at it. They find themselves being told what to do by their kids when they least want to be messed with.

Now for the dog part. We got a dog. Is he more important than the kids on a basic life or death basis? No. Is he more important on a day to day basis as we sort of putter our way through life? Sure he is. I would put his walk before returning a regular phone call back east.

We do not leave him alone for very long. He is part of our little family in his doggy way. Yeh, we know he is a dog but he is our dog. He is one, of many, reasons that we do not trek eastward to spend a harried time running from place to place 'visiting'. And that is to say nothing of the discomfort of flying today. We simply do not want to board him or do without his company for very long.

Of course, some young people do not understand this. They are so involved in what they rightly consider their own life style that other life definitions seem tenuous at best and dead wrong at worst. I remember feeling that way about my parents. What a boring life they led. They could not possibly have been as happy as they acted.

This is why, I speculate, those that meddle in their parents' life meddle. They view an alternate reality as strange or unrealistic or are threatened by their own possible future. They cannot imagine doting on a dog. In a few cases, like this author, where they obviously have not grown up and are insecure, they see an oldster attached to a pet as a parent guilty of child neglect and abuse.

Too fucking bad. When you get to my age, a walk with a dog and some snuggling (to say nothing of a chase and wrestle or a game of tag or a session of fetch) is just about enough. The dog enjoys every minute as I do. And when we are done, we can quit and go our separate ways. Not so for the author. She is going to stay around and nag.I

There is a sea change in who we are and what we want as we mature. This is the case whether we are going from adolescence to young adulthood or from parenting to 'retiring'. The changes come whether you want them to or not. Mostly, I want them to. The main thing I am willing to do is to let them happen. Oh that some ungrateful children would do the same and not write bitchy pieces like this one. She got to me, eh?

MORE

I found another holiday thing that we have done for years. Cards, and our little advent calendar trimatree; the two holiday things I really like. Now there are three.

I found fruit stollen at our bakery today.

They didn't make any last year and so I had to settle for a kind of high-rise-with-icing fake one from another place; Jensens, the local upscale market where the elite meet to eat. It was more like a coffee cake masquerading as a stollen.

I have had fruit stollen for the holidays ever since I was a little kid. My dad was an A&P store manager and he would always bring the last stollen home with him on christmas eve. Maybe two. Stale isthe best. They looked just like this photo; maybe less goopy candied fruit on top; confectioner's sugar instead. But, the same height and look in the bread.

I managed to get stollens at other A&P's for years then from Acme stores when I worked for them and then I learned how to make my own.

I don't bake anymore but if I did I would sure be making stollen for the holidays.

SHORTY

Today is the shortest day, ain't? I am glad because it is hard to get out and do the bikeride until about 6:15 and it puts a crunch on the other stuff I gotta do in the morning. A long list. Well. It is not imposed on me. But it is long anyway.

This photo is not in the desert. I put it up because it makes me feel cold. It is cold here without the sun; a thirty degree drop when it sets. So, though there are 70 days, that means 40 nights. Mittens on the bike ride. It sure isn't northeast cold though. Even when I get a good wind chill going churnin' the bike.

I like it. It means that we have seasons just like everyone else. It is just that our winter happens at night. It will be longest tonight. Then it will get shorter as each night takes less time.

DETOXED

I am in my 6th week without any coffee. You may remember that I came up with some intestinal stuff and caffeine was listed as a number one irritator.

With the encouragement of Dave, for one, I just quit drinking the coffee. I did not go cold latté but tapered a bit.

The withdrawal symptoms were not too bad. Some headache. My stomach was already fucked up. I think that I may have had some dizziness but hardly noticeable. It was all over in a few days.

I had some craving for it but not at the level of cigarettes; no way at all. And now it hardly resonates. I think of it occasionally but not in the sense of getting a lift or anything.

I definitely sleep more soundly in the first part of the night; maybe 4-6 hours. I used to have little wake up things that would get me for awhile. I think it was the caffeine. Otherwise, I can report no striking benefit. I am as energized. I do not seem to 'need' that cup on awaking. I am awake and lucid and up and at 'em.

One negative/positive is that I did have trouble meditating without the coffee. I would drift into what 'they' call somnolence. It is a common impediment to sitting. I would just say that I fell asleep sitting there breathing.

Then I realized that I had fallen into some bad habits; an easy chair, a sloppy posture, all that. So I moved to a straight back chair and sat without leaning back. Just me and my spine. Wowser! The way it 'sposed to be. I now am back into the flow. Good karma baby.

I have no 'issue' with caffeine. I really do think it is mostly harmless. I think that it works for people who are a little sleep deprived which I am not. But then, I thought alchohol and cigarettes didn't hurt me either when I was using them to get blotto or nico-high.

Another addiction dropped into the wake. I don't think that there are many left. Well, my self absorption. But that doesn't harm me in any way. Does it?

SURREAL

The best thing about L'Age D'Or / The Golden Age (1930) is that it is only one hour long.

A collaboration between Louis Buñel and Salvidore Dali, it is packed full of nutty stuff from beginning to end. Nothing had been seen like it and it was censored almost totally from public showing.

Now, of course, it is rather tame compared to the kind of crazy shit that we see today.

I watched it because it was on the Best list. It was today's movie. One hour.

I think that it is a New York Times Best 1176 Film because of its history. Many scenes are quoted by other directors down the years including Hitchcock (I am told). Here is the whole magilla in a plot summary. Make of it what you will.

I made it a 1 out of Netflix5.

DONE

I offer you a before and after shot of the pool project. We are mostly done. The plaster is cured and the filters are being cleaned of it as I type. That means we can turn on the solar to heat it up from its present 60 degrees to a pleasant high 70s or even 80. The salt needs to be added for the saline system to be reignited now that the plaster dust is clear. Done. Sigh. Whew.

I know. It doesn't look any different than it did before. John says we have a knack for spending a lot of money for something you cannot see. In this case you can see it if you are up close. A new colored concrete border with continuous drainage slots all around, auto fill, auto cleaning, a new better inlet system (three nozzles place to stir it all up) and bottom filling when we are heating with the solar to drive the warm water up and through the mass. There is all new tile on the side of the spa, both in and out. And so on.

How boring. But we spent all this money and you can't see any of it so I have to tell.................enough.

CYCLES

The biking routine is working its way in. I got four days in last week; woulda' been five but for the Santa Anas on Thursday. I have found at least four different routes. Some are hillier than others. I will do the tough ones early in the week then the less challenging.

Did I show you my bike? It is a Schwinn Cruiser; only not the deluxe shown here. I have the tank without the weasly little horn (like Harold Bixler had on his when I was a kid—it sounded like a fart) and no fender light. I also have a coaster brake, unlike the hand job in the picture.

I have a flasher on the back (red) and a Trek Headlight that makes reflective signs glow a quarter mile away. I also have a helmet but that doesn't attach to the bike.

We got a set when we moved here and this baby has worked very hard. Other than two or three bearing jobs and some flats it still runs like new. We have two more or less deluxe and two without the tanks; the stripped down.

I do not believe in gears for bikes. It is a fitness averse feature. I also believe that you must remain seated and not do any 'stand and pump'. This latter is right out of MensHealth magazine when it was a real fitness magazine and not a sex, fashion, and gadget guide for confused twenty and thirty something straight boys. But, let's not get into the good old days. A new editor and we will just let our subscription lapse.

DIVA

Opera queens everywhere are getting out their black armbands and old LP's for the tribute parties: Renata Tebaldi, 82, Soprano With 'Voice of an Angel,' Dies.

I never belonged to the OQ battallions myself but I have some friends who do and I am thinking about sympathy cards.

Tebaldi was more famous after she stopped singing than while she did. Her actual singing had technical flaws. But, ohhhh, the charisma. The fruity tones.

I once endured a band by band comparison with Tebaldi and, was it Callas? It was a rainy day and I had nought to do and got trapped. I think it was on a 'date' of sorts. The only one, I am sure.

This is one of those situations where a good friend of a good friend shifts off the mortal coil and so there is a sort of induced sadness. End of an era.

CIVIL WAR

I told you this would happen. The winning side often loses it's solidarity. This is just the beginning: On a Deadly Day in Iraq, Republicans Step Up Debate Over Whether Rumsfeld Should Stay.

The storm has been brewing for a week and the White House cannot hold the troops together. The mandate they got is gone and we haven't even ended the year.

The scandals will start pretty soon too.

WEBBED

I watched Spider Man 2 today. I missed it when it was around. It is my holiday blockbuster.

I liked it as much as I can like this kind of film. I really watched it to see Tobey Maguire and was not disappointed. He is very good. I am worried that he is trapped in these things and won't be able to get out. He has no films scheduled until the third installment. Maybe that will free him up to do the kind of work we saw in Wonder Boys and Cider House again.

My problem is all the crashes and dead bodies left behind and the contraptions and all. No one ever seems to clean up the broken glass. I cannot imagine watching it on the big screen. Noise.

I know. It is the comics. But then, I never read them either. The melodrama of his human failures and conflicts is kinda hard to take. He can't be that big a fuckup.

Nonetheless, it held me and I even got teary here and there. I didn't use fast forward or skip anything. I even liked the values expressed. With great power goes great responsibility. Sometimes you have to sacrifice what you want to do the right thing. This thing is bigger than you and I. And, we won't tell anybody who you are.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.
   

THREESOME

We have started doing two-dad walks with Franklin on Sunday.

During the week, John has the morning hour walk and I have the afternoon. Franklin has both!

On Sunday, I used to bike while they walked. But a while ago, I passed on the bike and walked with my two guys; it became a regular thing.

We certainly like it, as we relish time with each other and particularly each other and the dog. What is also apparent is that Franklin thinks it is special too. His pre-walk dance is much more excited and the walk pumped with extra energy. John is still the walker of record but I am along for some added fun and attention.

Attention; the magic elixir for a pup. Well, for all of us, huh?

KEERIST!

So today in the LA Times there are two articles about the ridicule of and discrimination against christians; those poor harried folks who are just trying to have a good time at their annual holiday. You know, the one that they appropriated from the Druids or whoever.

The first is some holy roller in the south who has a campaign going against stores whose employees say 'happy holidays' instead of 'merry christmas': This Season Greetings Are At Issue. And of course, it denies the fact that there are a few other holidays around this time of year. I will not even address the issue of Kwannza.

The other article is a bit more pointed in that our correspondent finds more than a little anti-semitism in some of the rants to put christ back into christmas. (hell, my beef is that he got into it in the first place). Of course the cry of anti-semitism is often used to cover other agendas. So now the other side (yes there are sides) have picked up the meme for themselves. One man's anti-christ is another's anti-semite. And so on. See: Yule Tidings of a Culture War.

The newfound boldness of the religious, now shoving religion into our faces post-election, is annoying, at best, and unconstitutional at worst. It will not take long to get over the myth that they won a mandate; but in the meantime, these bigots and proselytizers, will be taking up our time whilst Rome burns.

Oh, by the way. In case I forget. Happy Holidays!

SECURED

All this talk about Social Security sort of goes by me. I figure that whatever happens and whatever they do is not going to have a lot to do with me. Perhaps I am naive.

They passed some mess of a prescription benefit that no one in my age group can understand. Hey, we aren't that senile.

I never even got a mailing on it. John did. I did not. That is how well the Program has been run.

We got a raise on our Social this month. It is not too bad. 2% or something. It is different for everybody based on what and when you put in and then they took out MORE for Medicare. It is all in the margins.

I suppose that I should be worried for my kids and grandkids but none of this is going to happen overnight and they are smart enough to make their own preparations. At least I hope that they are.

Social Security is a good thing. It forces people to save and to do so 'blindly'. I do not believe that anyone will be served by individual investment add-ons. Maybe the underwriters and the investment industry. This scheme has worked in no other country that it has been tried and has often been a disaster.

The trouble with the bushers is that they really are not interested in the concept of individual investment. They are interested in dismantling Federal programs and loosening up the restrictions on use of the Fund and all. They are rarely for what they are for for the reasons that they give. I know. Two 'fors' in a row. Go lip read it and it will make sense.

Anyway, they keep saying that I am OK and they won't mess with my cohort. I plan to live until at least ninety so I am an actuary's nightmare. But they won't seek me out and shoot me down will they? Huh? Will they?

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE

Crimes and Misdemeanors was today's movie. Woody Allen wrote and directed this serious/funny two plot film and it is quite a lot of fun to watch the serious side (crime, on the left) unfold while the comic (misdemeanor, on the right) trots along beside it.

I can't say much about it or it will be a spoiler, but there is a connection between the two stories and, of course, it is not revealed until the end.

There are a lot of great actors in this. Angelica Huston is riveting. Martin Landau and Jerry Ohrbach are brothers, one goody two shoes and the other the black sheep. They are uncannily matched in looks. Claire Bloom does not have a lot to do. Allen uses himself sparely for a change and is hilarious as well as deeply sad.

There are, as usual in Allen films, superb performances from small character role actors. These bits, in fact, illuminate the film and fill in the underpinnings of the moral argument. Yes. There is a moral argument. God also stars as well as the archtypical jewish family elaborating on the moral dilemmas. It is a great film.

I will give it a 5 out of Netflix5.

FAST SANTAS

Copped from Outsports.com a great site for wholesome athletic eye candy as well as gay-centric coverage of all sports.

FJORDS

Al Kamen in today's Washington Post:

Opponents of the Bush administration's Star Wars missile defense system jumped all over Wednesday's failed launch, saying the setback showed the administration was rushing to deploy the system without adequate testing.

Au contraire, said a spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency: The test was not a failure, it just was not completed. "We weren't able to complete the test that we had planned," Richard Lehner told the Los Angeles Times. "I definitely wouldn't categorize it as a setback of any kind. The test had been planned for a while so it's a disappointment for those of us who were working on it. We will isolate the anomaly and fix it."

See? Not a fiasco but actually a great opportunity. More like Monty Python's dead parrot, the famed Norwegian Blue, which we all know wasn't really dead, as the shopkeeper explained to the irate customer, but merely "kippin' [napping] on its back," and "pining for the fjords." Why, if the parrot hadn't been nailed to the perch it would have broken out and "Voom!" Or maybe gotten off the launch pad and hit that target.

They don't pay Lehner enough.

FLOORED

My exercise regimen is not a week old and it is already going to the dogs.

I have found out what John already knew: we cannot do floor exercises with Franklin in the house. He considers it his invitation for rough play.

We have no one to blame but ourselves. It has been the rough-house signal since he was a puppy. We lay down and he piles on or bites our head or pushes us around or anything. It is free style not greco-roman.

It is fun having a pooch like Franklin to remind you that not everything is serious. In fact, nothing may really be serious.

Oh. That is not me or Franklin but he does take a nice picture doesn't he?

VERY BAD

In a futile attempt to be transgressive, I watched Bad Santa today; a whim when I was going through my Netflix Queue the other day. It is the holiday season. Why not strike a blow for the anti-christ and all that.

Well, I watched about ten minutes of it. It can't even make movie of the day status.

Billy Bob Thornton had better watch out. You can only get cast so many times as a hopeless drunk and wastrel without being type cast.

The other thing is that seamless curse words have no impact. He seems to be the go-to guy for such a script and hence, he has no impact as the actor who mouths the dirt.

I also have to fess up that I am uncomfortable watching dwarves and midgets and, in this one, we have a black dwarf; used obviously as a two pronged put-down joke. I know. No one makes these guys sign up for exploitation. I can't get over it. I cover my eyes for most of the Munchkins too.

It is hard to be bad when the bad stuff is so bad that being bad is not an option and you have to shut it all down. Paying for my sins no doubt.

I made it to the mailbox in time to ship it back same day though. That is very very good.

NANNY GOAT

I told you that there wasn't any Nanny and that things were way worse than anyone thought.

This sum up from Josh Marshall who has more than covered this situation. All his links will expand if you have an appetite for the sordid.

Kerik is not only a (gasp) serial and sometime duple-adulterer and career thug. He has ties to the mob and more.

And every one of these allegations do more to tarnish Rudy as he should be tarnished. Kerik was Rudy's bumboy. Or was it the other way around?

And look at that combover!

LUDWIG VAN

Ludwig van Beethoven,  December 16th 1770

(use opening bars of the Fifth Symphony)HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

REUP

It turns out that if the military had not thrown out so many gay people, they would have more than enough people to serve. Alan sent this from the New York Times: Ready, Willing, and Disqualified.

JUST OUR BILL

I love this anecdote from Wonkette:

Al Sharpton: "Once, I was going to meet John Kerry, and I called Bill Clinton for advice. He talked to me [for] a good 50 minutes. Just before I went in to see Kerry, I said goodbye -- and when I got inside, Kerry was on the phone with Clinton."

NOT SO SUPER

Follow up on the supermarket strike we had out here at about this time last year. The LA Times reports: Supermarkets Still Feel Pain of Long Strike and Lockout. Yes. Let us not forget the lockout.

I supported the strike and went to Stater Brothers which is a sort of local chain; only in Southern California. I was pleasantly surprised. It is a very good store; excellent, fresh produce, meat and dairy. They don't have long distribution lines. It is about two miles further for me and I am still there.

Vons, where I used to shop, were real pricks to the strikers when they came back; the more seniority the more prickiness. Many were transferred to long commute stores. Many were given other jobs than their specialty. I know a few clerks who ended up working at Staters and they are still there. They say the old store is a mess.

I walked because of the union busting. The Safeway guy is a bastard but the stockholders would not vote to get him out. He has lost them a ton of money in bad mergers and so on, but holds the fort on this personnel issue. And so it goes.

CHOICES

This is an interesting writeup about the Democrats 'abortion trap': Somebody Found Some Moxie. It is a little late for Kerry to be thinking this way but better later than not at all.

I have always been uncomfortable being shoved into the tent with the pro-choicers. I am a middle of the roader on abortion.

It is not a good thing. Ever. It is hard on everyone involved in it; the mom, the docs, the family, and very often, the dad. People never get over it, in my opinion.

I respect alternative views about it. Of course, I do not take a pro-life stance anywhere near the goop or right wing rhetoric.

But once again, the Demos are marginalized by getting on the wrong side of an issue where there should be more respect and understanding of different views.

I gotta say that I am there on guns too. I sure ain't NRA but I do not think that gun control will control crime any more than marching in a picket line. I grew up in a house full of hunting guns. I did not participate but the feeling of comfort with a firearm is there, nonetheless. And so on. Have I pissed anyone off yet?

This is why, often, I think that I am a libertarian; that the best government is the least government.