esrosedotblog

HAPPY

Oh. Did I mention that we won't be around at midnight tonight?

And we won't be celebrating anything tomorrow.

And we won't be watching any football.

It will be a normal Sunday except for one thing. All the decorations will be coming down (John) and I will do the balance sheet on the holiday cards.

We got a few from people we did not send to. We didn't hear from a few others. So it is a wash.

There were about ten 'newsletters' and only a few heavily evangelical religious cards. Some of John's family are still bent on saving him before it is too late. The holiday is a good hook.

That will be the extent of holiday cheer. Dismantling.

Anyway, if it is a big day for you, have a happy one. And, while you are at it, have a good year too. Or not.

Life on life terms is most realistic I think. That is the way I hope to approach it.

A day at a time.

"New Year's Day" Liz Welch Prints

CARDED

We got our Medicare D Supplemental Drug Coverage cards just in the nick of time!

They came yesterday.

So starting the first of the year (tomorrow) we will be on the dole.

I have friends in the drug store business who are all crouched and grimacing at the prospect of taking these cards and making it work next week.

We loaded up on our medications, such as they are, to allow a few weeks before we 'have to' go in and join the flail.

I was, and remain, cynical about the entire enterprise but I was not willing to stand outside and look in the windows. It will be better coverage than we have or can buy at present at about the same cost as far as I can tell. This is because I am buying coverage in which there will be no deductible ever; no hole in the donut.

There is no way to make comparisons objectively about this. We could have joined 40-50 separate plans. We chose down the middle on cost with Blue Cross because they have great service and we have always used them.

When you call them, a real person answers before the third or fourth ring! Yes!!!

That gets a few extra dollars from us right there.

THEATER OF CRUELTY II

I am often amazed at the congruence of successive films in this Best Film Series.

The process is random yet produces patterns or contrasts or whatever.

Today's film

Heathers (1989)

is the second movie in a row to feature mean-ness and cruelty as its main theme.

The film turns the teen-chick-clique genré on its head with Winona Ryder engaging in homicidal social climbing. With the help of her devilish new boyfriend Christian Slater, who is the real perp, she manages to make it to the top over Heathers' dead bodies and a few more.

It is not as realistically mean as Heartbreak Kid because it does not require the suspension of disbelief to get through it. It just plows ahead and depends on bad jokes and morbid plot devices to keep us engaged. I kept going because I am committed to viewing all these films. For better or worse.

They also make the victims so annoying or nasty that you can't get all mournful about it.

And another thing; far more serious. There is a chilling similarity between Slater's looks (trenchcoat) and actions (weapons and dynamite to blow up the school) to presage the Columbine tragedy.

I wonder what they think of that, if they think at all?

I won't think about this one very long. I did think about yesterday's nasty bits all evening.

This time a 2 out of Netflix5 as it did have a sappy happy ending which sort of redeemed all the sick shit on the way. Maybe. It could be a 1 before I have to rate it next week.

I CAN SMELL IT NOW

End of an era:

In a Daring Leap, Ringling Loses Its Three Rings

I left the RBBB Circus years ago. It was just old and stale. But, we took the kids lots of times. Boston Garden.

One year, we forgot the tickets and made a mad dash back home then on to the Garden. We made it.

I go back to the days of Gunther Goebbel-Williams and the other star names. The clowns were national figures.

All that was over a long time ago.

Then we got to be fans of the new Cirque de Soleil. We have seen a lot of those shows.

And now that is so thoroughly imitated that we have a local tent show here in PS; same idea, opening next month.

Of course, the Cirque people started imitating themselves a long time ago. The last time we went, I said it was my last. Too many twirling plates and contortionists.

There are no or few animals in the circus anymore. I suppose that is a good thing; cruelty wise and so on. But they will not smell the same ever again.

All things pass.

THEATER OF CRUELTY

This has to be the meanest of the NYTimes Best 1176 Films that I have seen.

Heartbreak Kid (1972)

Directed by Elaine May from a play by Neil Simon, this movie features Charles Grodin as a pure asshole who makes a bad decision with his first marriage and acts to take back his vows on the first night of the honeymoon. The wife is pretty bad but he did choose her.

The vehicle for his betrayal is his obsession with a blond he meets on the beach, Cybill Shepherd.

There is no way for us to get by the awful scenes of rejection of the nebbish wife. It is very painful to watch.

On the other hand, this nasty bastard deserves the cold calculation of Shepherd and her family headed by the wonderful Eddy Albert.

They even live in frigid Minneapolis/St. Paul.

I have the feeling that might be the actual heartbreak; life with these awful people.

Yeh, I know it is social commentary and almost satire and so on. And, I didn't like it. Not one bit.

I will give it a 1 out Netflix5.

TEN BEST OF THE BEST LIST 2005

As you may know, I am working my way through the New York Times 1000 Best Films list.

Actually, there are two such lists. One was published in 2000 and, just as I began the project, they made up a new list by new critics in 2004.

So, I combined them. The final list had 1176 films in it since new films were added in 2004 and I did not omit any that were on the first one.

From time to time, I have interspersed other 'best films' or films that I just read about and wanted to see; a NYTB1176F vacation. But, for the most part, I have been faithful over time to seeing the project through; so to speak.

I began this activity in March of 2004, so I have been at it for almost two years. I am now in the middle of the 'H's. This is about 335 films. (I did a round-about-count from the Netflix 'returned' list). In 2005, I have seen about 185 films.

I have 841 films to go. I am about a third finished. I figure I will be done in a little over two and a half years or about June of 2007.

We will have a party.

Actually, it will be later than that since I will surely intersperse other Bests into the mix especially the NYTimes Best 10-20 from each year hence.

Are you still with me? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Now, enough of the stats.

Drumroll, please.

Here is my own Best of the Best list for the films that I saw in 2005!

Another drum roll please

Oh! These are not in order of preference. Let me type them out and then perhaps I can tell you which one is the very tip top fucking-A best.

They are in rough alphabetical order; American name and first letter only. OK? OK.

Do the drum roll again.

Now, the other one.

OK OK.

That is fifteen! Well, the best Best ten and a half.

The 'almost ran's' include: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The 7-UP Series (7 year followups to the same group of Brit kids; now a total of six films with a seventh just out), Driving Miss Daisy, The Full Monty, Ghost World, Breaking the Waves, The Godfathers I, II, and III. I liked II best—the one with DeNiro as the young Don Corleone), Donnie Darko, The Graduate, Heartland, Hannah and Her Sisters, Keith Jarrett: The Art of Improvization and, the great, exuberant, totally fun Warriors.

NEW YEARZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

My holidays are over.

I do not do 'new year's day'.

It is all artificial anyway. A trick of the calendar.

I used to stay up to await the stroke of midnight--way long ago--20 years? But, there was no payoff. A tired day after. Years before that, a hangover.

If you don't drink—I do not— there is no buffer against feeling shitty as the hours go by waiting for the ball to drop, the fireworks to go off, the light show to begin or whatever else people use to stimulate themselves for the effort they made to stay up in the first place.

Stimulus—response. Pigeons and corn. Mice in the maze.

I didn't even stay up to see the 'turn of the millenium'. Remember that? All that shit that was supposed to happen to the computers? What a bust that was. Even that wasn't worth waiting up for.

And that is just the eve part of the holiday.

What about the 'day' part. Well, here, the people who stayed up have a point. The NYD is a real snoozer. Oh yes. Football?

Nope. I have nothing against men in tight suits and headgear but I could think of a lot more interesting things for them to do than run a ball into the end zone. Well, unless you are speaking metaphorically.

Now, I just take the turn of the calendar as an administrative task. We have two hard copy calendars in the kitchen. One is an airedale calendar and is pretty to look at. More about the pictures than the dates.

The other is a small cardboard standing calendar which is just like the ones my folks got from their insurance man when I was a kid.

We will take one down and put up another. Twice. Ta-daaaah!

Since the day turns automatically on my watch and computer nothing to do there.

Of course after the day I have to remember to put the '6' at the end of the date line when I write a check. That is a bit of adrenaline.

Oh. Another thing. There are two NYD's this year. A second one in in case the first was not boring enough. The biggest thing about that is that there is no mail.

See? My holidays are over.

DING DONG

The witch is dead:

Charles W. Socarides, Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst, Is Dead at 83

This bastard caused a lot of trouble for the gay movement. He was a quack and a virulent homophobe who, sadly, had a gay son. It is amazing to me that a lot of these monsters had gay children. Some were actually gay themselves.

Good riddance.

FEDS VS. NAZIS

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film is a period piece and needs to be viewed from that perspective.

The House on 92d Street (1945)

shows the FBI hunt for spies who actually had the atomic bomb secrets ready to send to Germany.

It is a docu-drama mixing 'real agents' with actors on the real locations to show how this was done. Film noir is the vehicle.

The pro-FBI propaganda in the film is a bit off-putting but our view of the Bureau has changed. Cynicism was low and hero worship was high and this was the end of WWII when the Feds had busted over 16,000 active spies and espionage agents (the Fifth Column) and prevented the loss of any serious secrets. I doubt the latter; but that is what they say.

The narrative folds into the story and we are off and running. There is some suspense. The style of the film has been copied over and over. It is not bad.

It is hampered by the performance of the young double agent who is at the center of the action. He is pretty lame. Pretty but lame; that is.

Perhaps J. Edgar Hoover and his special friend Clyde Tolson (shown above) ran the casting couch. The boy does have the look of an ingenue. He even gets bitch slapped by the ugly nazi-dyke type; real slaps too. At the end he gets a mauling by everyone in that kind of way that 'lookers' can get messed up; pretty boy SM. It can be very hot. J. Ed and Clyde again, no doubt.

But there are a number of other actors who carry us along; Lloyd Nolan and Signe Hasso; Gene Lockhart and Leo G. Carroll who later became Topper. In a B- role is Harry Belaver who I used to really enjoy on television drama. He had the best squashed nose!

There are some really shocking parts along the way; gaspers. A guy gets thrown on a train track and then we see the locomotive blow its whistle and grind out of the station. Somehow, much more effective than seeing the whole decapitation as we would now; in living color. Love that noir.

I think that this is one of those films on the list because it was a breakthrough at the time. It did win an Oscar for Best Story. It is a pretty good yarn and true; or so they say.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

PROPOSITION BLUES

It looks like one 'worry' about 2006 has quickly dissipated.

The homophobic right has failed to put together the once dreaded ammendment initiative:

Same-Sex Marriage Foes Falter in '06 Ballot Efforts

The gay rights warchests were already being filled (about 15 million collected so far) but the 'war' would have been incredibly draining.

There were two competing amendments. Both would have cancelled existing domestic partnerships and that would be for everyone!

The certification of domestic partnerships and the attendant rights, which are the same as marriage in the state, are widely used by a variety of people other than gays and lesbians.

This would probably have doomed the props but the battle would have had to be engaged, nevertheless.

LESTER

It is still a bit of a shock to have Richard Lester's (and, of course, the Beatles'

Hard Day's Night (1964)

suddenly drop in on you. It is fast and furious and surrealistic.

Since this was the template for all music movies and videos, even up to now, it is amazing how fresh and even unsettling this film is to absorb.

We are now used to all the tricks but somehow the imitations never quite pull off the same magic as the original.

It is also a shock to see the boys at this age; to think that two are now gone; to know the history; the breakup and all.

The disc is fully restored. I broke my rule about not watching the add-ons to see the old men who made it talk it over; the technicians and the small bit actors.

I did not know what a role it played in the Beatles explosion. The film was made before the American tour and the Ed Sullivan Show and came out just after. Seven songs were written specifically for the film. It amped up the noise for the group almost immediately. The zeitgeist was changing. What a time.

I was not and am not a wild Beatles' fan. I respect their lives and their work. I did not follow any of them after the breakup except for George who was always my man.

This gets a 5 out of Netflix5. Even though it still is a bit unsettling in its lack of polish and I am not quite sold that sloppy camera work is quite that arty enough to be forgiven.

FLY OVER

It is interesting to read the news from the front of the airplane security wars.

Flying With Scissors and Other Airport Updates

This guy is like me. He is not encouraged by the additional security. In plain words, it is pure and simple dry humping.

Nothing comes of it. It does not work.

Oh, sure. I know that there could have been thousands of terrorists thwarted by these procedures and the administration would say so in defense.

But, in this article, there are several references to frequent fliers' ability to game the system and avoid inspection. I would be one of those. I have always been able to 'get over'. But it takes a lot of work and is at a spiritual cost that I am not willing to spend.

Personally, I think that it is all hogwash; a cosmetic set of maneuvers to build the bureaucracy and to give some more (un-needed) spin to the pols who run on the basis of the war on terror. Keepin' us scared.

One sure sign of this is that, to this day, the freight and a lot of the luggage in the hold of the planes are totally unexamined. Talk about a swiss cheese defense.

I am interested to see, in the last para, that 'many' people have solved the problem of lines, annoying harrassment, dealing with security goons and Don Knotts rent-a-cop types. They simply do not fly anymore. They drive or they don't go.

That is me.

I remember my turning point. We went to pick up someone at the airport and had to wade through the snakey line of potential flyers waiting for checkin. The line wound from the counter, out by the stores and snack bar, past the auto rental booths and down to the luggage pickup area.

That did it for me. Did I mention that I do not do lines? You can't game a line.

And I do not suffer fools gladly. They are ubiquitous in the airport security game. Can't game a gomer either.

And so on.

I know. A lot of people do not have the option. I am sorry about that. But as long as they sheepishly put up with the security charade they will get what they get.

Sure, if the payoff was there for me I would fly again. There is always the exception. But it has not happened yet.

LEFTOVERS

Well, it is Christmas As Observed Monday; so it is still timely:

Reuters Christmas Card

As usual, you are advised to stay for the entire act.

LIGHT HEADED

Just think.

What if you lived across the street from this?

The Wizards of Winter

Don't miss the grand finale.

DON'T LOOK NOW

According to this, someone is reading my mail.

U.S. Spying Is Much Wider, Some Suspect

In fact, 'someone' (other than you) is reading this too.

In fact, they know that you are reading it too.

I don't give a shit.

Somehow, I figure that they have always been doing it one way or another.

I used to know some people who visited Russia when the cold war was on. They knew that the hotel rooms were bugged and would often play to it. They had a lot of fun.

No. It is not right.

Yes. It is going to be a big deal and the bushies are in trouble.

HOLIDAY TREATS

We had a nice holiday.

Randy came over and stayed a few days. Always a pleasure. He is Franklin's DogFather.

We had presents for Franklin. He opens each package carefully; one at a time. First the paper, then the toy, some play. Then on to the next one.

No wild tearing and back and forth. He is a civilized guy.

We had some nice phone calls.

We had 'the dinner' on Saturday so we could go to a neighborhood open house. These guys opened up and asked all the neighbors up and down the street from them. We thought it was ballsy to do that. On a holiday and all. We even thought we would be the only ones there.

We were not. There was an almost 100% turnout.

I did my limited stay thing. I get freaked when there are more than 6-8 people so I get that many and then leave. Actually I sneak out. I see these people on my dog-walks and 'around'. Enough.

John stayed and reported in detail. It is second hand but much better than standing there nodding my head vacantly and wishing I was anywhere but there.

Introversion.

We went out and saw some lights. There is a guy who does the full monty every year and the monty gets fuller all the time. He is now up to five million lights. It is better than you would think. He is a scuptor and has many of his works in the mix. He uses castoff stuff like computers and vacuum cleaners and all to make his objet d'art. There are eight life size junk reindeer pulling a sleigh. Like that.

John and Randy made the pilgrimage to Minerva Street in the next town. It is a short avenue where everyone does the full monty and focuses more on the traditional creches and santas and 'displays'. Franklin and I sat that one out. We were over-amped and needed the hot spa and an early bedtime.

Otherwise it was pretty quiet.

Every year there is a hunt on for the genuine fruit stollen. Randy won this year. He found a copy of the hard compressed yeast rise raisin almond version in Long Beach. Mine was a bit puffier from our bread baker who does not always do the stollen. There was a mixed result on the 'best'. So we each had one of each.

I made mince pie this year. It is virtually unknown out here. But, I found the Borden premix in a jar. We put frozen non-fat vanilla yogurt on it.

Did I mention that the temps were around 80 degrees? No snow on the mountains at all. A desert holiday.

Have you read this far? Isn't this boring? Little pleasures. But they add up to a nice time.

Treats.

UNCOLD

My cold lasted three days.

It never went below my neck. One nostril, then another and then both clearing up. No coughing.

Wow.

I credit this to a strong consitution abetted by echinacea.

I always thought that herb remedies were the bunk. And I still do.

But this is an herb with carrying power. Actually, it is one of the few that have been tested. It does work; for me. Gotta put that part in.

Somehow, it increases one's 'resistance' to the virus. Something like Tamiflu and some other compounds.

On the other hand, it might be that I just had a wimp virus and it gave up early.

I don't know

I will stick with the echinacea.

Oh. It is important ('they' say) to use the flower top in a capsule and not mess around with the higher tech concentrate. I follow directions.

Coda: Why not herbal remedies?

They are not tested. There is too much hype.

As far as I know, the only tested and, believed to be safe and effective, are echinacea for colds, saw palmetto for benign prostate problems, and hmmmmm. I forgot the other one. It is not St. John's Wort for depression.

FINALLY

Santa Presents Joy

Grand finale to the Weebls' advent calendar

WINTER

We are in the grip of winter here in Palm Springs.

Yesterday the temps got up to 77 and we will break 80 for the next few days.

It is hard to get into the winter holiday season under these difficult conditions.

I know. Heads are nodding and someone, somewhere in the Northeast, is saying, "See? I was right. It is terrible not to have seasons!"

I used to be one of those people.

It is not terrible at all. We do have seasons; they just moderate a bit differently. Believe me. Once the desert body thermostat is set, a morning on the bike at 42 degrees can be pretty fucking cold.

But, it is nice to know that by the time the sun is up we will start to work up the scale about thirty degrees.

Anyway, we do have a way to compensate. We look at snow pictures.

Here is a nice slide show put together at Slate by Magnum.

Winter Wonderland

The photos are first class. Wait for James Dean to show up! And, in the meantime, happy holidays from the land of the sun.

TURKEY

Advent Calendar Day 23 from the Weebls

COLDER

I awoke with a sniffy nose yesterday morning and by last night it was a full-bore snotter.

It is moving fast. So far, it seems to be mostly on one side; the left.

By this morning, the drips are slowing and the next phase seems to be starting up; the blocked half dry nose and fuzzy throat.

I don't get a lot of colds. This may be the first in a year. But, I forget the bad stuff and so it could be less time.

All those miles of travel introduced me to most of the 170 plus or minus viri that cause head colds. Now, I have the anti-bodies.

Every once in a while, a new little virus shows up that I have not met yet. Here it is.

Hello. Nice to see you. Thanks for the anti-bodies. Now move on please.

I will be OK. I am an activist. I take echinacea and I don't slow down a lot but I do sleep extra time.

I keep taking my Allegra™ which is really for allergies but works. I can feel it clutching in now. Any other antihistamine gives me peeing problems.

I try to stay away from others so I don't get any help with some other altered form of the same animal and so that I don't give it away to the next guy.

I keep a folded Bounty™ (an old client) paper towel in my pocket and just let the virus do what it needs to do; get through with its job here and move on.

I don't go through a lot of 'oh no, it is the holidays' angst.

Almost any day in my life has stuff I would rather not miss so I just go ahead and do most of it. Same thing now. A holiday is not necessarily a better time for me.

Often the contrary. There is no mail and my routine gets fucked up.

So a cold is not much of a disruption.

It might even be a convenient out to some things I would rather not do. But, the less said about that the better.

I don't want to lay my plans out too specifically. That dodge is already known and so it is better to use it sparingly.

Day 22

Relax. The Weebl's Advent Calendar

is nearly complete. Two more days and out.

DAMON THE DEMON

It is time for grievous suffering in the Red Sox fan-world.

I am only marginal myself. I come from years of privation. One pennant, while delicious and exciting, did not boost my long term optimism or enthusiasm.

And it seems that such a grudging attitude was justified.

The team is now imploding.

I am most affected by the loss of Johnny Damon. He has kept my interest in the team alive. Well, he doesn't have the halo in that photo anymore.

I gotta cop to the fact that it is mostly his sex appeal. Whatever works.

Now, even he has gone and committed the unpardonable sin of disloyalty. Disloyalty to what you may ask. Well. That is a point.

But he will pay dearly while he is so well paid.

Here is what 'The Fix' a daily sports column in the Wall Street Journal had to say today. They glean from the nation's papers and websites.

It'll be the most-anticipated haircut in recent sports history: the shearing of Johnny Damon's locks and beard as he moves from the freewheeling Boston Red Sox clubhouse to corporate Yankee Stadium. "I'm still going to be that free spirit that I am," Mr. Damon told a Boston radio station, as quoted by the Hartford Courant. "It's just going to look a bit different."

Newsday's Shaun Powell objects: "Those who sign up for the Yankees also sign away their soul. That's the price of doing business with George Steinbrenner, the George Patton of sports owners, who doesn't want anything clashing with pinstripes. Shirts must be tucked, belts buckled, shoelaces tied, humor and laughter stifled and most important, all hair shall be clipped."

(Your soul? Ouch. The Fix is guessing Mr. Powell isn't a Yankee fan.)

MERCENARIES

Another pillar of the war machine starts to crumble:

US lawsuit could dent global war-contractor boom

PUSH BACK

It is nice to see some of bushie's own pushing back.

Court Refuses U.S. Bid to Shift Terror Suspect

This is a conservative panel and the judge who wrote the opinion was a candidate for SCOTUS nomination.

The other thing that seems to be happening is that the other two branches are waking up to the incredible power grab going on by the executive.

'Bout time.

TWENTY ONE

Today is the 21st Advent Calendar.

FRONTIER

There are no shortcuts taken in today's film about a homestead family in Wyoming ca. 1910. A NYTimes Best Film,

Heartland (1979)

was virtually unnoticed when it was released but is now a staple of 'best' lists.

The plot is simple. A woman and her daughter go to the territory to be the housekeeper for a man with a small 'ranch'. It is a lot rougher than she expects, but she quickly realizes that she wants to be a homesteader as well.

As the two jockey back and forth forming a relationship, we get a genuine a look at how life was then.

I think it is. I wasn't there.

It sure seems real.

Nothing is spared in the detail of daily life from gathering eggs to slaughtering hogs and branding cattle. The scenery is magnificent. It is an eye feast.

It is a quiet film. As peaceful and as rough as the frontier life we are watching.

Feelings run deep as the two people experience a year together. Terrible winters. Devastation. And, the renewal of life in the spring.

It is a document of a lost life. We wonder how they managed. But, they do. They did.

The people are wonderful. Rip Torn as the homesteader and Conchata Ferrell as the housekeeper with an ambition. We just saw Lilia Skala in House of Games. What a nice surprise. All the supporting cast are wonderful.

This is a real find. When I started this 'best' list thing, I hoped to find films that had escaped my notice and that has happened over and over. This is a prime example.

A 5 out of Netflix5.

The 'box' art is terrible, incidentally. If I saw it I would not pick the film up. Too bad.

SHORTEST

Today at 10:35 AM is our shortest day; the winter solstice. (PST)

It is a good thing because my bike headlight bust this morning. If this was the darkest day, I am OK until April when they turn the clocks back?.....whatever.

If you are puzzled by this phenomenon Astronomy Picture of the Day spells it all out.

Well, I know you know about it. It is just a great photo.

Somewhere, the joint is jumpin' as Druids and others kick up their heels and act out in celebration. Stonehenge is unhinged. The real deal.

Not this phony birthday thing at all.

SOME SERIOUS SHIT

Spy Court Judge Quits in Protest.

BACHING IT

You gotta love this:

Celebs toast Elton John at bachelor party

I like the part about shirtless waiters in boots.

See? We are as tasteless as anyone else!

This is, of course, our first real celebrity wedding.

All kinds of social norms are going to be established.

Sir Elton and his David.

The world is watching.

It is a really nice thing after all this time.

NO NO NO!!!

CIA Chief Admits To Torture After Six-Hour Beating, Electrocution

The Onion—December 21, 2005 | Issue 41•51

LANGLEY, VA—An internal CIA investigation into the possible use of illegal and inhumane interrogation techniques produced a confession from CIA director Porter Goss Monday, with the aid of waterboarding, food and light deprivation, and the application of wire hangers hooked to a car battery to the testicles. "I did it. We did it. We all did it. The president knew. The president did it. Please, God, please stop," said a voice identified as Goss' on recordings produced by CIA auditors. "Stop, please stop. I'm sorry. I won't do it again. The president won't do it again. Please let me die." Critics of the methods used to obtain the information continue to claim that torture is an ineffective means of obtaining intelligence, pointing out that Goss did not sound sorry.

BAG HOPPING

Today's advent calendar day 20.

Stay with it. There are a lot of changes.

HOW DO YOU SPELL DYSFUNCTIONAL?

I know why

Happiness (1998)

is a New York Times Best 1176 Film. But, I don't have to like it.

This is a combination of ironic comedy—there are laughs—and a tragic compendium of terminal losers.

It is like watching a slow motion train wreck and that is not a cliché I use lightly. It is apt.

It is slow. It is terminal. It is very unhappy. It has stuff in it I could do without seeing. Start with pedophilia and the relationship between the perp and his son. Aaaaargh.

He is a shrink.

The structure is like La Ronde. It starts one place and touches another and eventually all the characters are tied together. Sadly. But humorously.

Todd Solondz wrote and directed. I have heard about him, somehow, but never have seen his 'work'.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5 or maybe a 2. It depends if there is any leftover stuff in my head after another hour or two.

INTELLIGENCE TEST

Judge Rules Against Pa. 'Intelligent Design' Policy

In his ruling today, Jones said several members of the Dover Area School Board repeatedly lied during the trial to cover their motives for promoting intelligent design even as they professed religious beliefs, the Associated Press reported.

Jesus H. Christ! Christians lying?

Shocking!

HIGHLY ORGANIZEDRevised 914AM

I got my new driver's license yesterday. No exam. Another five years of driving without the dreaded written test. I failed the first two I took. You get three tries. Always a worry.

There was one thing though. There is an organ donor program. You put a little sticker on the license. It means they can have all my parts.

This has come up for me before. I am surprised that, being a progressive in all my affairs, this is not a slam dunk decision; but it is not.

I hem and haw. I worry about who is going to get my spleen.

It used to be just the eyes; now it is everything unless you make an exclusion.

I am the guy who also cannot give away old clothes because I 'don't want anyone else wearing them'.

I don't know where this comes from. I usually blame my mother for such phobias; for that is what it is.

It is not the squeamish thing. I don't get all yeeech about their prying my eyes out or anything. Maybe it is an atavistic thing. A desire to remain whole. Eternal life.

What if there is a judgment day and I show up without half my body? It is a bit like forgetting your passport or losing some luggage on a trip.

I don't know.

But I got over myself (with a little push from John who has already signed up) and put the little dot on the license. They also have an on-line registration so that if the little dot falls off they still have a shot at getting my organs. I didn't exclude anything. I guess some stranger will be wearing my clothes.

But, I am not really worried about it. It turns out that the chances of getting into the program are slim. You have to have a violent death! The stuff has to be fresh.

I will do my best.

LAPLAND

Today is Day 19 on the advent calendar.

Only six more to go.

I know.

What a relief.

BURST

The house is suddenly a holiday wonderland!

One day we are not going to do anything and another it is balls to the wall; so to speak.

There are the traditional bowl of balls in the dining room and the santa hats are on all the little nude statues (all male). The greenery from all the previous years has kept well in the garage storage area and is, once again, tacked to the wall up and down over the fireplace.

There will be a relatively new hand-made wreath on the front gate with little round ball-lights; our only outdoor decor.

The vintage aluminum tree is up with it's silver star like ornaments and icicles. This tree is possibly as old as we are but I think more like post WWII. It is in its original box. It is a fine specimen.

There are other little annual touches too. The best are the jig-saw cut deer that we took off my Dad's gun cabinet. One of the antlers is broken on one deer but it doesn't matter. It is the last little kid thing that I have left out of all the years of holiday paraphernalia.

When we left Boston we filled an entire bedroom with our gear. It all went in the estate sale. We brought very little with us. Some has been added but we have been prudent in our aquisitions. Or at least I have.

I write this as though I am the one who has burst with holiday spirit.

No. It is John.

He is hard at it, as always.

I am the voice of reason, the hand of restraint, the scrooge who says 'no'. A job description I can easily fill.

And yet, I do like it all. It is a gentle reminder of years and years of other holidays. I am not one who regrets the loss of the past but I don't shut the door on it either.

I am alternately a little kid and a dad and a grandad and an older gay gentleman who lives, for the most part, out of the mainstream. It is nice to let a little bit of the stream in the door to enjoy and then let it out again in a couple of weeks.

MORE MARRIAGES

Today is the day that gay couples will get married in Britain.

Belfast Hosts First Gay Marriage

Funny it should be in Ireland; but not, as Ireland as turned out to be one of the most liberal countries in the world. Can all the old Irish repression jokes.

Once more, my own country looks like a fucking backwater. Stump preachers and no-nothings rule.

READING

So, having finished Eldest (it took so long because I am reading Melville in parallel) I am starting on Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials.

Another threesome.

ELDEST

I finally finished the second volume of the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini. It is called Eldest. It keeps you in the dark about who or what is the eldest until the very end. It is quite a revelation.

In the meantime, the story is a wide and deep exploration of the coming of age of its hero Eragon. It is a traditional sorcery and dragons spectacular.

This is a kids' or young adults' book. Like Harry Potter, it has attracted a large adult audience. It is fresh, compelling, rich in detail of a strange world, and is one hell of a good story.

For us, the main draw was the dragons. We love dragon tales.

You can see all about this bright young author at his website Alagaesia.com. That's the name of the country Eragon lives in.

This guy started the book when he was 15. He got an audience by self publishing and was taken up by the larger publishing world. He is now an international phenom; age 21.

There is even a movie, Eragon, now in post production, for release in 2006.

I hope he is not too busy to get the third volume done. We are on tenterhooks.

DAY EIGHTEEN

AUDIENCE REACTION

Shouts of "hooah!" from the audience interrupted Cheney a few times, but mostly the service members listened intently. When he delivered the applause line, "We're in this fight to win. These colors don't run," the only sound was a lone whistle.

The skepticism that Cheney faced reflects opinions back home, where most Americans say they do not approve of President Bush's handling of the war. It was unique coming from a military audience, which typically receives administration officials more enthusiastically.

AP

DON'T DRINK THE KOOLAID

I am interested in cults and Scientology sure has to qualify as such.

The LAT had a big article today focusing on the center the cult has built near Hemet; just on the other side of the mountain.

The place is huge. I am not sure that there is a picture on the e-version of the article.

Ahhh. There it is; an Acrobat file on the middle right column.

There is a house there for L. Ron Hubbard; completely equipped for when he 'returns'.

I didn't know that he was expected.

This puts a whole new slant on things. Not that the idea of resurrection is novel. It is a feature of most religions. Why not the scientologists? They aspire to religious tax status and all.

There are wackier things. Not too many though.

These guys are really really rich and really really big. They court stars and their biggest 'get' is Cruise. There is a lot in here about him too.

Scientologists Trained Top Gun at Inland Base

I think the headline undercuts the serious research that went into the piece. Cruise is an interesting anomaly but not the main story.

On the other hand there is a fairly big attempt out here to discredit his proselytiziing on the industry's dime.

Or something.

It is all interesting.

NO BUSINESS LIKE CHO BUSINESS

No 'best film' today.

We watched the second Margaret Cho disc of the four I bought:

Notorious C.H.O. (2002)

As usual we laughed our asses off.

This one was filmed in Seattle so it was more hetero than homo sexual. The last one was filmed in SFO; wall to wall queer.

It is as thorough a going over your psychological boundaries as you are likely to get.

Believe me, the less said about eating pussy and the g-spot the better as far as I am concerned. Yet it works. She drags us through the barriers and over the top and into the other side wherever that is.

Her timing is impeccable. Her 'script' is beautifully written. The act is exquisitely paced.

There is always a 'moral' to the story towards the end. There are often surprising tears in the 'resolve'; the catharsis.

We had a good time.

Another 5 out of Netflix5 even though I didn't rent it from Netflix. She is ours!

BEAT CHRISTMAS

Weebls' Advent Calendar; Day 17

SHE ROCKS

Today, guest columnist in the Political Animal (link right), Shakespeare's sister notes about bush defense of secret spying on citizens (he was right to do it and exposure is wrong and dangerous):

I always find it particularly curious when a self-identified born-again Christian seems so patently incapable of admitting being wrong, as forgiveness is such a significant part of Christian doctrine. When a Messiah has died for your sins, surely it indicates an expectation that you’ll commit some.

Back in July, Mannion penned (so to speak) a brilliant post on why (certain) conservatives feel free to cast the first stone, which included one of my favorite lines of all time:

"[I]f Jesus were around today and a woman taken in adultery ran to him for protection and he said to the crowd, Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone, forty-six Republican adulterers would bean her with rocks".

GOT GAME revised 800pm

I saw Hoop Dreams (1994)

today. It is a NYTimes Best 1176 Film and a documentary almost three hours long.

Two black kids from the projects are followed for four years as they wend their ways through the basketball machine.

It is a tough and uncompromising film. Like all good documentaries, it shows rather tells. In fact, it shows so well that it got a lawsuit from the school which 'hires' the boys out to the suburbs to play ball on scholarship.

A lot of levels are covered. It is quite a show. Almost three hours long.

I hung with it.

I thought that it was way long. But then I am not interested in basketball. I didn't play and can't even dribble. I don't know the deal.

But basketball is about the last thing that this film is really about. It is one thing but not the main thing(s).

I will give it a Netflix4 out of 5. I wouldn't want to have to see it again.

There is a ten year follow-up on the two men in the WaPo

Looking Back at Broken Dreams.

STORY OF THE DAY

TIm Grieve War Room at Salon

The president, on message:

For a guy who claims not to read newspapers -- or at least not much -- George W. Bush sure seems to have a strong view about what ought to be in them. When Bush tried to sidestep questions today about the New York Times' report on his secret spying program, PBS's Jim Lehrer protested that the story is on "the front page of the New York Times, the Washington Post, every newspaper in America today, and it's ... it's the main story of the day." Bush cut him off and said: "It's not the main story of the day ... The main story of the day is the Iraqi election."

SOLDIER HUSBANDS

Another Goodbye

Look for December 15th if it does not pop up or on the right; past items.

Oh, and don't ask or don't tell.

BEST BOX

This is the best item in the Weebl Advent Calendar

Check out the 'no room at the inn' part.

Day 16

235

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! 1770-1827 to now!

Still living.

FATALISM

This is as close as I will get to snow this year. No white christmas even on the mountains.

The sign is wonderful.

From Paul the Spud

THE WOODMAN

Todays NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Woody Allen's

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Ebert thinks that it is his best film and I think that I agree with him.

The whole enterprise is serious fun. Allen has tamed himself down for this one and all the principals are in their finest fettle.

I am a lifer on Woody. We used to go and see him at the Paris Cinema as soon as his annual film was out. There would be long lines. We would be among the first to see the film and then discuss it at length.

A lot of people are disappointed at his later work but he ages and so does his work. It is not always fun to see his personal shit displayed so obviously. On the other hand, we all have something like it going.

It was great to see this one again. It has been twenty years and it still seems so fresh and new.

There are neat tricks in the film. Maureen O'Sullivan plays Mia Farrow's mother. There is a panoply of cameos.

Diane Weist. Just look at the cast.

There are whole segments I want to see again. The walk through the television studio backstage where Allen is a producer of 'a show' is organized mayhem. A hundred people all along the walk? All famous B players.

It is a sure 5 out of Netflix5.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Bush Authorized Domestic Spying

And this is after we found out that the FBI is monitoring 'peace groups'.

This is sixties stuff.

Watch the fur fly now.

WON'T

I won't be seeing either of the obvious candidates for my big screen attention this season.

The first of these is a gay film breakthrough of sorts; I should want to go.

But.

Brokeback Mountain is from a short story I first read in the New Yorker and I read it again in Proulx' short story collection of the same name.

It is a policy not to see anything I read as the two are usually immiscible in my mind. I have a mental picture and do not want it disturbed.

In this case, there is an additional reason. My memories of the short story still contain an abiding psychological pain and physical ache. It is a powerful rendering of the kind of personal and societal homophobia that I fought my way through. It is also a beautiful love story with a tragic outcome.

I ventured a look at the trailer and had dreams about the story. I don't want to make it stronger.

Incidentally, I am not so hard and fast about reading what I have seen. I really enjoyed reading the book upon which Empire of the Sun was based. And, of course, I have seen and not read Melville's whale book. It will be upcoming after I complete a few more of his novels.

I will also not be going to see King Kong which I should want to see because I so liked the Hobbits and all. Peter Jackson. And it has Jack Black and the almost grown up Jamie Bell who I love to watch.

But, I do not support remakes. Period. They are never better. They are almost always overly extravagant alterations of the icon which, in effect, results in irreverant humbug.

From the reviews, I gather, the second* ape is no exception to the rule. Too long, too lumbering, too much.

In any case, I will have to wait until another Jackson, Black or Bell effort comes along.

No I did not read the original Tolkien so it was OK to see the film(s). Gotcha.

*There are actually four Kongs; one is another sequel to a sequel! Is that a triquel? And there would be five if we count Mighty Joe Young which scared my ass when I was a kid and was a blatant steal from the first big guy.

ECHOES

Long term blog readers will remember the grocery chain strike we had here in SoCal almost two years ago; or not.

I remember.

Not to hold a grudge, but I still do not shop at my old Von's (Safeway) market and rarely, if ever, at Ralph's (Kroger) where the Union went back to work (after awhile) as it was 'only' a lockout there.

I continue to shop at the SoCal chain Stater Brothers (union friendly-so far) and I still have a stop order on any Safeway or Kroger stock in my portfolio.

Now, comes a long anticipated ruling by the Feds and a lawsuit against Raph's.

Ralph's Indicted in Hiring Dispute

All we need now is for The Safeway president, that bastard, to get dumped. I still would not go to Von's though.

Why all this stuff?

My first jobs were in grocery stores. My Dad was a union member at A&P (after being a manager for many years). He would arrange a bolt of lightning if I shopped with the scabs.

WIGGLING

Not 24 hours and the bushers are welching on the McCain agreement.

Ban Torture Period

Talkin' out of both sides of their mouths at the same time.

Shits.

CAPITAL LOSS

Last year, bushie said he had earned a lot of political capital in the election. Doubtful at the time; it now looks as though he has used it up.

He has caved to McCain on the torture ammendment; admitted, in a weasley sort of way, that he was wrong about Iraq intel (although he stands tall on all the other stuff).

He came up with the cash to fix the levees in NOLA and has to defend himself against charges that he is the bubble boy. Says he does read a newspaper everyday. Wonder which one.

He is weakened.

Incompetence, venality, mendacity, hackery, and religious demagoguery has gotten his ass.

It is still amazing how long he made it last though. The machine is formidable.

But, I quibble.

It is nice to see some movement in an otherwise rock solid know-it-all personality. If only a cynical and minor PR adjustment. Except for the torture thing which the dick has been fighting so strongly, nothing is material. Even the levee money will come out of the hides of the poor, the sick, and the elderly. The usual GoOPer trifecta.

MISTAKE

I had one of those slightly embarrassing internet moments today.

I sent an email to a friend and somehow it got to another friend who I had not written to in a long while. And, that friend wrote back.

Jeez. It was a good thing. Nice to say hello and all that. A good accident; coincidence.

It is funny that a lot of the content of the email was sort of appropriate for the wrong person. But, I can't imagine how they reacted when they read it.

Like WTF and all.

Anyway, I am not too embarrassed. I will be a lot more careful in the future about the perils of auto-address. Proofread the addressee as well as the body.

There is still a bit of grimace quality when I think about it. I hate to be wrong; even worse to be caught out at it.

But, I will get over it and it is probably good for me.

I got to contact an old friend and say hi.

And it gave me something to write about today. I have been 'dry' lately.

CULTURE GAP

Today's Advent Calendar may be a stretch for you.

Well they all are, actually, aren't they?

This one is about crackers; which, for the most part, we do not have in America.

John and I used to get them when I was traveling to the UK and they became a staple in our holiday celebrations.

They are filled with a lot of crap.

OH2

More on Mean Jean Schmidt:

Billboard

I include this for my Ohio 2 readers who may miss the actual boards.

TOO LATE?

Is it too late to vote? I want to be in the poll too!

32% Favor Bush Impeachment

And Rasumussen is GOPbiased.

SIGNAGE

The thing about the net is that it has absorbed a lot of the good old guerilla energy from the left.

Not so here in California where the Freeway Blogger holds forth.

Here, the two arts are combined. The signs are placed and pics are taken and the blog lets people know where to look.

He also collects the work of all the other folks that he has inspirred.

See Boston December 9, 2005.

Nice.