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HORSEY

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

National Velvet (1944)

This is a great family film. Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Anne Sexton, Donald Crisp and a great cast including the adolescent Angela Lansbury all work together for a heart tugging (yes) experience.

This is a movie movie. The mold has been broken.

I will give it a 5 out of Netflix5.

I never saw this when it was around. I thought it was about horses I guess. Oddly, it is not. The horse quotient is fairly low.

Back then I didn't like them. Now, I am less cold to the experience. I have ridden some but I have not bonded to the beast.

It is not necessary to be horsey for this film. There is, in fact, a great dog so we had a great time.

What the film is about is family values. The real ones.

One other thing. This is a picture with moral lessons. Good ones. One is about the phases of life; accepting them and moving on. Very nice.

Another is about earning trust and trusting so that someone can learn about it.

This is the mold that got broken. Kids pictures always had this kind of thing in it. It added to the whole experience and made a difference in kids' lives.

WISDOM

Andrew Sullivan hits one out of the park

A WORD A DAY

When I was a kid, we were encouraged to learn a new word every day.

I have tried to follow that discipline over the years but have run out of words to look up or want to know.

I still try make a run at something new as soon as I hear it.

Today's word or phrase is 'give props to'

I had heard it used a lot and knew what it meant but I wanted to know where it came from.

I wanted to use the phrase today but I won't use something I don't really 'get' so I looked it up.

It is from 'give PROPer respect to'.

Yeh, I am a little doubtful too. But I will buy it for now.

HABEUS CORPUS

Today's film was the fiery

In the Name of the Father (1993).

It is not on the Best 1176 list but I wanted to see it and it was recommended on my Netflix page. I figure I should give props to them for their improved performance.

This film is a seat grabber.

It is a pure example of what can happen when the law is suspended for terrorists.

In this case, a 7 day suspension of habeus corpus in the UK for anyone suspected of terrorism.

It is about the Guilford Four with Gerry Conlon as the main defendant. The four are actually the 12, members of Conlon's extended family including minors, who were also wrongly convicted.

I do not know its literal truth but I figure it is pretty close.

Whatever the case, there is a convincing case that such an instance of innocent conviction could happen.

Daniel Day-Lewis does his usual A+ work and the scenes with the wonderful Pete Postlethwaite as his Da are just incredible.

Emma Thompson is the tireless defender who gets them off. Well, off just half of their 30 year minimum sentence.

It is timely as we develop our own suspending of laws and loosening of the standards of interrogation.

This is highly reccomended viewing just before these elections!

A 5 out of Netflix5.

NOT SO MUCH

I have been figuring that the sentencing of Saddam Hussein was another of those stage managed November surprise things that the bushies are so good at. It is set for two days before the mid-term election.

But maybe I was wrong. If it does happen on schedule, it might actually be a setback for them. Here from the WSJ afternoon report: (the bolds are mine)

November Surprise?
By PHIL IZZO
Saddam Hussein has been complicating George W. Bush's presidency since its earliest days, so it's no surprise that even in detention the former Iraqi leader continues to make the president's life difficult.

Mr. Hussein's genocide trial, a sometimes tragic circus that hasn't exactly achieved the jurisprudence the White House would hope for in Iraq's budding democracy, continued today when chief defense attorney Khalil al-Dulaimi, having just ended a monthlong boycott, walked out again after a series of defense requests were rejected. The lead judge immediately appointed other attorneys to defend the deposed president.

Of more immediate concern to the U.S., however, is a separate Hussein trial, that concerning his role in a crackdown on a Shiite Muslim village in the 1980s. A verdict in the case is expected on Sunday, just two days before the U.S. midterm elections. The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, denied speculation that the timing of the verdict was set to coincide with elections. With a death sentence probable, highlighting a key American success in the war could conceivably give a much-needed boost to Republicans fighting to retain control of Congress amid dissatisfaction with the conflict in Iraq. However, a death sentence for Mr. Hussein may not be the boon the Bush administration was expecting both at home and in Iraq. Mr. Hussein's chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, warned Sunday of worsening violence in Iraq and chaos across the Mideast if the ex-president is sentenced to be hanged. Indeed, many fear that such a verdict could inflame already elevated sectarian tensions, with Sunnis seeing it as another example of Shiite and Kurdish domination.

A possible upswing in sectarian violence, which claimed at least 33 more lives today in a Shiite slum, could turn the U.S. public further against the Iraq war. October is already the fourth deadliest month for Americans since the war began, with the 100th servicemember death marked today. Already on the defensive over the war, the last thing Republican candidates need two days before an election is a major reminder of the difficulties the U.S. faces in Iraq.

SEEIN' THE LIGHT (or is it 'THE DARK'?)

Liberal Republican Suburb Turns Furious With G.O.P.

These people used to be the backbone of the republican party.

Small chance they could take it back?

JUST WHEN YOU THINK THAT IT COULDN'T GET SADDER

A Most Violent Month, and Many Final Farewells

There seems to be a new willingness in the media to show the painful truth beyond a simple statistic.

Go to the 'more photos' link under the photo; bottom right.

JUST WHEN YOU THINK THEY COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WORSE

U.S. Is Said to Fail in Tracking Arms for Iraqis

And the headline doesn't even capture it all.

Keeeerist!

SPELL CHECK

I know that I am an imperfect speller.

Some of that imperfection arises from carelessness. I am amazed that I get the wrong 'here/hear' or 'there/their'. I am usually good with 'its/it's'.

I do use the spell checker but that will not pick up these pair-traps.

I also try to learn by beating the spell checker. The other day it took me three tries to get 'penicillin' but I got it and here it is. I did it right here on the first bounce.

But, there are some words that I just know I know how to spell and that is that. Even if I do not use them I know how to spell them.

One of these is bellweather. Wrong. It is bellwether! I had to go look it up. It is middle english (as usual—who were those middle guys?) and is basically from bell wearer. The sheep that has the bell that the rest of the sheep follow. Hence, bellwether state!

Now, in less than a week I am hit with straightlaced. Wrong.

Actually I would have spelled it in two words and it would have made it through the check.

It is straitlaced. They actually prefer srait-laced. 'Strait' is an obsolete word for tightened.

Well, I knew what it meant. But I missed the spelling.

This is one of the things that makes English one of the most difficult languages to learn. Then how come it is well nigh the universal business language?

PST

It is time for the great winter transition.

We set the clocks back and the early evening goes dark.

We are right under the mountain and, today, the sun 'set' about 430 but tomorrow that means 330.

So, that is the new dog walk time. Another adjustment for Franklin.

And me.

We will sit outside for supper but it will be ten degrees colder because the sun went down that much earlier.

Sweaters.

I told you. The only reason it is warm here is the sun's radiation through the dry air. When the sun goes, the heat goes. Crash. 30 degrees cooler late at night.

On the other hand, it isn't such a big deal. I can make supper in one stretch when we get back from the walk. Franklin can have his supper then too.

The big deal will be the mornings.

I will have my light back! The new 6AM will be the old 7AM!

That is the best part.

All in all a good trade.

LAMONT GETS SERIOUS

General Wesley Clark commercial: "Mistake"

BOURGEOIS JAPANESE

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

Kazoku gêmu / The Family Game (1983)

It takes a while to get what is going on here but the film is so beautiful and interesting to look at that one goes along with it.

A dysfunctional (alcoholic father) family hires a tutor for a son who has stopped trying; a cardinal sin in a middle class Japanese family where the accomplishments of the sons bring honor to the parents. Never mind if anyone is happy.

There is a big cash bonus if he is successful.

The tutor throws the dynamic off balance in many ways. He listens to the mother who is never heard. He does not kiss the father's ass.

He creates an atmosphere where the older son who has made the best high school can say that he wants to drop out and pursue his interest in art.

He is not a nice guy. Tough love. It works.

The family gets a son who passes his high school tests and makes it into a good high school.

The tutor makes the big yen that the dad has promised if the kid can get to first in his class.

But, at the end, we see that not a lot has changed.

Interesting.

Darkly funny.

It helps if you have a handle on Japanese culture. I have a grasp of part of the handle.

There is some great stuff in here that takes us beyond 'understanding the culture'.

A lot of the action takes place at the dinner table. All the family sits on one side of the oblong table. No one faces another. When the tutor joins them; he sits in the middle.

Only once, an emotionally open neighbor comes to visit and asks to sit across from the wife.

At the end, the tutor, having done his job and gotten his cash, starts a food fight and upends the table.

So much for family stability.

Nice job for the round eyes to get the picture.

I liked it a lot. It was great to look at and always surprising. Novel.

I will give it a 5 out of Netflix 5. It would be a 4 but I think that I missed a lot and am willing to give the benefit of the doubt. It did win best Japanese picture in its year.

I also want to encourage my Netflix algorithm to name me some more Japanese comedies or modern work.

Gaming the system.

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE

We have had a few calls and emails about the huge fire that has been raging near us.

We have to say that, save a few wisps the first day, we haven't even seen any smoke.

The fire is about a mile vertical and 20 miles horizontally west of us on the other side of a two plus mile high mountain. And, it is heading in the other direction; southwest.

Newscasters and journalists, seeking a place nearby that people might recognize, choose to name Palm Springs.

Then, we start getting the calls which are thoughtful and appreciated but unnecessary.

I suppose that we could have some fires here. The mountain behind us has sparse but very dry vegetation on it.

Then there is a few hundred yards to go before it would get to our line.

We probably have too much tree stuff around us.

But there is no point in worrying about it before the fact. I am not going out to chop the trees down.

We will keep our noses tuned for smoke though.

CLASSIC COMIX

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield, the Younger (1935)

It is surprising how really good this film is.

It moves along, of course, reducing the original Dickens novel to its Cliff Notes or Classical Comics level of detail. The genius of the scriptwriting is that this doesn't seem to matter. The bits that are left out are inferred and clarified nicely and one doesn't mind the compression at all.

The cause for this might lie in the long winded Dickensian prose, but never mind.

The characters are all there and none is more surprising than W.C. Fields as Macawber. He does his stuff and stays in role at the same time. Amazing.

Freddy Bartholomew was a great child actor and I always enjoy Edna May Oliver as the tough aunt with a heart of gold.

There is little to cavil about.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

This is just out, incidentally, and it is a nice restoration.

OH-2

I was just aching for Mean Jean Schmidt to get her payback. Take a look at this ad!

You Deserve Better

I am interested in Jean because she represents some friends of mine and because she nosed out a great guy who is an Iraq vet—Paul Hackett.

BUGS

I went to get the bugs for the cesspool today.

I don't want to be indelicate but it is a fact of life.

Once a year we get a pumpout and on the 6 month midpoint I go out and buy some of the bacteria that you put in to help 'eat it up'.

I don't know if it makes a particle of difference but it does feel like I am doing something positive. Well, the bugs are doing it. But I am the one feels good.

You put one bottle down per toilet and flush. Then the little rascals get to work.

Better them than me.

Yes. There is a city sewer system but we are not on it.

We are on a private road that is just far enough from the line to be grandfathered as sewer-less.

My neighbor and I talk about running a line and getting a manhole and encouraging the other people on the lane to hook in but we never quite get around to it.

There is a hookup fee and then you have to abandon the cesspool and run a new line which would be right through our newly covered (lattice) patio where we eat supper outside and................well you get the picture.

At 150 dollars for an annual pump and the cost of three bottles of bug juice I can amortize the sewer line for years and years. Well, ten to twenty.

So, I won't move until nudged and I don't know who will nudge me.

It is all up to the bugs.

FAUX DEMOCRAT

I gotta hand it to Arnie.

He is not our 'governator' any more. I really do think of him as my Governor.

What a transformation.

He has turned so far left that he is almost a Democrat.

He has shut his big Hollywood mouth, dropped the tough guy personna, started working realistically with the Democratic legislature and now has spit in the eye of george w.

More here:

Governor is Blunt to Bush

I won't vote for him but I am glad that he is not quite the asshole we all thought that he was.

Or maybe he is but he as quit acting it out.

AMERICANA

Today's NYTimes Best Film was Robert Altman's

Nashville (1975)

Whatta pictcha!

It has everything. Success, failure, the best and the underbelly.

Keith Carradine!

This is one of those films that you could watch regularly and get more and more out of it.

Some of that is because of Altman's patented layering of scenes; the talk.

The rest is the visual richness of every scene. In this case it is people, people, people.

It is a 5 out of Netflix5.

Gotta see it.

MY DARKEST HOUR

"The night is darkest before the first light".

Who said that?

Sort of fucking obvious I would say.

It bears repeating, however, as I ease down the road these bike mornings—lights ablaze, burnin' up the Duracells™—worried about running over a bunny or, worse, a skunk or something. I don't know what the 'something' would be but I worry about it.

Conversely, worried that someone will run down me!

The paper guys are pretty haphazard about which side of the street they are working. Other people pull out in the dark and depend on lights to show if something is coming.

All that.

I think that this is the darkest time in the 6-7 AM time slot.

Daylight Savings runs a bit longer after the equinox than it does before. In other words, when we switch back to DST in April, I will only have a few weeks after the darkest whereas here....................now wait a minute. Maybe it is the other way around.

Shit.

What is true is that it is goddam dark out there now and this will all be history when the clock shifts on Saturday.

I will be glad to see my six really be seven. Is that right?

Anyway. Go on with your day. I hope that there is light at the end of your tunnel.

NOTHING TO SAY

No entry today.

No movie.

Only chores.

I took the morning Franklin walk because John didn't feel great and it was rainy!

I don't like to bike in the rain. Not getting wet. It is slippery on the road surface. It rains so seldom.

I did the shopping; Tuesday and Friday. Today involved the bread bakery and the drug store for some penicillin. I have an achy tooth.

Then, Franklin to the groomer. Just a wash and trimmed his tail.

Franklin home from the groomer.

Put out the recycle for tomorrow.

Maintenance of my Netflix queue. I went through the two Best lists and checked if some of the missing discs were available yet.

I found six. A treasure trove. There are only about thirty missing now. I check in every six months or so.

Not that I am going to run out of films. I have 404 films in my queue. Almost all of these are Best Films. I don't have too much farther to go! (the glass is more than half empty).

And that is it.

I am ready to get dinner ready and after that will have some time to read.

The boys are out for the PM walk. John has recovered so, it turns out, we had a trade.

TWO HOUR TRIP

There is some reality mixed into the bad trip William Burroughs has in today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film, David Cronenberg's

Naked Lunch (1992)

Peter Weller channels Burroughs and Judy Davis plays his wife as well as the nom de plume standin for Paul Bowle's wife Jane. Bowles stand in is played by Ian Holm (an old favorite).

Alan Ginsberg has a stand in as well and I think, Jack Kerouac.

The two took Burrough's manuscripts, cut them into pieces and then reassembled them into the final product.

So bizarre.

Somewhow Cronenberg made a script out of this 'unmakable film' and shot it.

There are great puppets who play the monsters that Burroughs sees; mostly his typewriters acting out.

That is Himself, Burroughs, shaking hands with one of them. He is not in the film.

I really liked this movie because I came up through and around the work of these people. It was a crazy world and a wonder that anyone made their way out of it.

I have broken my rule and seen a film made from a novel I read but I think it is OK. The 'novel' is so fractious that there is little coherence anyway. It is really stoned poetry.

The whole production is of very high quality in a restoration by Criterion.

Ebert (at the link) did not give it a high rating as he is put off by these scummy people and their sordid lifestyle.

Oh well. Ebert is a prude in some areas.

Myself, I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5 and warn anyone who doesn't have a bit of stoner in them to beware of the product.

For those of us who played with fire and made it out, it is a cautionary nightmare and a sort of 'remember when' and a bit of a laugh because we made it out. Not a bad gift for my anniversary clean and sober; 27 years.

Another reason I liked the film better than Ebert.

TRUE TRUDEAU

This is a great profile of the cartoonist who does not do profiles. He likes invisible.

Doonesbury's War

I do not read the strip, actually. But I admire its author a great deal.

Trudeau's courage to tell the truth in a medium noted for its escapism is truly honorable.

DUMBING DOWN

We have been here ten years and I was proud to say that we moved to a region with a far better daily paper than the Boston Globe.

"Not a stretch" you might say, if you live in Boston. Anyway, it was a relief.

But, the LATimes is in trouble.

For example, it has lousy national distribution despite its warehouse of Pulitzers and other prizes for wonderful national coverage.

I hear that there is not one paper delivered to a newstand in Washington DC.

They have not seized the moment with their web page. It sucks. The daily headline newsletters that feed reader interest come in every week or two. I am not kidding.

And you have to pay to use the archives even though you are, like me, a daily subscriber to the hard copy.

I have loved my daily read though. It gets here at 330 AM just in time for me to have with my breakfast.

Some time ago we heard rumblings. The owner is the Tribune Company of Chicago. Not a notable publisher.

There have been coups and firings and reshuffling.

They fired Michael Kinsley from the editorial pages a year ago. Some favorite columnists have been downsized. I was even sorry to see their right wing cartoonist get fired. He got my blood racing every morning. Michael Ramirez. I miss the bastard.

A couple of months ago the first two inside pages were devoted to a summary of the rest of the paper. What? Why?

Now, we have more change.

I was going to write a rant. Well, I have.

But Kevin Drum has done a far better job.

Let 'em have it Kevin.

THE J-CONSULTANT MAFIA STRIKES AGAIN

They told us about tomorrow. No more 'Column One' on the left hand of the front page.

I hear that there are to be firings.

The first was the publisher who declined to cut when the Trib told them to hack the staff.

It is for the shits.

But that is the state of the newspaper in our country today.

I have to admit that I get most of my news from the net. Soon, it will be all.

We cancelled our local rag a long time ago; a no-news pr-reprint product from Gannett.

What else?

I don't know. The do-do is extinct because it couldn't evolve in the right direction; a bird that lost the capacity to fly. The Times is sure on its way to earthbound extinction.

Sad.

BARELY FUNNY

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was the Zuckers' and Abraham's

The Naked Gun (1988)

OK. It was funny. I laughed quite a bit.

Like rock and roll, it is a lot of fun even though it does not stand up to scrutiny.

I think that it has some really good things going for it. The production values are very high. The walk-ons are brilliant and extreme—Weird Al Yankovic to John Houseman—and involve good gags.

Leslie Nielsen is Leslie Nielsen. George Kennedy is his foil. Priscilla Presley is pretty good. O.J. Simpson is played like Step'n Fetchit. No killer there.

I think that these early satiric films hold up very well. But some are better than others.

We just saw Animal House but there is no comparison. I know. Comparisons are odious. Nevertheless.

This one is going to get a 3 out of 5. The Deltas got a 5+.

Leslie Nielsen (a horrendous name to remember how to spell—two ie combinations and an e at the end) has been around a long time.

I remember him as a serious actor on television. I was a kid. He is pushing 90.

He changed his career when he appeared in Airplane, bringing his clueless gravitas to bear on his role as a doctor.

Here is a guy who has gone with the flow.

MAYO OUI

Years ago, when John had heart problems, we stopped the use of fat almost totally.

Well, the bad fat.

You could get a lot of non-fat products and so we did. And we adapted our tastes.

Some of the 'analogs' are rather good.

Some are not.

For years we have kind of tolerated the fake mayonnaise.

I used to make my own so it was a big comedown. You just can't get there with food additives. Close, but no cigar.

Cigars. No. Those aren't good for us either.

I think that maybe it is our age. We are at the time in our lives where we may not give such a shit about this kind of thing.

So I have gone back to store bought real mayo. Not the light either.

We don't use a lot but boy is it good.

It is as if we had been in the desert and just came upon a full mountain stream.

The same is true for the other salad dressings. I bought some Paul Newman vinaigrette and we were off and running. There is no comparison to the fake kinds.

I have tried them all. We use his ranch dressing too.

Well, hell. It is a good cause.

You know that most of the foods we really really like are not good for us.

We haven't given up entirely on healthier foods. There is the non-fat yogurt, the fat-free milk; I cut the fat off the meat before we cook it. I drain the pan.

But we are back to the mayo and salad dressings.

It may kill us but we will die with a greasy smile on our faces.

HEARTBREAKER

Michael J. Fox

for Clair Mccaskill for Missouri Senator.

I really admire and value his courage.

ADELICIOUS

The fat GOoPrick Kurt Weldon (PA-07) tried to 'swiftboat' former Admiral Joe Sestak.

Here is Sestak's response in a

really great smackdown ad.

The background story can be read here.

Meantime, the Feds are ransacking Weldon's daughters office for evidence of improper and undue influence. She's a lobbyist and Dad has favored her clients. The usual.

CLASSICAL COLLISION

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

Night of the Hunter (1955)

with Robert MItchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish.

It was directed by Charles Laughton and written by James Agee. A prestige production.

It is done in the American Gothic style and is terribly self conscious. Bold strokes. Lots of air time between.

There is country singin' and guitar playin' and background choirs and all.

The acting could be called either 'classical' or wooden. I chose to take it as the latter.

The pacing could be taken as measured and ominous or slow and tedious. I took the latter.

I liked Robert Mitchum and he is very good in this film. Shelley Winters is almost unwatchable.

I don't know why Ebert (the link) comes down on the side of genius but I take his point.

I baled out. Speed dial.

I will give this a 2 out of Netflix5.

I am sorry to do it. I was looking forward to the film but I just couldn't hack it.

WESTERN FIELDS

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

My Little Chickadee (1940)

with W.C. Fields and Mae West.

This is a wild west satire and has all the Field's tricks although less physical humor than we are used to.

I had not seen Mae West before. She flaunts the sexual stuff in a way that freaked people out. It is very well done. And she had to get by the censors (The Hays Office)

What is really good about this DVD is that all the lines are crystal clear. Both Fields and West are slow talkers; he for the gift of gab and she for the innuendo.

It is pretty good.

Not great.

West doesn't have many films where she is not a spectacle and so they picked this one so we could see her in her post prime but not yet molded over.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

BEARLY STABLE

This is a great time waster:

Toren van beren

Just mouse around it. No clicking necessary.

WOUND UP

Well, I guess my promise not to get all political in this election cycle fell by the wayside.

Who could miss this?

The chickens are coming home to roost.

What went around is coming around!

It is almost unbelievable and a part of me is still holding back on pre-celebration.

Even if the GOoPers are pre-morteming.

A lot can happen between now and November 6th.

I read that 'they' had scheduled the sentencing of Saddam Hussein for November 5th.

Goddam! They didn't even find him guilty yet.

I know. I know. It is an independent government. Just tryin' to help out.

Anyway, it has been increasingly fun to watch the scurrying and squirming.

What a ride.

CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD

I like conservatives like Dick Armey who are willing to get out from under the evangelical tent and tell the truth.

I don't agree with him on many issues but I think he has integrity.

Few others in the GOP are as outspoken or as honest.

Republican Woes Lead to Feuding by Conservatives

It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.

STAY THE COURSE

Eat those words bushie!

Now, we have the Demos discovering their balls and throwing it back to the bastards.

"Stay the course" indeed. Maintain the big mo'. Keep on talking Iraq. The people know if the head decider and his minions don't have a clue.

Tables Turned for the GOP On Iraq Issue

And jeez, NYT, I didn't know Iraq was an 'issue' exactly. I thought it was an obvious fuckup by the neo-con desk warriors.

BUT WHO'S COUNTING?

This week I will celebrate 27 years of a sober and clean life.

My actual date is a little hazy as the last thing I put down was marijuana.

A stoner's ending; not sure of when it actually happened. Like sometime in there.

From this distance it doesn't seem as important to know the exact day.

I will be celebrating gratefully on Saturday with a group of my sober buddies who are largely responsible for any success I may have had over the years.

FULL BLOODED

I got my blood test results back today.

Another A+.

The good cholesterol is good and the bad cholesterol is better. I got a full panel. It goes on and on.

Everything is where it is supposed to be on the healthy body shelf.

I used to go into an angst trance whenever they took blood samples. I think it was my inability to handle delayed gratification combined with a sort of paranoid reaction to my general health which I inherited from my father.

All that is gone.

Maybe it is age.

Maybe it is the result of a healthier outlook on life.

Optimism?

NUN OF THE ABOVE

Today's NYTimes Best Film was

The Nuns Story (1958)

I didn't link to a review because I couldn't find one that was interesting. Well, not more interesting than anything I have to say.

I gotta begin by saying that this film has two huge warning signs for me; Audrey Hepburn and the Roman Catholic Church.

But, I used the rule about no contempt before investigation and was surprised at the fact that neither comes off too badly here.

Well, there is the hocus pocus of the whole nun vow bit. The mass. A lot of mass hypnosis. Brain washing stuff.

But surprisingly there is optimism. Hepburn (Sister Luke) is a rebel and not such a pain in the ass as an actress either.

Having said that, the rest of the cast is splendid. I always enjoyed Dean Jagger immensely and there is also Peter Finch, ditto.

The film has some great photography too. But we do not go to the cinema for scenery. Maybe the old travelogue shorts but not the feature.

I guess it was OK. It is interesting to watch the hazing and initiation stuff for the girls.

The ending is very satisfying.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5 especially so that the algorithm (which I actually ignore) will not be naming religious films as best for my filmic soul.

I had hoped to find a place in here to make a joke about 'bad habits' or something but it wasn't that bad. Good habits?

LOCAL CAMPAIGN

Here are some videos from our local campaign. Our Democrat is the strongest candidate, so far, to challenge Mary Bono for congress:

It will all blow over"

Have you had enough?

Equal time for Mary Kinda cheesy.

IN A TIGHT SPOT

The morning bike ride is getting wind-chillier.

The tights went on this week. Nice reflectored ones. Large.

I decided to get the larger ones to let a little air in.

When I ran, it always felt like my skin when the nylon or the latest wonder material was pressing down there.

Now, the little air layer works! A little insulation.

They aren't that loose actually. Just not that tight. I don't want you to think I am out there baggy assed.

Where was I?

Oh. And I started the gloves yesterday too. Fleece. The same blue ones that I have used for years. The Gap.

Yeh, I know.

The high 50s may not seem like cold weather to you but when the air is sliding past fast and your thermostat is set for desert temperatures it is fucking cold out there.

And soon, we will be down to 40s.

I will be tempered by then.

KUBLER-ROSS ON POLITICIANS

Five Stages of Republican Scandal

1. “I have not been informed of any investigation or that I am a target”
2. “I am cooperating fully, but this whole thing is a political ploy by the Democrats”
3. “I’m SHOCKED by the mistakes made by my subordinates”
4. “I’m deeply sorry for letting down my friends and family. I now recognize that I am an alcoholic. I will be entering rehab immediately, so I have no time for questions”
5. “Can I serve my time at Eglin Federal Penitentiary (aka Club Fed)?”

SOAP SUDS

I was away for a couple of days and, as a result, missed out on the daily flow of the 20-25 blogs that I read and/or scan every day.

This stuff ranges from serious political blogs to unserious political blogs to plain vanilla news to the very best compendium of news of gay interest (Towleroad.com) to some personal blogs of people I know, and finally, to the dessert—uuhhhh, well, you know—the kind of blogs and sites that post pictures and tell 'stories'; the kind of site that carries 'not for workplace' notices and all.

So, two days without my blogs. Got it?

When I came back, I noticed that I had not missed much. Sure; some comments, some little bit of news which I saw in the paper already, a few (ahem) pictures and stories.

But two days did not really interrupt. I didn't need to go back and catch up. I was still very close to where I had left and could easily extrapolate.

This is not unlike the daily serial shows on television; the soap operas.

When I was a kid, my mother worked and I was put up with my aunts and cousins and they all listened to their 'stories' on the radio. They didn't call them soap operas. It had true ownership; their stories.

As I toured the relative's homes, I noticed that, as I went to Thelma's this week for a couple of days and then went to Bernice's for another few and then back to Thelma's, the stories on the radio seemed to remain the same. I had not missed much.

Could it be that blogs are the new soaps?

Are my blogs much different in their way from Thelma and Bernice's stories?

Blogs, of course, are not about the scandalous goings on in a family or a little town or a hospital or whatever. But they are scandalous. They have the inside story, the rumors, the conspiracy theories; an inside look into the belly of 'the beast'. This stuff isn't going to make to the mainstream until it is cleaned up, sanitized and (for chrissake) verified!

And the racy stuff—well let's say it outright—the erotic and pornographic pictures and stories—are all variations on the same timeless themes; always, dependably, the same; never boring. Just like the soaps!

Maybe blog reading and cruising the net, so to speak, are all just time wasters or background noise to daily life. Just like the soaps.

Maybe the blogs are an escape from the humdrum of our daily life; others playing out our own fantasies. Perhaps bush bashing is just an outlet for our general hostility.

You can see that I have put some distance here between me and such speculation. The use of the 'we' keeps it out there.

I think I could go on with this analogy and make some interesting headway.

Unfortunately, this is biting into my reading of the morning news and blogs.

The pictures and stories don't come until the last. But if I don't eat my daily ration of serious blogs, I don't get any dessert.

LAMPOONED

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)

We are in the 'N's.

I never saw this when it was out; probably a misplaced feeling that it was beneath me.

But, today, I was down there wallowing in it just like everyone else.

It is an hilarious picture and the lines will resonate for a long time.

There is not a lot to say about this but FIVE FIVE FIVE out of Netflix5.

It was nice to see the young Tom Hulce and Kevin Bacon with baby fat. John Belushi was great. What a sad loss.

TRIPPIN' PART II

We had our 24 hour trip to Long Beach; all three of us.

We survived more than nicely.

Franklin had a great time visiting Randy in his fourth floor condo in the city.

He learned to peer out floor to ceiling windows and not get giddy from the height.

There was the first sleep in a strange house and, since we forgot to bring a bed, his first night without.

He was 'on it' the whole time and that night sleep was the only sleep that he got.

We all did pretty well.

We ended up having breakfast on the beach at a café that allows dogs to sit on the patio (along with their owners) and view the ocean. I don't think Franklin was all that impressed with the beach part but he sure liked the people and the other dogs.

It was fun but the kind of fun that comes from full force attention. There was a payoff for all of us.

Franklin got stretched into a new environment and he got high quality time from his DogFather Randy. We got to work on something new and different and come out the other end with a nice family experience.

We might even do it again—after some rest.

Months?

HERO

Gerry Studds Dies at 69; First Openly Gay Congressman

I first met Gerry Studds at an election appearance in, whoa, perhaps his first campaign. Could it have been 1972? I guess so.

He was running for Rep of the District I lived in at the time—Plymouth County and surrounds in Massachusetts.

He was a breath of fresh air; an engaging and forceful personality.

I voted for him and he won.

I never saw him again until we were at a party in Provincetown; maybe 1989 or 1990. He had come out as a gay man (and so had I). He had just weathered the 'scandal' of having sex with a 17 year old ex-page.

Amazing thing. He had not resigned and had been re-elected by his essentially conservative district, nonetheless.

He was still engaging and energetic and a bit above himself on the gay scene but then we are all as vivid as we can be when we gather together. He was a nice guy.

He had been re-elected because he had paid attention to his constituency and he did the work. He was an expert on the fisheries and his district covered the entire coastline of southern Massachusetts. These were dire times for the fisherman and his supporting industry.

The thing about Studds is that he had his trouble, he sucked it up and took responsibility and he bravely kept on doing what he had been doing and ended up being the first openly gay man to serve in the Congress of the United States of America.

Notice that I did not say the first gay congressman. I said 'openly gay'.

I think that he survived for many reasons. Attention to the District was one.

The other was his ability to take responsibility for himself. He did not hide out behind a story of abuse or the claim of alcoholism (thus hiding in a rehab center). He did not show shame for being gay. Confusion, perhaps, we have all had that but not shame

The corollary of taking responsibility is that you don't have to 'take no shit' from anyone. You stand strong.

In the years since, other men—Barney Frank in particular—came out and survived.

Gerry Studds is a gay hero.

I like, best of all, that he is survived by his Husband!

A trailblazer until the end.

TRIPPIN'

We are off on our first overnight with Franklin.

We will be staying in Long Beach tonight; testing the waters for dog travel.

I suspect that the real test is for us and not the pup.

There is the prep. The packing. The bed, the bowls, the toys, the food.

It is not to be taken lightly; the trip, I mean.

We will see how it goes.

Franklin's urban experience is limited to the sidewalks in our less than suburban neighborhood.

He has never, ever, been in an elevator.

It is all terra incognita.

No more entries today. I am 'on vacation'.

LYNCHED

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was the execrable

Mulholland Drive (2001)

David Lynch.

I watched about an hour of this dreck.

Truth: I have never finished a Lynch film. Not one. And I didn't like that teevee thing either; Twin Peaks.

I remember watching Eraser Head. I can still hear the sound track and see those fucking ugly people.

This is not an actual movie type film but pieces from an attenuated teevee series.

Go read the link. Ebert (who gave it four stars) goes on and on about its non-meaning and its dreamlike quality.

Doh!

A recipe for rationalization if I ever heard of it.

Lynch's allure to (some) of the cognoscenti is a puzzle to me.

The acting in these films is never very good. To wit, Naomi Watts, lobotomized but still a bit twittery, rendition of a wannabe starlet.

He uses Ann MIller--yes the perky dance star from the musicals--looking like a drag queen and reading her boards at the side of the camera like a third grade play.

Dan Hedaya who was so good in the Coen Brothers' film we saw the other day is transformed here into a refugee from a primal scream group.

And so on. Christ.

This is barely a 1 out of Netflix5. What a piece of shit.

And that awful Blue Velvet. That was another unbearable exercise.

THIRTEEN

I am not superstitious at all.

I carry no charms. I do keep a careful eye on the neighborhood's black cats. I don't mind spilling salt. All that.

But, I do notice that it is Friday the 13th.

So far, everything has been OK.

I went to get my blood test this morning and................well, I don't know the results.

The HAC man came for the fall checkup of the two units. One thermostat was not working well. He came late but he should be done soon. Well, actually, he doesn't seem to be working on the second unit yet.

It is going to fuck up my nap if he doesn't get out of here pretty quick.

That will dislodge the afternoon movie.

Shit.

But, anyway, it's a nice day although they are talking about some rain this afternoon and we are going to go to Long Beach tomorrow and....................

I don't know.

Maybe I should wait until the day is over to write about this.

SCREENING

A caterer came to call yesterday; a candidate for my birthday party in January.

We were beginning the screening process; finding the best person to solve our 'entertainment problems'.

Nice guy. Good at picking up cues. Fed back all the right reactions to our 'story'. A good listener.

By the time we were sitting in the dining room talking about the best times for a brunch/lunch and the kind of food we wanted, I knew that he had gone from candidate to fully elected official.

I simply would not have the energy to go through this kind of ordeal again; getting to know you, telling the story, walking through his story; going back and forth about expectations.

Do you want 'belly tables' (the tall kind you lean on)? Hand held food. What about the drinks? A bartender? There is no booze. Where will the food be served? Let's look at the kitchen. Healthy food please. I try to get organic produce from local farms. There are some really nice little lamb chops. This is lunch. Not brunch. Hand held food no plates or silver. Are the hours OK? A hundred people. (Well, I am up to 80 and John has not even gotten started yet).

You get the drift.

And underneath it all, I am wondering what the fuck this will cost. Yes it is my party and I am not really going to do anything but stand in one place and smile for three hours.

And oh, there is one other thing. I will sign the checks. I am the comptroller.

Well, we finally got to the money part and it was not as bad as I feared. I had already estimated an amount per head and it turned out to be his minimum ball park guess.

This is the usual drill. One projects and thinks about costs and then calls the vendors and finds that all the thinking in the world only got one up to 'the minimum'. Not including belly tables.

It is OK.

We only pass this way once.

This week the market hit a record.

Of course by the end of January it could be in the pits but by that time we will be all a-twitter with the party and all prudence will have flown.

We aren't going to call any other caterers.

Once is enough.

A reliable friend says that this guy is OK. She goes to more parties in a month than we have in ten years here. OK.

A +

I went for my annual physical today.

Actually, I go to Doctor Jim twice a year whether I need it or not.

The April visit is just for 'fun'; a ghost session based on the original four month checkups after I had cancer radiation. He still wants to know that PSA number.

This one, in October, is the one with the EKG and all that. The horrendously long list of lab tests.

I am a very boring patient. Nothing is wrong.

I bring a list of 'ailments' which, as Jim says, would make his average patient supremely grateful.

I figure it is my part of the job to present all the data no matter how miniscule and unimportant.

All I could come up with today was a little dermatitis on my little finger, left hand. I have a chronic eczema which shows up here and there depending on the season and my 'stress' level. Stress?

So, it is cheating really. Something to show him.

It is always blooming somewhere and has been for 20 years. A little dab of cortisone cream and wham—it is gone.

On the good side, there is always something that he exclaims about. Today it was the pulse in my feet. Both of them. "Extraordinary"!, he says.

I still have to do the blood and urine tests. I will fast tomorrow morning and go in at 5AM when the lab opens. A great time!

Then I will get my final grades next week.

The hands-on tests are a win.

BUSHWHACKED

This from The Onion's forthcoming

Destined for Destiny

The unauthorized autobiography of gwbush.

More here!

GLASNOST

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was the 'revolutionary film'

Little Vera (1988)

This seems to be another teen-angst film but the story is in the settings and the background. The Soviet Union is disintegrating.

Industrial incursions, pollution of the air, open dumps of all manner of rusted crap are seen throughout.

Police are shown using dogs to disperse unruly (barely) teenagers.

Everything is ugly except the people— especially, the youth—are not. They are not beautiful star types but they are warm and attractive at many levels.

Their problem is alcoholism and boredom or both. Frustrations with life of bureaucratically formulated futures.

The standard Soviet film was an idealized picture; stories of socialist success taking place in beautiful settings.

Not here.

The film itself is pretty good once you get used to the rough production values used. It is almost all handheld and the lighting is primitive.

Some of the techniques are off-putting but are part of what is being portrayed; people out of frame (intentionally); shots that display the rotting surrounds.

I liked the people and the acting is superb especially the long suffering father. The young couple are very sexy together and are entirely credible as they come to terms with the real world. Coming of age.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

There are enough films from the glasnost period to support a

Glasnost Film Festival

This film is not in it because it got independent distribution.

I don't think that I will be watching this 23 film collection anytime soon but it is nice to know that it is there.

HOW DO YOU SPELL STEPFORD?

Cruise Hires Babysitters So Holmes Can Get in Shape

Tom Cruise has hired a team of babysitters for his fiancee Katie Holmes so she has time to get in shape for their glitzy wedding ceremony. According to gossip website Tmz.com, Mission Impossible actor is reportedly "very concerned" the actress loses the weight she gained while pregnant before their big day, which is set to take place in early November. To ensure Holmes looks perfect when she walks down the aisle, Cruise has joined her on the grueling training sessions - and has drafted an army of babysitters to look after their baby daughter Suri so they can exercise without any interruptions...........................................IMDb Movie News

ROSERGENT

The roses are suddenly surging into their autumn performance. They have been slowed by the heat and, even when the blooms appear, they do not develop because they 'open' too quickly.

The fall run is not usually as long term or as generous as the spring growth but it is rather spectacular nonetheless.

In a couple of months, the sun will be low enough that the winter shutdown is due.

I will leave them for awhile then cut them back in the usual way but not as severely as back east; just the crossovers and the 'suckers'. Then, they will be ready to go again by the end of February and will last until June when the heat comes again.

SHEAR DROP

When I wrote, below, about the religios fleecing us I looked for images of sheep being, well, sheared.

I found this one but dropped it as it seemed almost sexy. As though everyone was enjoying the whole process too much.

But, it is a great drawing/pastel or whatever.

It is from the National Library of Wales under 'sheep'. There are a lot of sheep in Wales so you can bet they have lots of pictures. It is printed without permission. Sorry.

SHOT IN THE ASS

We went to the Senior Center today to get our flu shot.

Yeh, yeh, the Senior Center.

They have a neat setup.

You go buy a ticket for a time. No standing in line.

They take 30 people in one 'sitting'. There is a short lecture, the inevitable cookies and juice, and the shots. In and out in 15 minutes.

One problem.

The flu virus serum is not available yet.

They are behind again this year.

There won't be any until the end of this month.

Well there is some but we can't get it. It is only going to 'straight through' applications. You know, VIPS. congresspeople, like that.

Yet another boondoggle.

If they can't manage this then what will happen when the pandemic hits.

I know.

Not a whole lot.

Watch your own ass.

FLEECED

When I was a kid I worked at the local drugstore.

I remember that when a clergyman came in we were to call Tommy the pharmacist and let him handle the customer.

The reason was that the clergy were always looking for handouts.

They wanted to get their stuff for free or at least with a steep discount.

Tommy was the first line of defense against it.

Our boss, Ma Williams, was a softy. She was unable to say no. Then, when the clergyman would leave she would swear (and swear vividly) up and down never to do it again.

Nothing has changed.

Churches are a business but the continue to look for handouts and get them!

It is just more brazen now.

Look at this shit:

In God’s Name: As Religious Programs Expand, Disputes Rise Over Tax Breaks

My dad ran the local supermarket. It was a chain. The same "mealy mouthed bastards" would come to him for financial breaks. He gave no quarter.

You can see how I grew up to be an apostate; 'mealy mouthed bastards' and all.

We are paying for this. Whether we are in the flock or not we are getting fleeced.

EEEEEEK!!!

Today's movie was not a Best Film but a first cousin; the Coen Brothers'

Blood Simple (1984)

It is their first picture and Frances McDormand's debut as well. She is one of the Coen's Missus.

The real star is the venerable M. Emmet Walsh as a private detective who starts a spiral of betrayal and intrigue which seems impossible to stop; a contorted, scary, grisly mind bender. Relentless.

His client is Dan Hedaya. Here they are plotting.

It is just great.

It will get my 5 out of Netflix5.

Here is Ebert's review of the DVD; fifteen years later.

This film has a strong whiff of Diabolique, the French pants-wetter, which we saw earlier in the 'D's.

HOPE IS ON THE WAY

For those who worry, with me, that the Netflix 'recommendations' algorithm terminally sucks, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Dave sends this:

Netflix Prize Competitor Already Beats Netflix

The links on the article will help fill in the background.

They had another winner for me today but it was a no brainer. If I liked one of the Coen Brothers' films then it is likely I would want to see another one.

CHRIS MEETS DALI

Today is Columbus Day.

It was a big deal back east.

Here, it is a day without mail.

I think the Italian influence on the west coast is weaker.

The paisani are here but the sun has bleached out their ethnic colors.

Anyway, every year, the day gives me an opportunity to put up my favorite Columbus painting; The Dream Of Christopher Columbus by Salvador Dali.

You know that Columbus was supported by the Spanish, so there is some significance to the fact that Dali was of the Spanish persuasion as well.

I love Salvador Dali.

It is pretty big for the page so you can click on the title to see the whole thing un-mashed.

DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU IN THE ASS ON THE WAY OUT

STILL NOT VERY INTERESTING

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

Morgan / Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966)

with David Warner and Vanessa Redgrave in her first film role.

I saw this when it first came out forty years ago—can you believe it?

I didn't much like it then and I liked it less this time.

Morgan wants his wife back and she is ambivalent; full of approach-avoidance behavior. Maddening.

Morgan is a red diaper baby born into a Marxist family. He has left the family but not arrived anywhere else.

It is about non-conformity or perhaps about class or maybe it is about wanting the inaccessible.

There were a lot of good things that came out of the culture of the of the sixties. Some of them were films. This is not one of them.

It just looks silly now.

There are amusing moments but, overall, it is a near waste of time.

While we were watching some people came to the door. They were conducting a census to find if we knew of any deaf people in the neighborhood.

The woman signed as she talked. Two others stood mute.

How odd; as bizarre as the film! What a counterpoint.

Anyway, I didn't even put the movie on 'pause' as I went to the door.

When I returned, not much had happened; mostly the same antics.

Give this a 2 out of Netflix5. It is not awful awful. It is just annoying to watch the same shit happen over and over.

Some nice cinematic effects save it from the disgrace of being the first '1' I have given for a long while.

LIGHT SHIFT

Along with the cooler temperatures, comes the darkness.

Shorter days.

They are related, the cool and the dark, but they present different challenges.

The cool means socks.

The dark requires that I shift Franklin's walks from after dinner to before.

This is a bit tricky as Franklin, being a desert dog, does not do sunny walks. We have to wait for our sun to set at about 430PM; just an hour before the final throes of dinner prep; a close call.

Franklin is ready to go almost any time. We had a good walk, we got back in time.

The problem came after supper. Franklin came to me to get his post dinner walk. Head butt. Paw in lap. Moan and groan (he doesn't actually whine).

I explain.

He doesn't get it.

I ask if he doesn't remember the rabbits, the other dog we met, the various trees that he watered.

No.

Finally I divert. We go outside to play 'soccer'. That works, sorta.

It will take a few days to make the change stick.

In the meantime, I get double duty; walking before dinner and soccer after.

You don't think I am getting jerked around do you?

OUT OUT OUT

This is a well thought 'out' argument which will fall on deaf ears but, nonetheless, is an encouragement to those who still live in the dark and the people who enable their self denial.

Open the Closets on Capitol Hill

By Louis Bayard in Salon

FRANK KAMENY

Gay Hero

Andrew Sullivan expands on the story behind the gift of Kameny's papers to the Library of Congress.

This is a big deal.

PARTY PARTY

I am not a party animal.

That will come as a big surprise to a lot of people, huh?

I don't go unless forced and I don't give unless, well, sorta forced.

When we lived in Boston we gave parties a lot. Small ones, big ones.

We had an annual Christmas Eve buffet that took on its own momentum, year after year, until the five story house was filled with people.

It was almost impossible to get it stopped.

So I am capable. I am just not very willing anymore.

So, John said that we will have a party for my 70th birthday; January 28.

I got the first salvo of his rationale. It is on a Sunday. We haven't really had a big party here. It is a significant decade. What did he mean by that? My last one? Noooooo.

But I got the point. The rationale was only cover for one of those mandatory exercises that come along in every relationship; not too often, but you know when it is there. No way out.

So I got the lay of the land and quickly said 'yes'. Mostly because he said I could have any kind of party I wanted. Even a small one. But I knew that was just a worm on the hook.

I bit anyway.

I started to make a list. I figured ten, fifteen or so. No big deal.

Well, the list grew.

And grew.

It is still growing.

How the hell did I get all these friends?

No, they are not all intimate friends but they meet the one criteria I set. I decided to invite people who have given me some pleasure in knowing them. A wider net than I thought.

The other thing is that, in addition to my 70th year, 2007 will mark our tenth anniversary in the desert. That makes it sort of John's party too.

So here I am. I bet there will be seventy or eighty people on my list. He is making a list too. Twenty, so far, he says.

A caterer is coming to talk Thursday.

That is new.

When we have had big parties, I have always done the cooking and shit.

Then I could hang out in the kitchen with my close pals—the other anti-party introverts—bitching about the crowd and bantering back and forth over cigarettes and coffee.

No cigarettes (ten years in January--another anniversary). No coffee/caffeine either; for over a year.

No place to hide out.

A caterer.

So that is the general plan.

A 70 year old party animal.

I am sorta thinking ahead to the 80th! But, hey. I will take it one party at a time.

WINTER

We have no seasons in Palm Springs.

It is either cold or hot or somewhere in between.

There are extremes but they happen mostly in the day or week; a 20-30 degree differential between day high temperature and night low.

This is because of the lack of humidity. All our 'heat' is radiation. No sun, no heat. The air holds nothing.

When there is climate shift it is not gradual. It happens in steps.

This week we slid from the 100/70 range to the 85/65 range in just a couple of days.

Sometime in December it will slip, all at once, to the 70/40 range and that will be that until the same thing happens in the upswing to summer.

There will be snow on the mountains soon. We have had it as early as October.

We regard winter as officially here.

It was fucking cold this morning. I had to close the few sliders that were open. I put on heavy sox and a sweat shirt.

It was 73 in the house.

I turned on the heat.

Yeh, I know. But our inner thermostats are rigged differently than anyone elses.

Today, I had to reset the solar heating for the pool from a few hours a day to all-day. The water had gone below 80 overnight!

I know that no one in the northeast is going to sympathize with me.

Even people who live out on the beaches here think that we are nuts.

But it is cold.

I have shifted to sox all day long. No more sandals. Period.

PARKOUR

Today's film wasn't one of the NYTimes Best but it was pretty good. It is prime meat B movie material.

I took it from my Netflix recommendations. You know I am a skeptic.

Banlieue 13 / District B13 (2004)

is a wild martial arts film based on the street jumping/fighting art of parkour.

To that extent it makes this sort of formula story much more interesting.

One of the stars is a founder of the parkour discipline.

Also we have dual-heroes who perform the stunts in tandem for a good part of the film.

It is interesting because it touches on the problem of the third world ghettos that surround Paris and which are behind the recent problems of the French government; riots and all.

I enjoyed it.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Now, here is the rub. There is absolutely no logical reason for this to be in my Netflix recommendations.

I do not order martial arts films. I do rent French.

I had one James Bond, well maybe two.

I can't figure it.

And yet I liked the picture so they must have my number at some level.

Did I mention the heroes were hunks? Part of the enjoyment; eye candy.

WOMAN WITH A PLAN

Pelosi Says She Would Drain GOP 'Swamp'

Her first hundred hours.

And not one of these items is the mean, vindictive, pandering bullshit that Dumb Denny and his goopers have been blowing.

THROWING BODIES FROM THE SLED TO SLOW THE WOLVES DOWN

White House aide to Rove resigns

NO ONE HOME

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was the Coen Brothers'

The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

with Billy Bob Thornton and Frances McDormand.

It is film noir geared up to the Coen intensity and is great to watch. It is also funny and tragic at the same time; their trademark.

It is also about 20-30 minutes too long and has three endings.

Nevertheless, though longish, it is still great to watch the shadows and light and to get the dark humor of it.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

I ordered Blood Simple to look at later in the week. Not a 'best' film but a good one by the guys.

THE ACTING PRESIDENT

While the current occupant of the White House brays in the woods about his non-performing administration, the real President continues to carry out the kind of business that should be the daily duties of the office:

Clinton Deal Cuts School Snack Foods

He just keeps rolling along. Our Bill.

KARMA

If Hastert stays..........

From Andrew Sullivan

DETOX

Kevin Drum today:

Why do disgraced politicians and celebrities always go into rehab when they get caught?

Answer: Because the press can't harass them there.

Come on. Give me a hard one.

(Yes, yes, an "addiction" of some sort is also a handy excuse for misbehavior. But I'll bet the main reason is to stay away from the slavering media hordes for a few weeks until everything has died down.)

TORTURE? YUP

Professional Waterboarding

You may want to bail on this but think about the guy who is getting 'done'.

I stayed and I didn't like it one bit.

Every American should stay here for awhile and they have truncated the time the 'subject' actually took it.

SLAPSTICK

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Preston Sturges'

Miracle at Morgan's Creek (1944)

with Betty Hutton and Eddy Bracken.

There is no way to summarize this knock-down-drag-out farce. It just roars off the screen.

An abundance of reliable character actors and walk ons by more notable stars fleshes out the two main performances. Chief of these is William Demarest as the chief of police and Hutton's Dad.

The background to this film is that Sturges set out to break every provision of the Hays office production code which, at that time, served to control the 'morals' of every picture.

Strike one: the film has an 'illegitimate' pregnancy at the heart of it. Strike Two: the father is never found. Strike Three; Everyone lives happily ever after.

Horrors!

A lot of the comedy is outdated and the walk-ons by known stars is tough to follow 60 years later but it still has a lot of fun and is well worth watching.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5 and a thank you to Sturges for what amounted to a death blow to the censors of the time.

I loved Betty Hutton when I was a kid. I saw everything she was in and she was in a lot.

Her high energy and tremendous dancing are memorable.

She was thrust into the Merman role for Annie Get Your Gun and stole the mojo for the character from Ethel the Great. Of course, Merman was a little old for Annie at the time. Not a fair contest.

I see by her profile at the link shows her to be a resident of Palm Springs.

She ain't listed in the phonebook but none of them are.

Maybe I will see her dancing down Palm Canyon Drive some day. She would be 85.

OCTOBER SURPRISE

All the Demos have been crouched down mentally, waiting for Karl Rove's 'October Surprise'. The thing that would turn the tide back toward the goopers; just in time for the election.

I am sure that they didn't anticipate anything like the tide that has been running over the Foley situation.

It is not even about Foley anymore. He has done his ritual mea culpas and is safely hidden within the bowels of a (scientology?) alcohol treatment center.

What it is now is Hastert-gate!

Fat Dennis is suddenly thrust into the spotlight. We never really saw him before.

He mumbles, he backtracks, he flip flops, he denies and, worse, he minimized this problem publicly on CNN ('would have should have could have') and the flame was lit.

Could this fuckup be the one who is two heartbeats away from being our president?!

The moral examplars. The social value arbiters! The holier than thou team!

What a surprise.

Well, not really. Now more people know. I hope they are voters.

NOT A PEDOPHILE

Foley is not a pedophile.

There are no congressional pages who are pre-pubescent.

There is another name for what he is but I can't remember the technical name. In the gay community he would be called a 'chickenhawk'.

It is like a lot of the priests.

Usually the result of arrested sexual development, some men (and women) fixate on the age that they inhibited or closeted or repressed their sexuality for external reasons.

To some extent we all do a bit of this, gays, perhaps, more than others.

The other thing is that young men and women are especially attractive to all people. The hormones are running high. They are getting to their sexual peak.

In any other animal family, they would be having sex and getting married. We suppress that in our children for the sake of their education and our own hangups.

Lolita was a natural.

My grandmother was married when she was fifteen and was a mother soon after.

For gay men who continue to hold down their sexuality into their adult years, the condition becomes pathological. Foley is a good example.

Like arsonists who play with fire, the repressed homosexual will play with his own fire and try to get caught so he can end the pain of the repressed desires; get release.

Since his taste is for the young men he favored when he went out of business sexually, this is where he returns.

It is also very dangerous. Straight boys in a highly public, carefully chaperoned situation. He was sure to get caught.

He 'wanted' to be caught.

He also had his name all over legislation having to do with pedophilia. This is where some of the confusion comes in. Pedophilia is near to his serious problem but not it. This is all nickel and dime psychology and you might not swallow it but read the emails and they are very very adolescent.

Sad, yes. But not for an adolescent whose sex life centers on a lot of jerking off and talking about it.

Foley may be an alcoholic as well. Or, he may be taking the cure to work out a rationale for his behavior. Sad if the latter were so.

He needs to get his sexuality back on center. A few months of a gay therapy group might just set him in the right direction.

There is a rumor that he is a Scientologist or is having them 'cure' him. Poor bastard. The Thetans are hell on suppressed homos. Look at their star examples.

HOW FAR IS IT TO MIT?

I was almost certain that one of the guys who won the Nobel for Physics is the one that they laid end to end to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge in Cambridge, MA.

This was introduce a new unit of dimension, namely the Smoot.

One Smoot equaled 5' 7"; Mr. Smoot's height.

For many years the bridge had the markings along the walkway. They would be refurbished by the same fraternity to which Mr. Smoot, the layee, belonged.

It must be said that the inaptly named bridge did not go to Harvard but to MIT. It was Massachusetts' Avenue's river crossing.

You would get to Harvard eventually but why bother when the best of the campus lot was right at the other end.

The timing was right. It was right after I left and in the era when campus pranks were still of the very nerdly variety.

Americans Win Nobel Prize in Physics

But, it was not to be. I found the writeup in a Boston tourist guide.

The Smoot who became a unit of measure was Oliver. This NObel guy's name is George.

Now I wonder if they were related.

"Smoots" on the Harvard Bridge
MIT students are world-famous for their brains and creativity, and the invention of the "Smoot" as unit of measure is no exception. In 1958, the pledge class of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity marked the length of the Harvard Bridge (which goes to MIT) using pledge Oliver Smoot as a measuring tool. For the record, Smoot was 5 feet 7 inches tall, and the bridge is 364.4 Smoots (plus an ear) long. The bridge is marked with colored lines to mark every 10 Smoots, and the markers are painted on the sidewalk on the outbound side of the bridge.
Location: Over the Charles River between Back Bay and Cambridge
Public Transportation: Kendall/MIT
Cost and Hours: Free, open 24 hours/day

RECONSIDERATION

I realized that I have been looking the wrong place for the Netflix recommendations.

Now that I have found them, they make a little more sense.

Blood Simple (Coen Brothers) floated to the top and I am going to get it along with District B13, a French futuristic crime thriller.

I wonder how many things I think don't work actually don't work because I haven't worked them the right way?

How embarrassing.

I could blame it on getting old but I think that I have always been this way.

Hold off on reading the instructions until you really need them.

ABRAMOFF EXPLAINED

Just in time for November 6th. A primer of corruption.

Bill Moyers on America: Capitol Crimes

I don't know if anyone will watch but it only takes a few to start another wave of revulsion at the selling of our government.

This scandal is mind numbingly complicated but Moyers is said to take it down to the basics. Hope so.

AND THEY ARE ALL MOVING TO PALM SPRINGS

U.S. population to top 300 million this month

Well, we know that there are too many people but I did not know that we are the only one that is growing and the other economically developed countries are leveling off.

What does this mean?

Higher real estate prices?

Longer lines at the stores?

Yes, and a lot worse. I am currently reading William Gibson's Virtual Light where 'way too many people' has already happened.

Amusingly or not, the year of this dystopia is 2005.

He wrote it in 1993, so you could say that he is something of a pessimist.

The pollution is thick, the uv radiation is severe, people live in layers in places like the Bay Bridge in San Francisco (timbers in the cable towers) and so on.

We are not quite there yet. Sadly, it is the other beings on earth that will suffer first. The polar bears are already going swimming.

Here, the results are less cataclysmic.

They are just building houses on every piece of available land that is not set aside for conservancy. And badly. What a bunch of shit is going up.

A lot of this is on the surface of the popping real estate bubble and, hopefully, a bunch of development companies are going to take a bath sooner than the polar bears.

But it is all part of the same thing.

Growth and greed.

When I was a teenager the Malthusian vision was taken seriously. Population control was a big thing. No more.

And so on.

Around here, the rabbit populations goes through sine wave growth and depletion. Too many rabbits; they get a virus and start to die off.

It isn't even a food thing. There is plenty of grass.

The same with us probably. Plagues.

How did I get down here in the pits?

OK.

Let's rearrange the deck chairs.

GUARANTEED?

We are cleaning dishes in the guest bathroom sink.

The other night John was cleaning up after dinner and the kitchen sink faucet handle broke off.

The casting was weak. It cannot be replaced.

The water was on so we had to turn the supply off under the sink. That also cut off the dishwasher.

We have had this MOEN—get that? MOEN—faucet for only a couple of years.

I remember laughing with the plumber about its 'life time guarantee' when he put it in. Whose lifetime and all that.

Now, he will be back to put in another one.

Sure, I know I could complain and turn it in and all. But I won't.

It will be a ritualized hazing. Start with calling or writing the manufacturer; the bureaucratic maze. We don't have a receipt of course. Well, somewhere. Not worth it.

This is nothing new.

We have had three faucets here, at least.

Gear breaks. I know that. But it sure seems to break a lot sooner than it used to.

At least now I know whose lifetime. It is guaranteed to work as long as the faucet lasts. It just doesn't have a very long life.

ALGOWRONG

I love Netflix but there is nothing more ludicrous than their 'recommendations' algorithm. The one based on one's previous choice as well as thousands of others who liked the same film the same amount.

Sometimes it is laughable.

I guess that they think so too.

And if You Liked the Movie, a Netflix Contest May Reward You Handsomely

I think that the big news here is that they are using their huge data base as an incentive and basis for the research. They are not kidding.

Of course, I have very definite ideas about what I want and do not want to see.

New films keep coming out which add to the list (though not as many as I would like).

My queue is booked up until 2008 and I plan many 'director fests' which interest me very much. So I won't be using and reco-engine any time soon.

CONTRITION

This photo pairing is brilliant.

Sadly, the situation is beyond comment.

These guys love power more than the people that they are supposed to be serving.

Save the church, save the Rep seat, save your asses but let the kids and families deal with the damage done as a result of your willful neglect.

Frameshope: Daily Kos

Hastert says that he 'truly' cannot remember being told of this problem with Foley.

Same as the cardinals.

Some leaders.

Shits.

VICTORIOUS

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

My Left Foot (1990)

with Daniel Day-Lewis as the Irish writer, artist, Christy Brown. Brown had cerebral palsy and only the use of his left foot.

I should also note the performance of Hugh O'conor, who plays the young Christy, providing a seamless whole with Day-Lewis' portrayal.

The performances are bravura as is the careful telling of the story. We are not asked for maudlin sympathy. This guy has serious attitude and we are there to see all the quirks and faults as well as the courage.

It makes it all more heroic.

Brown was an alcoholic and you can see this bubbling up and progressing throughout the film. He died of the disease.

And he had a life. He married. He had books published and art shown.

It is a great film. Some small part of it is excruciating but the whole is victorious.

A 5 out of Netflix5.

The real Christy Brown.