esrosedotblog

RIGHT ON TIME

And here is 'Hunter' today from Daily Kos explaining the republican candidates. He views the collection as a science experiment.

The Elemental Republican

This is very good.

They are not the same really. It is just that they are all trying to travel on the same road and they can't all fit in.

Labels: politics, republican whack jobs

HIS HOLINESS SPEAKS

Today's movie was the documentary

Ten Questions for the Dalai Lama (2006)

I am not sure what I think about the Dalai Lama. He is appealing and admirable and all that but his impact on the world is probably marginal.

He is nice to have around when you want a gloss on your show.

His non-violent approach to world problems is no doubt correct in the long term but he is, ambivalently, a political leader as well.

He seems to succeed more with the former than the latter.

This documentary doesn't do too much to unravel the conflict between these two roles. I assume there must be one. A conflict, I mean.

In the beginning of the film, it is more about Rick Ray the docmentarian than the Tibetans. When we finally get to the questions, one cannot help but feel a bit let down by it all.

The gravity of the situation in Tibet and with the Tibetans in exile is explored in more depth than I had seen but there seems to be nothing but despair at the end of the situation.

Nevertheless, it was good to see the guy do his thing and I do admire him a great deal. It is a wonder that the way in which he was selected and trained has developed a man who has an overpowering intellect and a awesomely humble affect.

He is probably first and foremost a role model more than a solution to personal and world problems.

Which, I suppose, is his point when he says that it begins with me. Not them.

I will give this a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: film, films

HOW MANY PINHEADS CAN DANCE ON THE TIP?

Here is another way to look at the republican 'hopefuls'.

They are all gunning for the 29-32% of Americans who are gullible, stubborn or misguided enough to still support bush.

Is this insane or what?

There are way to many guys for that one little spot.

That is why I called it a clusterfuck.

Why would anyone want the support of a bunch of knuckledraggers who probably won't vote anyway because the man who comes out of this alive will still be imperfect in their lights?

This is too sophisticated a question for me to manage an answer.

It is beyond understanding.

I know that the tradition is to pander to the base in the primary and move to the center in the general election but there is no fucking center in the republican party anymore.

And besides, these guys are all so tarnished by their pandering that they will never make it back. They have lost their way along with their integrity.

Labels: politics, republican whack jobs

CLUSTERFUCK

I can't help but be amused at the GOoPer's primary prez candidates.

They are forming a circular firing squad.

Will anyone be left standing?

So far the Demo's have managed to keep it on the issues and to be nice about what they say even when it is meant to be damaging.

For once, it is a fact. Either of the top three Demos would be OK and can beat every GOP candidate although Hillary presently has the edge on winnability.

The shabby troop of players on the other side represent a sad commentary on the condition of bushie's party.

Whether you look at the slick smarmy almost robotically clean Romney or the scuzzy scandal ridden nastiness of Rudy you have to be turned off. And then you have McCain's untenable Iraq policy defense and his age to say nothing of poor old Frederick of Hollywood. The most interesting guy is Huckabee. An affable bigot certified in his baptist preacherness.

I almost find it all not worth writing about.

I don't even get to vote until February and by that time it might not make a difference.

Can you imagine?

For now, I am just watching the show.

Pass the popcorn.

Labels: politics, republican whack jobs

WE ARE HAVING (GASP) RAIN

I wouldn't venture to guess how long it has been since the last time. And we only had a trace then.

Today, it is coming down in bucketfuls. Well, maybe a tenth of an inch.

It started light in the night. When Franklin and I went out to pee this morning (him not me), there was that great ozone smell. And, in the desert, that basic note blends with the odor of wet creosote and sage. Beautiful.

Franklin perked right up. "What is this shit"?

Then I think he remembered. Oh. Rain. That.

The sky is beautiful too. You can see the showers coming from the heavy mists coming through.

You can almost track them as they head for your section of the desert.

John had a minor but uncomfortable medical 'procedure' yesterday so I walked with Franklin.

We were not out a half a mile before it started to shower again.

Good that I didn't bike today. It gets messy slippery when there is rain.

We didn't hurry the walk. The showers came and went and one time the drops were huge.

Franklin leapt into the air to bite them. Chomp!

I have never seen him do that before for raindrops although we can get him chomping when we are in the spa and he is standing by idly looking for a diversion. Saltwater drops.

The towels are at the doors now waiting for wet feet.

There won't be many. Franklin has tried all the doors and it raining outside all of them. Now he is taking a nap.

You can see that rain is a big deal here requiring a suitable infrastructure and careful plans with emergency measures ready to be applied.

It still smells nice outside.

Did I mention that I have no rain gear whatsoever? Left it all back east. We just get damp.

Labels: desert, weather

DIVA

If you have been reading this blog very long, you know that my favorite movie of all time (with few exceptions) is Diva (1981), a relatively obscure French film that I play every year or so.

It has never gotten the recognition it deserves. The only reason it survives at all is that a small Parisian theater played it for 9 months and then it was taken up by a NYC distributor and put out in the US where, to be fair about it, did get acclaim in its time.

So it is not unrecognized.

And I do have a few other favorite movies.

Superlatives always collapse under scrutiny.

Nevertheless, it remains to be rediscovered again.

Look at this:

Restored 'Diva' is back in the spotlight

The LAT can be a little tricky in the 'events' section so if you can't get the link, here is the meat:

Just as the French have given Jerry Lewis more respect as a filmmaker than Hollywood, it was American audiences that turned French director Jean-Jacques Beineix's quirky caper flick "Diva" into a hit 25 years ago.

"America saved my film," says the 61-year-old Beineix. "People [at home] said that this movie was just glossy and had no significance, no scenario, and it was all surface and no brain. When the film was released in France [in 1981], it was a total flop."

Rialto Pictures, the New York-based boutique distribution company that rereleases classics and rarities, has beautifully restored "Diva." The new print arrives Friday at the Nuart in West L.A. for a two-week engagement.

Well, Beineix didn't make many films. And it is not a 'caper flick'. If anything niched, it is a disquisition on the nature of art and reproduction of art with a dollop of the caper film and a generous dose of some wonderful music with an unconventional romance.

What is so attractive about this film?

It has four stories that interweave very cleverly.

The actors, still more or less unknown, are very attractive.

It is beautifully photographed. Paris also stars.

The music is awesome particularly the singing of Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez who was and still is a diva.

I rest my case until the jury can see the film for itself and judge the merits.

It may not become your favorite but you will not be disappointed.

Labels: best films, film, films

WIND UP

I will be back to biking this morning.

Yesterday's ride got called on account of wind. The palms were rockin'.

The Santa Anas were at it again.

There were gusts that would knock a biker down. The other reality is that, in my biking area, the wind is always in my face no matter which way I am going.

It comes up against the mountain wall and swirls around.

Normally that is not a problem. It is like dialing up the 'effort' control on a gym bike.

But yesterday it was too much.

Am I rationalizing a layabout?

I don't think so.

In any case, I will be back out there biking the good bike ride this morning.

Today is the longer ride out to the water park.

Labels: bicycle, weather

MACHISMO

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Lina Wertmüller's

Pasqualino Settebellezze / Seven Beauties (1976)

Pasqualino (Giancarlo Giannini) is the macho brother of seven ugly sisters. Talk about your overcompensation.

In Italian, Pasqualino Seven Beauties; the name he gives to people as he swaggers through Naples.

He is a plaster macho; a fool.

This film shows what happens when a macho fool gets caught up in the reality of WWII.

It is quite a story.

This is a very funny film as well as a very tragic one. Pasqualino's transformation to 'adulthood' or the consequences of his pose when made real by circumstance is the subtext.

This is a very beautiful film of a very horrible story.

It is imperfect for me only in the sense that Wertmüller gets all self indulgent at various points and wants to wallow a bit in the evil of things. This is a norm for Italian films—operatic— and it is OK as far as it goes but she goes an evil too far.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: best films

SUNNY AND CLEAR

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

Singing in the Rain (1952)

As a kid I got to see almost all the MGM musicals.

When I was 15, I hit my peak experience with this wonderful show.

It hits all the bases.

The title song is the most seen but you can't beat Donald O'Connor and Gene Kelly in the comic numbers.

Debbie Reynolds shines.

And Jean Hagen, as the villainess, is beyond wonderful.

It is so good that, even now, I get teary eyed at their work.

And true to its source it is a Comden and Green book. Always first rate. They were at their best in backstage and dumb blonde plots. This one is a convergence of the two.

Chock full of numbers, it never lets us down.

This is a 5 out of Netflix5 and a lifetime favorite.

Labels: best films

DUCK!!

There were hundreds of ducks on the golf courses this morning. Some on the bike path.

This is the time for the flight south and we are on the flight path. There are some major sanctuaries below us near the Salton Sea.

I guess they were touching down for some artificial pond swimming and ducking. Also, the grass clippings are particularly tasty first thing in the morning.

Very nice.

Quack.

Labels: nature

iMACCED

So I took the leap yesterday and went to the Mac Gallery.

It is a new—two month old—authorized MacSales and Service place in La Quinta. Twenty five miles away. Hey, better than Costa Mesa or some place over the pass.

Very nice.

I knew immediately that I would not want a 24 inch machine.

They are fucking huge.

I would get radiation burns if not actually sucked into the screen.

So the vanilla 20 inch it was.

But they didn't have any. Due in this afternoon. Or tomorrow.

Then I heard the kid say (everyone in their 20's is a kid) to the other guy (not a kid) that all he had were wirelesses.

My ears perked up.

I had not considered that.

I am working toward minimum cords so this was interesting. And they had them in stock.

Fifty dollars more.

Shit.

A drop in the bucket.

I bought one.

I also got a 3 to one hub for more wire hiding and a service contract on the Mac. AppleCare. Which is different. You get your own 'disc warrior' trouble shoot fix disc obviously to reduce the number of claims.

So home!

Unpack!

John helped with the boxes and seals.

What beautiful packaging. Always a MacPlus.

I set it up.

I turned it on.

It introduced me in Tiger.

I ran the new Leopard. A disc. I was a little afraid of this but nothing untoward happened.

This is such a simple ass machine.

It shook hands with my wireless immediately.

It has a program which sets up the email accounts automatically. All you need is the address and your password.

Bang. Flash.

The Leopard took an hour to load so I took a nap.

I missed the fireworks when it opened. Tahhh dahhhhh!

Then the business of hooking up the printer. Again. All presets loaded on for current printers. Great.

My iOmega said hello. That's the hard storage disc I bought a week before my old Mac crashed. Prescient. A God. Karmic.

What can I say? I lead an exemplary life and try to be a good boy.

The worry-wart in me was concerned about putting in the Quicken and Now-Up-To-Date (a calendar program that I really like as much as I abhor the Mac calendar.

Both loaded.

Both work.

Great!

I have uploaded my 7000 photos into iPhoto. Fast! Whiz! Bang! Whooooosh!

I set up the greatest new gadget on Leopard, Time Machine. It automatically backs up onto the storage disc and, what is more, you can use it to look at and restore (if you want) past versions. A fuckup backup.

Through all this Dave helped. Stood by on cell phone and finally even iChat which we set up so he could see my screen.

I didn't know you could do that. Show someone else your screen.

It is a little embarrassing like being seen in your underwear. Not really revealing but somehow a bit, well, open.

That is about it for now.

I am very very pleased.

I made a rudimentary screen saver slide show—my specialty. Why I have the 7000 photos.

I am teaching my email to separate out the junk mail.

I have had my usual AM dose of the NYTimes and Salon. Answered an email. And now the Blog!

Life is good.

Goddam the screen is big.

Labels: computer, macintosh

I LOVE LIGHTHOUSES

Moon Over Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Labels: APOD

TRAGIC

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

Sansho The Bailiff (1954)

This tale of unremitting suffering is based on a Japanese folk tale.

It is also unremittingly beautiful.

There is a lot of culture clash in watching these Japanese films.

Sometimes you just want to shake the hero or heroine and tell them to get over it.

In this one, they eventually do get to the end of the tunnel although, by the time they do, the light is pretty dim.

There is a lot of stuff in Ebert (at the link) about camera movement that I never heard of before.

If it wasn't so depressing, I might watch the film again to see what he is talking about.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

I am not as culturally mobile as I would like to think that I am.

Labels: best films

I LOVE WOODY

Loves the Beach, the Planet and Movies

Labels: film, films

MOONING

When Franklin and I went out this morning, the moon was very bright.

It reflected in the palms which were glistening in the wind.

Outstanding.

Labels: horticulture

COOLPOOL

The weather held out just long enough for the Thanksgiving visitors to have good pool time.

Last night, the Santa Anas rode back in and the air got colder.

We have lost 7 degrees in the pool in one week and that is with solar heating and the cover on all night.

The solar heating isn't very efficient now as the sun sinks further toward the south.

I uncovered this morning and put the pool cover against the wall with the rafts shoved in to hold it in place.

That is the end.

Until February. Two months of down time.

I will keep the solar on just to keep a it a little warm. It is cost free.

Actually, it is nice to have the pool just to look at; the eddies and currents and all.

A water feature.

Labels: life, weather

LAP TOP

The gang has left.

We had six people for the week.

Two of the people were little boys. Four and eight.

They are still at the age where they will sit on a Poppa's lap.

The younger one will just burrow into a snuggle. The older one needs a bit of purpose to it like talking something over.

I am told that these are the last in a line of six grands.

The end of lap sitting.

It is OK.

It is more than worth it to see the kids grow into their unique personalities.

I have had my share of lap time.

Five kids, six grands.

Something to be grateful for at this time of year.

Labels: kidtime, life

DARKNESS AT MOON

Riding the Rail to the Top, and Not Amused

Labels: culture

TALKIN' TURKEY

For the first time in memory, we have family here for Thanksgiving.

I bought the biggest turkey I could find.

Leftovers!

I also have learned a new way to carve the bird that is faultless.

You let the bird cool down and then slice down to the joint and cut at the gristle linking the thigh and ass.

Separate the leg and thigh in the same way. Slice down and cut at the gristle.

Remove the thigh bone.

Slice the remaining meat crossways to the grain in larger slices.

Place the legs at the end of the platter with the dark meat between them.

Remove the wings. Place them on the other end of the platter; one on each side.

Then slice down (a boning knife is the best for all these operations) along the breast bone and remove both breasts from the bird.

Slice these against the grain (across the narrow dimension) in larger slices and place on the plate between the wings.

The platter will look like a deconstructed turkey which is what it is!

This is such an improved approach one wonders at all the years of struggle at the table.

Try it.

And happy Thxgiving.

Labels: holidays, life

ROCKIN'

I lived in Plymouth, MA for many years.

The preoccupation with the Pilgrims there is considerable.

They are hard to avoid especially when the Rock itself is in the center of town.

As a result, the Plymoutheans take themselves quite seriously as the custodians of America's history.

The slogan is "America's Home Town".

Every Thanksgiving, there is a 'procession'. A reenactment of the Pilgrims going to church along with fire engines, politicians, and drum and bugle corps.

It was bad enough when the American Indians claimed that they were there first and disrupted the procession with demonstrations in the 70's.

Now, it looks as though the Jamestown Colony is going to disrupt the entire template of Pilgim primacy.

If Not First in Time, First in the Country’s Heart

It turns out that even the bushie dissed Plymouth when he was in Viginia the other day. Talkin' to the base.

No one in Massachusetts is going to add to his already abysmal approval rating.

Anyway, here I am thousands of miles away and I can still taste and smell the salt and algae in the air and see the tide coming in on The Rock.

It is a powerful symbol and I am happy and proud to live in the country which was born from those and other few first steps.

Labels: culture, holidays

DIFFERENT TIMES

This ironic review of the early Sesame Street shows is illuminating.

I have mentioned the differences between the then and now of child rearing. I could use this review as Exhibit A.

Sweeping the Clouds Away

Labels: culture

RETRACTED MEMOIRS

It didn't take 24 hours for Scott McClellan to withdraw his statement that Bush and Cheney ran the Plame outing.

Still a bastard.

Josh Marshall says "no balls at all".

You know they told him to can it.

Labels: criminal morons

COOKIN'

We have seen/heard Barbara Cook many times.

It was always a treat.

The first time was in the old Carousel Room at Boston's Copley Plaza.

You sat on a turntable and listened and drank.

I don't remember if you ate.

I remember that suddenly the lights went out and Cook opened a cappella with "Sing a Song With Me".

I will never forget it.

And she is still going strong.

A trouper.

Heartbreak and Healing, Sometimes Both at Once

Labels: culture, life

I LOVE MEMOIRS

Former aide blames Bush for leak deceit

Labels: criminal morons

POLITICO

One of the reasons I switched to Hillary is that I have confidence in her political skills.

And yet most of the criticism from the left is that she is too political.

Kevin Drum takes this idea and stomps it into the ground.

Hillary and Politics

The long and the short of it is that idealistic candidates like Obama never, ever get elected.

And it is a good thing because they would be executive disasters.

Drum's comparisons with FDR's detractors are really great to read.

Labels: hillary, politics

This is a great photo.

Aurora in the Distance

I was in Juneau once. In the 80's. Maybe 70's.

There were no northern lights.

All fog, all the time.

I barely made it out. Or maybe they fly in that shit all the time.

The town is built on a glacier that was even melting then. They had board walks on the streets because otherwise you would be wading in the runoff.

I went to see the glacier. I walked on it.

It is ice. Packed snow. Dirty snow.

The city (barely more than a small town) had a frontier feel. They even had some buildings with fake fronts like a western movie town.

I was pitching creativity training to the state government. That would make it the 70's.

They were new then and had a lot of mavericks running things.

I am sure it is nothing like that now.

The mavericks are corrupt politicians (they say Alaska is the most corrupt state government) and the glacier, what is left of it, is on the standard cruise ship tour.

Labels: APOD, life

GREAT WEATHER

We are having great weather for our guests. In the 80s.

The kids are great.

They have been in or around the pool almost all the time they have been here.

It is understandable. It is a great place to hang out.

This is good for us because we don't use the pool that way despite everyone's picture of SoCal life.

We strip, we go out, we jump in and swim around for as long as we want and/or we go to the spa.

But we don't sit around out there and visit or bask.

It is strictly utilitarian.

But when people are here, especially kids, we get to act like vacationers which we don't get to be any other time.

After all, we are retired and we are already here

Labels: holidays, life

SLOWDOWN

The blog is having a slowdown this week.

We are having company for the holiday. Family from back east.

They arrived safely yesterday.

The attraction of two little kids will keep me from devoting full time and attention to my vast blog audience.

Then there is the matter of the laptop. But I am getting back into the swing; typing on a smaller frame. I am not limping now.

In fact, yesterday, I entertained the idea of getting a laptop instead of an iMac for about a minute.

I don't think so.

I don't travel and I wouldn't work anywhere but my desk.

It was just a thought.

The new machine is never far from my mind.

Labels: blog, computer, macintosh

NOT THE ROOF KIND

We went and got the new shingles vaccine on Thursday. Yesterday.

It is highly recommended for people over 60 who had chicken pox as a kid.

That's me.

My mother had shingles and I do not recommend it.

It is painful as hell.

Herpes Zoster.

The shots cost 160 wholesale and 204 to get done.

It is expensive because it is new, it is from a drug company and it is a frozen live virus which is hard to handle. You have to shoot it within 30 minutes of the thaw.

It is worth it.

I am a big immunization guy.

It didn't hurt.

Not sore. Which I can't say about the flu shot I got a month ago. It was sore for a few days.

Labels: health

DUDE, I'M GETTIN' AN iMac

So after chasing down all the possibilities, the man says I have a wrecked hard disc.

I can spend 400 bucks and get a new disc in an old computer (five years) or get a new one.

For 3 times as much I can get an iMac.

I probably only need the smallest one. 20 inch screen. 250 GB hard drive.

We have an authorized dealer in the valley now. One that also has service. So I will probably get it there.

In a week.

We have family here all week from tomorrow through Friday. If I had a new Mac here at the same time, I would be nuts wishing I was at my Mac or my family. Conflict.

I don't do conflicted feelings very well.

So I will delay gratification.

I don't kid myself though. It is a lot of work to get a new computer going.

Some good karma in that I just got the new storage disc a few weeks ago and downloaded all my 7500 photos on it.

Not neatly but they are there.

Yeh.7500. I have a huge collection of erotic photos that I have collected over the years. When I see something I like, I save it and put it in iPhoto.

7500.

I use them as sceen savers, a slide show, two hundred at a time.

But I digress.

I also saved all my Quicken and other stuff at the same time.

I did not, however, take a screen shot of my bookmarks as I had once thought to do. SO I have to go back and reset all the day's blog reading, shopping sites, and all. Nothing has to be done immediately. I will probably just develop it like the fist one. When I need something I will do the signup.

So, I am a bit dismayed but I expected this.

I am on the verge of excitement over the new machine.

And in the meantime, I can get reacquainted with my old laptop.

PowerBook G4 which I used for many years off and on.

Labels: computer, macintosh

Limping

My good old eMac hit the wall last night.

It did a spasm of email flashes--odd emails popping up to the whole screen.

I tried to escape. No luck.

I tried to shut down. No luck. It said the email wouldn't let me do it.

Then I just turned off the power and got no where when I turned it back on.

A sign flashed that my repair guy called the kernel panic. A good name.

He is coming to see it this afternoon.

In the meantime, I am at my laptop which I haven't used in a very long time. Little keyboard.

I had to re-enter a lot of codes and shit.

Clawing my way into use.

I am ready to bite the bullet and get the new Mac if I have to.

He thinks he can get the eMac resuscitated but then I would always be fretting about whether it would drop out again. Soon.

I mean we all will drop out sometime.

In the meantime, I am grateful to be at work on the laptop. He and I are old friends. Even if he is a little stingy with the touch typing space. My muscle memory is good on the touch typing but I am a little shaky on my scratch pad work.

Labels: computer, macintosh

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

I gave up on identifying myself as a liberal.

The word has been so smeared you can't get the shit off it no matter how you try.

So I call myself a 'progressive'.

It is a coming thing. More and more it is showing up as the opposite of 'conservative'

Surveys like Zogby even have a place for me to check identifying myself.

Now, there is a campaign to foster a greater understanding of what progressivism stands for.

Look at this.

And this.

And wasn't that The Byrds singing in the second one?

Yup!

Labels: progressives

MORE RAIN MAN

Evidently rain was forecast when the Georgia governor said his prayers.

Soon after his praying, the sky cleared.

No rain.

No comment.

Labels: criminal morons, republican whack jobs

THERE IS A GOOD!

What a nice story.

'Anonymous Friend' gives $100 million to town

I like the touch with the tissue box.

Labels: good things

STUCK

Today's film was Alan Resnais's

Couers / Private Fears in Public Places (2006)

The french title means heart as in courage.

It would have been better than the long english one.

6 people in search of the courage to come clean with a significant other. Each has a secret to withhold.

The movie is quite gracefully done with a touch of magic realism.

Quite good and quite french. Warm on the outside and cold in the middle.

The production values are very high.

Enjoyable.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

And I won't tell you how it turns out.

Labels: film, films

RAIN MAN

Look at this:

Georgia governor leads prayer for rain

It is rather amusing—in one way.

In another way, it is a pathetic example of the christianist demagoguery and wishful thinking.

After decades of profligate water waste, the answer is prayer. With no plan to tackle the hard issues like conservation, repair of infrastructure, and a sensible land development plan.

Please, God. Save us from these asshats.

Incidentally, a question came in from Canada about the meaning of the word "asshat".

Take a look here.

I read it first in my daily blogs. Widening my vocabulary.

Labels: christist watch, criminal morons, republican whack jobs

LIEBERSTEIN

Lieberman, the bastard, isn't alone.

We have another senator who is going right on us. And it is our very own Diane Feinstein.

Not that this is anything new.

Diane is just a little too rivh and a little too cozy with a lot of corporate lobbyists.

So I signed this petition today.

Feinstein Faces Dem Censure After Backing Mukasey

And look, it is OK with me if she holds bushie's arm as she does a photo opp at the fire.

I don't mind a little disaster bipartisanship.

But the rest is too, too much.

Labels: Democrats, politics

LESS SULLEN SULLY

Andrew Sullivan prints a letter from a reader who agrees with me about his Hillarant craziness.

If you can just relax a little on the Hillary-is-Satan crusade, I can stop grinding my teeth when I read your blog. She's probably my least likely choice for the nomination, but if I have to read any more about tips or plants, while FEMA is holding a press conference with itself, and the whole squad isn't immediately fired for doing so, I may have to vote for her just for good old spite.

Perspective, priorities, eye on the ball. This current crowd can do a lot more damage before they leave office, and it's all many orders of magnitude worse than anything that any administration has done at any time in the past, in my humble opinion. These are your side's renegades, so they're your side's special responsibility. That's your first job. It's not good enough to mention their horrendous transgressions and then go back to pantsuit fashion reviews. You've got to clean your own yard first, and you've got to finish the job before you look over the fence.

I have to admire him for printing it.

Now we will see if he takes it to heart.

If he doesn't, I'm going to delete the SOB.

Labels: criminal morons, politics

FACING LIFE

I have to admit to a great deal of puzzlement over the networking sites like Facebook/Myspace/Twitter/Whatever.

Evidently it is important that people be on these things. Even celebrities and politicians are joining up.

And more, it appears that people are actually in touch and talking to each other all the time. And when they are not doing that they are text messaging and calling each other on their phones.

I assume that all those people on cell phones while driving are talking to somebody.

I guess I am out of the loop on this.

Two reasons.

I am too old for it. I don't want any more friends. And certainly not the kind that you have to go on some site to meet and hang around with.

And none of my friends want to be on any website like that either.

If they do, they are doing it to hook up with people for sex. That needs a different cyber atmosphere.

Almost no one will tell their friends about their on line sex life.

Well, at least not until a hook-up becomes a friend. A sort of rite of passage.

The other reason to ignore this current craze (which is what it is—sooner or later people are going to have to do some work, make some money, get married or partnered, have a life) is that I am a confirmed introvert.

We have discussed this before. This Atlantic article explains.

I know I am not alone in this.

This is still the most popular on-line article at the magazine.

Introverts don't do networking.

Anyway, no one will notice. If you are not out there no one knows about you.

Fine with me.

But I thought I would say so.

Dude.

Labels: internet, life

NOTHING TO DO

Today was supposed to be a zero do-day.

I had a date with a friend to meet this afternoon but the date got cancelled.

No movie to see because the holiday weekend put a bump in the Netflix flow.

Just do the food shopping this morning and then sit back and enjoy the 80 plus degree day. Full sun. Pool at 85. Great.

Then, little things began to get in the way.

The cable was off for a while this morning for 'planned maintenance' so I filled in with the continuing chore of downloading the photos on the new disk storage (which after some initial flubs is going great).

Then, back on track, but late, with the cable.

I found a scam in my email which I foolishly bit on ("Amazon", not, saying I had unauthorized hits). They were phishing for my credit card number which I did not put in. But I did give my password before I 'got it'.

So I had to change my password at Amazon.

I was late for starting the bike ride. Today is the long day.

Then shopping which took longer than usual. I am doing the do for Thanksgiving.

A large family group will assemble.

5 adults and two kids at the table.

So I wanted the biggest fresh turkey. I got one. 18 pounds. I will have lots of leftovers. That was the other goal. Long term hot turkey sandwiches.

Other nits and nats to buy. Not the usual purchases.

Then back to the house and a few phone calls.

A long email. And here it is just the time it would be if I were done with the movie, ready to write it up and move on.

I didn't mention that I have a pork roast in the oven. Two loins.

In the winter I like to do that instead of chops. Better bite.

So it has been a full day. And all a bit late.

I hate to be late.

This is all self imposed (and slight) stress.

It is OK. I am retired. I could use a little stress.

Labels: life

ANDREW IS NUTS

I read Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish every day and every day I become more appalled at his raving case of Clintonphobia.

It is almost enough to just shut his link at the right (right place for it) down and quit reading him.

I do like so much of what he has to say on many other topics that this aberration just knocks me out.

Now, Kevin Drum comments on this:

CDS—Clinton Derangement Syndrome

I guess Andrew is getting a reputation.

Even he acknowledges the situation by posting peoples emails to him.

It isn't the end of the world. All bloggers are a little weird.

Have you noticed?

Labels: Bill Clinton, hillary, politics

VETERANS DAY

It used to be Armistice Day.

You know. World War I?

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

I am not a veteran.

For some technical reason, I am US Army Reserve. Or was.

I guess the technical reason is that I was an ROTC cadet, then a 3 month wonder and only served another 3 months before I was spit out into the universe as a Reserve Officer.

After that, I served two weeks a summer for 6 years.

I never went to weekly Reserve meetings or belonged to a Reserve unit.

I took correspondence courses. Sort of.

I guess there are more than a few technical reasons why I am not a veteran.

I didn't have the will or courage to do it and I had plenty of options. And there was no historic necessity. I lived my military prime through a period of relative peace.

My Dad was the veteran. And I have a son who served the full time. I am very proud of both of them for their service.

My Dad kept it up for a long time. Being a veteran. Of World War II.

He belonged to the American Legion and was even the Post Commander for awhile.

He was absorbed by his war experiences which were considerable.

He served hard time in the Navy both in the North Atlantic and then under kamikaze raids in the Pacific.

He had some shrapnel in his neck and a lot of bad dreams in his head for the rest of his life.

I honor the troops and the veterans.

The people who have been sent out on dishonorable wars.

It makes their sacrifice all the more terrible.

But let's keep the focus on the veterans of all the conflicts without exception. The men and women who did what we / I did not do for whatever reasons.

Unconditional admiration and appreciation.

Labels: holidays

ALL SHOOK UP

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was

Jailhouse Rock (1957)

with Elvis Presley.

This is considered the best Elvis film.

Damning with faint praise, I would say.

I am not sure why this is on the 'best film' list but I suspect some niche placement. They had to put a few genré flix in there and this is one of them. He was a power at the time and I suppose it should be seen.

Now I have seen it.

I was not then nor have I ever been an Elvis fan so I had to watch this entirely on the merits.

They are few and far between.

Evidently the fact that there is a story line with more than a few threads and some good acting turned in by the supporting cast has turned this into a miracle film. Not so.

I had looked forward to seeing Mickey Shaughnessy who plays a supporting role. Even he seems stifled by it all.

It is dull and plodding and obvious and filled with dumb Elvis takes.

Of course we are dealing with a time warp here.

What looked great and innovative in 1957 now looks staged and sappy.

I was there but I don't remember how it looked then. Mostly I try to forget the Fifties.

It is also hard to separate the myth from the man from the movie.

It proves to be too much work for whatever benefit might be obtained.

Did I say that I didn't like him or it?

I will give this a 1 out of Netflix5.

BUDDY FILM

Today's film was

Mon meilleur ami / My Best Friend (2006)

with Daniel Auteuil and Dany Boon.

It is a sweet comedy where a guy who has no close friends tries to find one and asks a taxi driver to help him.

I am sure that you can see the through line without seeing the movie.

But then you would miss a warm and wonderful story with great characters and situations.

In any case, your premonitions are temporary. There is a scene where all the cliché expectations one has are smashed.

This is a tricky moment and it comes off perfectly.

Of course you will have to see that for yourself.

Auteuil is a great actor. He disappears into his roles in such a way that one forgets his appearance just the other day in a cold blooded thriller.

He and Boon worked together in another recent film La Doublure also a comedy in which Boon is the room mate of a guy who is hired to pretend that he is Auteuil's mistress' boyfriend.

We are bordering on a trivia contest here which, oddly, is one of the themes of this film we saw today. Hence, I am about to stick my head up my ass and will quit by assigning a 4 out of Netflix5 to this film.

Labels: film, films

REEL TIME

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Robert Wise'

The Set-Up (1949)

This boxing noir film with Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter takes 72 minutes to show one hour in the life of a down and out, small town boxer. Every minute is packed with visual interest and action. Great sets. Wonderful character actors. Beautiful cinematography.

The plot unwinds like a clockwork.

The whole thing is a cliché but so well done that you do not get that is so.

Or perhaps so many other films have emulated this one that it has become a template.

This is the same Robert Wise who did Sound of Music and a lot of other weepers and fluffouts. Even more interesting that he would have done this tightly wound nail biter.

It gets a very high rating on the IMDb—an 8.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: best films

DYING GIANTS

Another one.

Norman Mailer, Outspoken Novelist, Dies at 84

We watch them go, one at a time.

No one replaces them.

I guess this is the essence of aging. Your contemporaries begin to drop and the new culture behind you is barren of any substitutes.

Mailer wasn't really a hero of mine.

I read all of his stuff until it got kind of nasty and rant ridden.

He lived up the beach from us in Provincetown. Where we went for weeks at a time in the East End.

He could be seen on the beach plodding into town.

I never felt like encountering him but I have a thing against that with famous folk. I think it is intrusive and self centered to assault them with my ego.

He was just another old guy. But on the printed page and sometimes in his earlier life he was a titan.

I will remember him as the young pugilist.

Labels: culture, obituary

ZAPWORLD

I saw one of these yesterday when I was walking Franklin.

Zapworld

Zero Air Pollution: ZAP. Get it?

It is pretty nifty little vehicle.

One tire in front.

Made in Pasadena.

I saw it in the mobile home park. I wonder what is up with that?

One thing about living in Southern California. You are going to see all the new cars. Sometimes even before they are introduced.

Gotta be first, dude.

I tried the zapworld.com site but it wasn't working.

Maybe they are out of business already.

Labels: culture, technology

DREARY

This was a great day to watch a film about evil.

It is one of the 8 days without sun that we have every year.

Hard to take.

But the temperatures are still in the mid seventies.

There is enough sun getting through to radiate us and there is enough moisture in the air to hold it.

I am just saying. Not whining.

Labels: weather

DECADENCE WILL GET YOU EVERY TIME

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Joseph Losey's

The Servant (1963)

Script by Harold Pinter, starring Dirk Bogarde and James Fox with Sylvia Miles.

Read the Bosley Crowther review at the link—written at the time the film opened. It was entered in the first NY Film Festival.

It is take on how shocking this film must have been in 1963.

Especially if you were British.

It is still breathtaking in its depiction of the decline of an upper class playboy at the hands of his servant and the servant's "sister".

Crowther is barely aware of Pinter. So is the world, I trust. He was just beginning his career. A Nobel Prize in the offing.

The film breathes like Pinter.

He and Losey made three films together.

Losey has a great film vocabulary.

The black and white guys just knew how to do it better.

There is nothing to like about what happens in this film. It is pure evil. And one cannot quit watching.

Jolly well done!

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: best films

WRAPUP

I realize that I often neglect to mention the outcome of certain things I write about.

Like the elections.

Not that anyone is hanging on the results in Palm Springs, but still.

My guy won for Mayor but he was a shoo in. Nothing but asshats running against him.

My other guy, the one with the sign in our yard, won for City Council. My other guy did not.

The winner was the ex-police commander.

His name is Weisel. A no brainer to pronounce it 'weasel' as he is all for maintaining the mandated retirement and benefits for the cops and firemen and, as a result, has to be all out for development.

Weasel.

For the Water Agency I had no real affinity except for my neighbor Bill. Veteran in the position, 32 years. He got creamed.

He is a bit crotchety. I suppose everyone's tenure has to end sometime.

The mountains won decisively. 60% said NO to a nasty golf course hotel right in the largest alluvial cone we have in town.

So that is it.

The next time I vote will be for the Demo-nominee.

I can hardly wait.

Labels: politics

BITCH

My dentist folded his practice.

When he told me, he said that I would get a letter passing me on to his recommended practice.

No letter so far.

I did get a call from the new guy's office because a prescription had lapsed and my pharmacy had called to get a refill.

This woman, an admin, wanted to tell me that I would have to see the new dentist to get the script renewed.

I told her that, actually, I had decided not to take the medication any longer. It is a mouthwash that seems to do no good but it does stain my teeth. And it has alcohol in it. Makes me nervous. I use nothing with alcohol.

So I told her that I wouldn't need them to do anything.

Then I asked about the transfer.

Was there a letter coming to me about the change? She didn't know.

Did the doc have my files? No.

Would they be sending me the card I filled out to remind me of my appointment? No. They do not use cards.

Somewhere in there we started to go around in a circle and it was quite clear that it was all my fault.

Power sometimes makes irritating people more irritating.

She came off as a punishing church lady or perhaps a cranky teacher.

I didn't like it and I told her so.

I got off the line before I really said what I thought.

Mulling, I remembered that my GP Dr. Jim recommended a youngish guy, Dr. Bruno (what a first name, huh?).

Dr. Bruno has a web site.

I explored.

The office is a little tacky and over decorated but I liked the look of the practice.

I especially liked the big tooth outdoors.

So I called.

It was a cinch.

The person who answered was helpful and kind and respectful. She did not call me by my first name!

I have an appointment in February for my regular four month check up.

I called my old guy and left a message to forward my files.

I won't stand for arbitrary treatment. If the office is like that I would have to swallow my gall every time I went to that guy.

Labels: health, life

WHISTLEBLOWER

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Sydney Lumet's

Serpico (1973)

Al Pacino is Serpico. And Serpico is Al Pacino.

What I liked about this film is that Lumet made a headline story into a character driven screen play.

It is very close to the ground.

I remember when this happened.

I remember the clothes.

So it did not seem dated to me at all. I am sure that this shit goes on still today. And from time to time a courageous guy like Serpico steps forward.

It doesn't say a lot about the human condition, does it?

When they decided to make the movie about Frank's life called Serpico, Al Pacino invited Frank Serpico to stay with him at a house that Pacino had rented in Montauk, New York. When Pacino asked, Why did you do it?
“ Well, Al, I don't know. I guess I would have to say it would be because ... if I didn't, who would I be when I listened to a piece of music?"....wikipedia

Very nicely balanced.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: best films

STORAGE COMPANY

I have been worried about my backup storage for awhile.

Especially my photo collection.

I have 7000 photos and growing.

I finally took a look at the Apple Store on line and they had a special for a 500 GB iomega.

It was on sale.

After a phone consult with Dave, I got it.

It is here.

It is working.

But not without having to be reformatted. No one told me that. Not on the literature.

It is a dual machine for PC and Mac so you know there has to be something done.

Again, help from Dave.

Another problem. I hadn't really thought through my storage plan and so I dumped a lot of photos down that just ended up on the disc with no file. It was hell rounding them up and putting them into the corral.

But, as with most fuckups, I learned a lot.

It is the school of hard knocks for me most of the time.

I not only got the knowledge but I withstood the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

What doesn't kill me makes me strong. Or something.

I am going to have to do the whole job of downloading over again with better organization.

But, for now, I have a backup of all my material.

If the Mac dies tonight, we are ready.

I have lots of space to fool around with.

The storage disc has 500 times the memory of my Mac.

It will take a long time to fill it up.

Labels: computer, macintosh

SCREENING PROCESS

One of us went through the back slider screen the other night.

It was so badly bent it had to be replaced. At least I couldn't do it.

Don't ask who went through the screen. I'm not telling.

It was a combo deal. Someone slid it shut at a time it is 'always' open.

The next person went through it. Hard.

No fingers pointing. It was a joint effort.

So we sought the services of a pro. And figured we would also take care of some holes in the other slider screens. And all in one visit.

We got this outfit called Screenmobile.

We had seen them around town.

They guys came yesterday, made a fixed price bid and made an appointment to be here today.

They did the job in two hours. Four slider screens re-screened and one slider screen replaced.

They made the new slider in the shop so it was ready to install at the visit.

They fixed the screens in the trailer except for one which can't be taken out. Someone tiled it in. They did it in place. Fascinating to watch. All the right tools and technique. Fast.

We were very happy.

Franchised workmen are the balls. We have used a few other outfits here.

The quality is high, the promises are kept, and the attitude is professional. The price is right.

There is no horseshit.

There are a couple of local firms we have used but it is all 'when we can make it' and a lot of pissing and moaning about the job when they get here. Too small.

I won't stand for it.

So we have run out of local suppliers.

I had none of that with these guys.

I am a happy customer.

Labels: servants

MEMORIES

Today's film was

Caché / Hidden (2006)

This psychological thriller with Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche creeps up on you slowly.

The past is revealed slowly as someone sends videos of the couple's house and the husband's original home. Other stuff too.

It is a great film.

The sense of foreboding builds.

You should not read the Ebert review at the link too closely. There are a few too many spoilers.

Oscar's Foreign Policy Problem

They were disqualified for trivial reasons and lost considerable box office clout as a result.

I don't know about the Oscar part but I am going to give this film a 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: film, films

MULE

Today's film was

Maria Full of Grace (2004)

Spoiler.

A young Colombian woman with some attitude decides to quit her sweat shop job and become a drug carrier to the United States.

It is a harrowing journey through the thicket of illegal entry, druggies and all the rest.

But with a combination of pluck and luck—grace—she gets through it and grows into a new life in a new country.

The film is episodic. Realistic. Nothing is amped up. The tension comes from the almost documentary feel of the thing.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: film, films

LET THERE BE LIGHT

I can't tell you how happy I am that Daylight 'Savings' Time is over.

I have been pushing the limits of light every day on the bike rides and it is neither fun nor safe.

They passed this extension of the time 4 weeks and that has not helped at all.

Under the traditional October close it was nip and tuck with the light but this has been very dark.

So, all the clocks went backward last night.

It took 15 minutes for me to change all the clocks and reset the pool controls to work with the light. I won't explain.

We squandered the extra hour by hanging out at the spa with a visiting friend.

That is much better than waking up an hour early. I was able to pretty much awake right on the mark today.

We will start the dog walks at 330 this afternoon. Sundown for us who are close to the western mountain.

That is OK too. A whole new set of people except for the few that will slide the hour just as I am doing.

Labels: culture, life

CAMPAIGN SIGNS PART TWO

Two firsts today.

The first was an actual live candidate at the door with a little folder and a handshake.

It is amusing that this is the guy who is running for the Water Agency position held by my neighbor across the lane.

We get to vote for two so this guy will get my vote along with neighbor Bill.

The second thing is that we had our first piece of negative campaign mail. A slam of the guy who we support with a sign on the lawn. Calls him a puppet of development interests and lists his realty and development donors.

It is a turn around thing. Actually, he is against heavy development and is a No on C guy stopping the develoment of a major golf resort on the hills near the Tram.

One of those anonymous 'taxpayer association' things. I think republicans maybe.

This is like the Rove thing. Attack them on the issue for which your own side is most vulnerable.

I don't know.

It is kind of nasty and funny at the same time.

Labels: election, politics

PRIDE?

This is Gay Pride weekend in Palm Springs.

It is also the inaugural weekend of the tourist season.

See the connection?

It is also mostly referred to as 'pride weekend'. "Are you going to pride?"

Somehow it lost the gay.

I have gone off on this before. I don't like it. I almost have contempt for the whole enterprise.

Gay Pride Parades started as gay protest marches and then rights marches to commemorate the Stonewall riots which occurred in the summer of 1969—June 28-30. In most cities the annual celebrations of that human rights turning point are held in the weeks around those dates.

Not here.

It is too hot in June (it is not) and no one would come (the weekends are busy through July) and besides the tourist season happens the first weekend in November so why not have it then and get a good throttle on the startup—a parade and all (bingo!).

When we had our first parade and rally in Boston we all marched in the streets.

There were few spectators. There were no costumes. It was a serious business.

There was danger. At times, there was civil disobedience.

In many places it was illegal to march.

It was a gay rights march.

Pure and simple.

Little by little things loosened up. The marches and demonstrations became parades. A few leather guys donned their gear. The drag queens came out to play. The cycle dykes revved their engines.

No harm in that although the press began to cover only that aspect of it.

For years, some of us groaned to see these stereotypes on the front page and in the nightly news completely blanking the human rights message.

I figure that the gay pride parade created about as much homophobia as it cured. But it was good for us and I am glad for that.

One year, I don't remember when, we were happy to see commercial organizations sponsor floats. Mostly the bars. Some gay organizations.

Then employee contingents. Blue Cross. John Hancock Insurance.

Soon, the only way you could get to march was if you belonged to a group.

We stood on the sidewalks.

In the old days, the only ones on the sidewalks were the closet cases.

All of this if fine of course.

It is the way most stuff evolves socially.

What is radical becomes normal and then self promoting.

But we must remember that "pride goeth before a fall".

Out here they are shameless in the commercial aspect.

The parade is filled with eye candy. All princes and princesses. No frogs.

The 'gay life style' is front and center. Even in your face.

There is no mention of Stonewall or our martyrs.

There is still a bow in the direction of HIV work but only long enough for a little fund raising.

Just one big party. And yes! A fair ground where gay businesses promote themselves and there is a disco and maybe even a ferris wheel.

I don't attend.

It is OK but it has nothing to do with my identity as a gay man.

I am certainly proud in a humble way but I don't think it is anything to make a buck out of.

Labels: gay history, gay life, gay rights

CAMPAIGN SIGNS

We have a local election this coming Tuesday.

The indications are obvious.

Our junk mail has risen like a a tide, the dinner time phone calls are mounting up (we have the recorder on full time with a mute bell), and the campaign posters have bloomed on every vacant lot in town.

And some non-vacant lots.

We have a sign up the drive, technically on the neighbor's lot but we maintain it. A long story.

There is currently a huge turnover in City positions.

We will have a new mayor, two new council members, maybe new water board guys.

Our neighbor Bill has been on the Water Agency Board for years and he is opposed for the first time.

No one is very happy with the local government here.

The dominance of the development mentality has pissed everyone off.

We are in a vicious circle. We have mounting mandated costs with the retirement funds of public safety personnel and so we allow new construction to get the tax revenue.

Then we have more people and have to hire more public safety personnel. No stopping it.

The current Council have never met a developer they didn't like.

We have seen this first hand.

Water usage is also an issue. Same thing. Development.

And there is another referendum issue about land conservation. Stopping a development right below the Chino Cone Tramway entrance. The Council approved this.

A step too far.

None of them are running for re-election.

The fuckers would be thrown out.

You can sense some emotion here I suppose.

It has to stop. Soon.

I don't have a lot of hope though.

We elected reformers before and they turned in the first year. It costs $100,000 to run a Council campaign. Where do you think the money comes from? Not guys like me.

When we first moved here the town was moribund. Very nice in a way.

The main issue in those days was hyping up tourism. It worked.

Then when a lot of the tourists decided to stay and most of them were gay, there was the issue of gay representation.

That solved, the realization hit that growth is not always a good thing. Especially when your planning and regulation process is incompetent and probably corrupt.

It took a long time to figure that out.

They still are not out of the woods.

So it is an important election.

Aren't they all?

Vote.

Labels: life

SAD VINDICATION

As you may remember, I do not do sequels.

But every once in a while I have to reprove the rule and there are no exceptions so far.

Today, I watched 28 Weeks Later which comes after the other day's film 28 Days Later. We were both simultaneously out of the picture, so to speak, after about 30 minutes.

You can only have your credibility stretched so far.

It was a nice try though and nothing in it takes away from the experience of its predecessor.

It was nice to see the aging Robert Carlyle for awhile.

He is doing nicely.

We remember his previous work quite fondly (Priest, Trainspotting, The Full Monty).

Other than that it was a bust.

I will give it a 1 out of Netflix5. It is rare that I bail out.

Labels: films

HEAT

We just bought one of these.

A new spa heater. Ray Pac. NOX. That means that it conforms with the new CA environmental laws plus the regulations in Riverside County.

Our old ten year old model was operating in fits and starts all last week.

The guys said that it had even melted one of its core elements.

Dangerous.

This is safe but a hard surprise in the pocketbook.

It works good and looks good.

We are happy to have the spa each night.

But, keerist, I had other ideas for that 2500 dollars.

Believe me.

Labels: pool

HILLAPHOBIA

The more Hillary Clinton rises in the polls and all, the more people are giving her a hard time. The debates the other night.

There is this heavy criticism of her waffling on issues.

Look.

She is going to get the nomination.

She is probably going to be President.

She has to take this game very seriously because to lead, she knows from experience, she will be counted on to live up to her word.

In this respect, she has a flaw.

She will not lie.

I know there are people who think the Clinton's lie all the time.

I am not one of them.

My observation is that Hillary will not fall into the form of politics in which she says what people want to hear and then goes the other way.

We have had that for eight fucking long painful years.

So when she cannot come down on a clear side, she is being honest with us.

These are difficult issues.

A lot of us want a black and white world.

The bushies have played into that oversimplification and lost badly.

I don't want her to be the Prez and have to fall back from promises. I don't want her to suffer the fate of the bushers by over simplification.

There are some people who just do not like her.

Well, there are always going to be people like that about every body.

That is why elections have two or more parties running.

Let her waffle if she wants.

I would rather have a problem solver than an idealogue any day.

Labels: hillary, politics

KILLING TIME

When I did real work which would be sometime back in 1963, I was an expert at killing time.

I had studied the art in the Army.

I worked for a Captain who was a professional poker player and he needed his afternoons and evenings uncluttered with work type time wasters.

I watched and learned.

In my last job I would take whole afternoons off to see the art museum and the library.

I walked the streets.

No one noticed.

That is probably why I gave up real corporate work. It was so unchallenging in the skipping school sense. No one ever caught on.

Here is a more blatant form of time wasting.

I am sure it is edited but so what? Still fun to watch.

Labels: culture