Thursday, January 31, 2008
I VOTED ALREADY
I belong to MoveOnOrg.
They are trying to figure out whether they should endorse someone or not.
Today they had their 'primary'.
I was surprised. It was not a slam dunk decision.
I sat with it.
There were two parts. They wanted to know why I voted as I did.
I thought.
I sat.
I breathed.
I went for Clinton.
Still loyal.
Here is the reason I gave them: "She has the depth of experience. She is really ready on Day One. And it is very close".
I was surprised how hard it was.
This is practice for Tuesday when I will get to do the real thing although they won't ask me why.
I will also not tell anyone who I voted for.
I respect my own right to privacy as well as anyone else's.
On the other hand, maybe I will tell.
It is not Tuesday yet.
Labels: Democrats, hillary, obama
JUST LIKE OTHER PEOPLE
My accountant called the other day to see if John and I are Certified Domestic Partners in the State of California.
We are.
July 18, 2003.
He thought their might be tax implications.
There are.
Today he called to say that we will be filing a joint return on the State income tax beginning with 2007. Last year! This year's filing.
I don't know why I am so elated about this other than to realize that this law, which phased in over time, has really made us about as married as we can be.
We will probably even enjoy a slight financial benefit from this arrangement.
Many people who are CDP's are not aware that they fall into these categories of other laws for couples.
I recently found that a friend had no idea that his impulse to break up with his partner was a bit premature given that he would have to go through all the rigors of divorce proceedings to do so.
That one phased in at 2005.
We got a letter from the State at the time to let us know that if it wasn't working out, 2004 was the time to write ourselves out with a simple application.
This is pretty interesting, huh?
The caché of being gay and outlaws has really been reduced to almost nil.
About time.
Labels: gay life, gay marriage, gay rights, life
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
HAPPY COLUMNIST
Zinger of the day.
Gail Collins in the NYT:
Farewell to John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani. Guess which one is planning to devote his life to helping the poor? No fair looking it up.
You can read the entire column here:
Collins is a newly discovered pleasure.
She is witty, funny, and very much to the point.
I almost always agree with her.
She sure puts Maureen Dowd to shame. Dowd has become so shrill and nasty to all parties that she is virtually unreadable.
It also takes some grace to be amusing and Collins has that quality whereas Dowd just uses a plain shiv to eviscerate.
GRUELING BUT IN A GOOD WAY
Today's film was Werner Herzog's
with Christian Bale and Steve Zahn.
At one level this is a standard prisoner of war escape film as many of the conventions are observed.
But in another way, since it is a true story, the conventions turn out to be actual fact. I guess that is redundant isn't it. Actual fact. How about factual as far as can know?
The story of Dieter Dengler was shown in a documentary the other day (Saturday): Little Dieter Needs to Fly.
That experience made watching this a lot more emotional and valid.
Dengler was a fascinating guy and just made to do this kind of exploit.
His energy is relentless. He has been trained as a machinist before coming to this country to get naturalized after WWII and join the USNavy.
Bale is wonderful as is Zahn. The relationship between the two unfolds as they plot and escape together.
I was worried about seeing all the 'suffering' but it turns out that the film is more about ingenuity and perseverance than anything else.
The ending is a great reward for all the trials and tribulations.
I will give this a 4 out of Netflix5.
CLEARING THE PATH
So we have Rudy out of the picture.
Good.
He is such a weird bastard that he made the whole thing ugly. McCain is not prettier but he is not plagued with the kind of tics that were patented Rudy.
There is a great anti-Rudy campaign piece in the NYT today.
For Guiliani, a Dizzying Freefall
The Times really hates his ass.
I had the piece from their anti-endorsement the other day.
I think that he is deserving of the most scorn we can heap on his bald head.
Hubris is never pretty.
As for Edwards, I have no feeling at all.
He never reached me.
I found myself happy that he was not going to get into the endorsement racket—yet.
What this all means as far as the next weeks is concerned is hard to tell.
I am advised by the press that there will not be a 'winner' out of Super Tuesday so my ability to coronate is deeply hampered. After all these months of thinking my vote would push it over the top for someone.
That 'someone' has changed over time. I lost my first one and am working on doubting the second choice.
But I like what is happening a lot.
I would be happy with either Democrat and I think that Romney us also toast but we will see.
I would not mind a McCain nomination at all.
Mostly because I think either of ours could beat his ass.
Labels: politics
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
TRIAL RUN
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Spike Lee's
This is Lee's first film, a student project. The student part shows but the film is strong, nonetheless.
It is one of those films that is not greater than the sum of its parts but it has some really good parts. And as I reflect, I like the parts so much that the glitches dissolve in memory.
It is basically an exploration of a quotation from Zora Neale Hurston's ``Their Eyes Were Watching God". Women are seeking love. Men are pigs.
The film is quirky and quite enjoyable.
Its form is nontraditional and very refreshing—theatrical.
The jazz background is excellent with various sets matching the dramatic sequence.
Very nice.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
I do admire Lee's work and this is the beginning.
Labels: best films
MIGHTY WIND
I have had my son Tom visiting for the last few days.
We prepared a menu of very wild weather for him.
He arrived Saturday and made it in a few hours before the rain began.
We got 1.5 inches from Saturday night through Sunday.
Then it got blue skied before it rained hard again. Maybe another quarter inch.
Yesterday, the rain cleared out and on the back of the front were fierce winds which ripped a lot of trees out in our neighborhood.
We saw a huge one down just a few blocks from here.
A motel parking lot. A 2-3 foot diameter tree. Fell between the buildings and didn't hit a single car.
The root ball was ten feet high. Easy.
If he is reading this he can comment below to correct any exaggerations.
We had a power outage.
There was a dust storm all over the valley but not the intense zero visibility kind.
In short, he got the treatment.
Not the Chamber of Commerce visit we all talk about when we describe the weather here.
But he did not come for the weather. It was a great visit and as I type, the skies are totally clear, the air is calm, their is power in the house, there is no blowing sand even in the wind zone where I grocery shopped after I let him off at the airport and his plane has just taken off from LAX back to Boston.
Next time for the good weather.
Labels: weather
71, DUDE
Have you heard about it?
I got to be 71 yesterday.
I got a lot of nice cards and some sweet phone calls.
Most of all, I got what I wanted as a present!
I made clear that I didn't want anything and that is what I got.
John made this neat box out of greeting cards (6 of them, right?) and inside there was, well, nothing!
The perfect gift.
The gift that keeps on giving.
I have never been very happy about the celebration of birthdays with presents.
I think because I rarely got what I wanted when I was a kid (my over the top expectations, not my parents low performance) so birthday presents were always marked with a tinge of regret and sadness.
Ungrateful asshole that I can be.
So, the way of 'no presents' is paved for a successful trip down the happiness road.
Managing expectations.
No present, no disappointment.
A good life policy.
Of course last year we had the huge party to celebrate the date and the ten years we were here.
Not a present actually.
A celebration.
Last night we went and had supper at Sherman's Deli, an old favorite, and I had my annual piece of cake. A coconut monster layered with nice thin icing.
I don't like the icing so light is better.
And the best part of that is that no one, no one, sang happy birthday.
Labels: life
Monday, January 28, 2008
THE OLD LION ROARS
No matter what he is about here, it is great to see and hear Ted Kennedy looking 20 (at least) years younger.
He is on full power.
I am still not pushed over to the other side but he sure does a number of slaps at the Clintons.
It is all politics here but Obama is sure putting a strong package together.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
SHAKY
I have to admit that the Clintons' (plural possessive) behavior in South Carolina (and a bit in other places, prior) has me reconsidering my support of Hillary.
Believe me. I love Bill Clinton and what he does and has done.
But I do not believe in the infallibility of even the best of men.
I think that he has shown very poor judgement in jumping in so hot and hard on the other Clinton campaign. He even revived the comment "two for the price of one".
I am not sure that is a bargain.
For one thing, if Hillary Clinton cannot handle the heat herself, then why would we want her as president? And don't tell me that the Edwards and Obama spouses have also been in the fray.
Of course they have but not with the fervor or the positional power of a Bill Clinton.
Look. Bill is either the leader or the other leader of the Democratic Party. He wields incredible power from that.
But he must wield the power prudently and judiciously and he has not done that.
Sure. It is politics.
But this is survival politics. For the party, for the country.
We cannot afford more of the same whether that means fielding a candidate who is, justifiably, vulnerable to the kind of attack we know is coming from the other side.
I think Bill actually makes her vulnerable.
Like this. I like Frank Rich. And he is an Obama guy. But he is still very close a good point in this.
The Billary Road to Republican Victory
The other thing is whether we can afford another dual presidency like the one that we have.
Not a VP power but a house power.
Amazingly, this morning, Gary Wills asks the same question in a New York Times Op-Ed.
Two Presidents Are Worse Than One
I am getting shaky on the Clintons.
They better get their shit together before the fifth of February (that is ten days, folks) because that is when I cast my vote.
As concerned about Obama's heft and weight as I am, I am now an almost undecided again. Not good for the Clintons when someone like me gets shaky.
I actually admire the way that Obama (I can still not call him Barack and that is probably a good thing as I do not like first name politics) is handling himself. More and more.
He took on the Clintons and endured their hardest hits. At the same time, he turned their tactics around on them and got a lot of sympathy voting out of it. They say.
Obama Weathers a Test of Mettle
The game the Clintons played in SC is played on slippery ground. There may even be a slope along there somewhere.
I hope that they have gotten the message.
I hope that the new geography of Super Tuesday will mitigate the intense exposure of their tag team kind of politicizing.
But even if it does. We saw it in SC and I worry that we will see it again even after 012009—that fateful date.
Oh. Did you notice that all three of these articles came from the NYT who has endorsed Hillary?
Labels: Democrats, hillary, obama
Saturday, January 26, 2008
TRIAL
Today's movie was Werner Herzog's documentary
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1998)
This is the story of Dieter Dengler whose tale of survival after being shot down in the Viet Nam war is as harrowing as any I have ever heard.
Herzog revisited the story in the film Rescue Dawn (2007) which I will be seeing next. Christian Bale and Steve Zahn.
The narrator of this film is Dengler himself.
He recounts his story from the time he first saw a plane closeup, during WWII, flying in on a bombing run, the wing feet away from his window, the canopy down with the pilot looking right at him.
He immediately wanted to fly.
His odyssey from war torn Germany, his journey to the US, into the Air Force, into flight training and eventually as a fighter-bomber pilot himself is, up to the time of his plane crash, a classic and heroic immigrant tale.
The whole film is thrilling.
He was a handsome guy.
Dengler died at age 62 after flying as a test pilot and with TWA.
To continue the agony, he died of Lou Gehrig's disease.
This film explores the sources of Dengler's courage and stamina.
It is superhuman.
As a result of this I am not sure I want to see the dramatization but, if Dengler could do it, I guess that I can watch it.
They reenact some of the travails with Laotians in the approximate locations here he was. This all brings the experience back most vividly.
His friendship with his co-escapee Duane is the most touching thing.
This gets a 4 out of Netflix5.
I would see this again just to be with him. Herzog provides that level of intimacy.
Friday, January 25, 2008
SICKO
Just to show you that the US of A is still an uptight, prissy, repressed, suppressed, hung up and sexually twisted country:
Nude Buttocks May Cost ABC $1.4 Million Dollars
This is because the government still runs the networks. Never mind that with a click of the remote you can see the same and more on the cable shows.
This from the same people who condone torture, love to shoot their guns and promote the suffering of animals in corporate operations.
Now that is sexually twisted; sadism (the real thing—not the games), surrogate penises and inverted beastiality.
This kind of thing has driven me nuts since I first became aware of the hypocrisy in the Fifties.
The same bastards who I scare so much they won't let me marry and would really prefer me to disappear. They will even help me do it.
If a female's bare ass is evil then what is a homo?
Don't get me started.
Labels: culture
TILLEY THE END OF TIME
I have been reading The New Yorker ever since I was a freshman at MIT.
That's 53 years folks.
That means that I have seen their annual cover of the house mascot as many times.
This year, apparently seeking inspiration, they had a contest to find a novel presentation.
Here are the results:
The New Yorker's Eustace Tilley Contest — 2008
Labels: culture
CONFLICT RESOLUTION?
I hope they know what they are doing. They usually do.
Clinton’s Campaign Sees Value in Keeping Former President in Attack Mode
It makes me nervous though.
On the other hand, the Obamas have had an insulation from criticism because people have been afraid to be seen as prejudiced.
I can say that I am not one of them. I am an equal opportunity critic.
Look.
It is politics.
There is supposed to be a hurley burley. And that is what we have.
We should be grateful that we are going to have a seasoned candidate in the general election who can stand up to the Rovians.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
ENDORSEMENTS
The NYTimes endorses Clinton (rather influential as it is the Times) and McCain (much less influential as it is the Times) and manages, in its writeup on McCain, to slam Rudy as hard as I have seen any such editorial do in a long time.
The real Mr. Giuliani, whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power. Racial polarization was as much a legacy of his tenure as the rebirth of Times Square.I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like Guiliani and it usually happens in their lifetimes.Mr. Giuliani’s arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking. When he claims fiscal prudence, we remember how he ran through surpluses without a thought to the inevitable downturn and bequeathed huge deficits to his successor. He fired Police Commissioner William Bratton, the architect of the drop in crime, because he couldn’t share the limelight. He later gave the job to Bernard Kerik, who has now been indicted on fraud and corruption charges.
The Rudolph Giuliani of 2008 first shamelessly turned the horror of 9/11 into a lucrative business, with a secret client list, then exploited his city’s and the country’s nightmare to promote his presidential campaign.
But, in the meantime, as the stones grind fine, it is nice to see him really get his ass kicked publicly and smartly.
Labels: republican whack jobs, Rudy
LET ME COUNT THE WAYS
Was anyone surprised to hear that a recent study shows the administration lied (officially) almost a thousand times about the WMD in the runup to the Iraq war?
And yet they still say that it was not happening.
Yesterday press person Perino said basically that they didn't do it and they would never do it again knowing what they know now.
Huh?
"I hardly think that the study is worth spending time on. It is so flawed, in terms of taking anything into context or including -- they only looked at members of the administration, rather than looking at members of Congress or people around the world. Because, as you'll remember, we were part of a broad coalition of countries that deposed the dictator based on a collective understanding of the intelligence.
"And the other thing that that study fails to do is to say that after realizing that there was no WMD, as we thought as a collective body that there was, that this White House, the president set about to make reforms in the intelligence community to make sure that it doesn't happen again."
Labels: republican whack jobs
I COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER
Gail Collins in the NYT OpEd:
I sure do love Bill but he isn't doing himself or the candidate any good on his present track.
He needs to get back to the foundation and the AIDS work and all.
Labels: hillary
I'LL VOTE FOR THAT
Romney Leads in Ill Will Among G.O.P. Candidates"
I liked this quote:
“Never get into a wrestling match with a pig,” Senator John McCain said in New Hampshire this month after reporters asked him about Mr. Romney. “You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”
Or this:
Mr. Schnur used a schoolyard analogy to compare Mr. Romney, the ever-proper Harvard Law School and Business School graduate, to Mr. McCain, the gregarious rebel who racked up demerits and friends at the Naval Academy.From the tone of the article, I would say that Mr. Romney isn't very well liked by the press either.Schnur is a republican strategist, not in a campaign at present.“John McCain and his friends used to beat up Mitt Romney at recess,” Mr. Schnur said.
Romney has a special gift for pissing people off. It is something that most men try to get rid of.
He is the apple polisher, the brown noser. The Eddie Haskell of politicians.
The teacher's pet. The preacher's son (although many of those are born hell-raisers).
The do-gooder.
The shameless suckup.
The well dressed kid in the Our Gang comedies.
In other words, he is a timeless stereotype of the climber who is tone deaf to how his climbing style is way out of kilter with other men and women.
And fundamentally, he is a liar. He will bend and twist anyway for approval.
A kind of high class whore.
Labels: republican whack jobs
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
SNIPING
All the bickering between Clinton and Obama makes me nervous.
But at the same time it is a good indication of what they will do when they get hit by the GOoPer smear machine.
I am also not liking my man Bill's behavior.
It is not about him and his administration. Although, in a way it is.
It is more fun to watch the other side go after each other.
It has been a long time when things have been this close on our side.
Interesting times.
Labels: Bill Clinton, Democrats, hillary, obama
ROTO ROOTER
The last time I wrote about my positive plumbing experience with the Rooters, I got a 'comment' from someone who had had a horrible experience.
Not to put any more spin to it but I had them come today to replace a ball cock in the guest toilet.
The old one had a split tube.
The guy came and diagnosed and fixed all in about 3/4 of an hour.
I tried to make him wrong but he was so sweet and thoughtful I couldn't do it.
I am a RR fan. No doubt.
Labels: repairs
ACCEPTANCE
So I spent all day long working on acceptance of the economic realities of the market plunge.
And then, at the end of the day, low and behold, all that work ended up for naught.
The Dow went up 300 points!
So no matter what I do, it will do what it will do.
Maybe I should just pay less attention.
Labels: economy
MORE VIOLENCE
This my violent thriller week
First the three Jason Bourne films and now I am watching the two recent films by David Cronenberg films with Viggo Mortensen.
Today was
This has great actors doing a great job. Mortensen is a dual personality type and you can see it before you know it.
It has Ed Harris and William Hurt as big crime guys.
The whole thing is excellent as violence is explored in every direction imaginable. No one is immune.
I will give this one a 4 out of Netflix5
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
TRUE OR FALSE?
When I was a kid we went to visit friends whose old Dad, Harry, would sit by the radio all day long. He would listen very attentively. We would all get shushed while he would listen and then comment as to the truth of what he heard.
He would say "I believe it" or "I don't believe it" to the most standard of news items.
RADIO ANNOUNCER: "The stock market fell again today".
HARRY: "I believe it" (or "I don't believe it").
You couldn't predict the outcome.
He was especially funny listening to the old Ripley Believe it or Not show. He commented on everything and was often heard to argue with the announcer.
I thought of Harry today.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) - The last time cat-owner Kelly Levy saw her tiger-striped feline was before she took her husband to the airport. The 24-year-old came back to her house late Friday to find the bottom step, where Gracie Mae would usually be waiting, empty.
Levy tore the house apart looking for the 10-month-old tabby who had been spayed just days before. She and her dad took out bathroom tiles and part of a cabinet to check a crawl space and papered the neighborhood with "lost cat" signs.
Then she got a phone call.
"Hi, you're not going to believe this, but I am calling from Fort Worth, Texas, and I accidentally picked up your husband's luggage. And when I opened the luggage, a cat jumped out," Levy recalled the caller saying.
Gracie Mae had crawled into Seth Levy's black suitcase undetected, been put through an X-ray machine, loaded onto an airplane, thrown onto a baggage claim conveyor belt and picked up by a stranger.
The tabby made the 1,300-mile trip home on an $80 plane ticket Sunday night.
I don't believe it.
DRUM BEAT
I am so close to Kevin Drum's thinking.
Of course, I more than lean towards HIllary.
Labels: Democrats, hillary, obama
RELIEF
It shows how bad things are when I feel good about the Dow losing 'only' 128 points today.
I thought that it would be a lot worse than that.
I don't think that the government has a grasp and am not sure that they can do much about it anyway.
I rest on the belief in the fundamental truth that as what goes up must come down, that which goes down must come up.
We just don't know about when.
Labels: economy
BOURNED OUT
We did the third Bourne film today.
I think that it is the best of the three but they are really all of a piece.
And the story gets resolved. Although, there is certainly room for another one.
It is a great piece of work.
I do not normally look at 'this kind' of film. But it is not 'that kind' of film.
It is deep on character, very satisfying, challenging to the viewer yet not opaque.
In this one we have Albert Finney joining Julia Stiles and, of course, the incomparable Matt Damon.
They are great. Stiles pulls out all the stops emotionally and Finney is evil to the core and channeling a John Huston voice style--a ghost presence. Quite a job.
I don't think Damon can be overestimated for what he adds to these films. I think that he IS Bourne and without him there is no series.
Well, it is not a series. It is seamlessly one saga.
I am not sure how one would view this one if they had not seen the first two.
The camera work and all the action is so enveloping that I am in it. Scarily so.
The review at the link talks about this at length and refers to a fourth dimension that occurs.
I liked the whole series very much and will give all the films a 5 out of Netflix5.
So unusual for me.
I would gladly watch them again. And maybe again after that.
CHURCH AND STATE
I guess the lines between them get even blurrier.
I said before that Obama was playing the christist card and here it is.
Barack Obama: "Committed Christian -- Called to Bring Change"
Don't we already have a 'called' leader?
How did that one go?
I can't swallow it.
I know. It is just pandering.
But you can pander and then you can pander and this is very worrisome to me.
Labels: christist watch, obama, politics
Monday, January 21, 2008
NORWEGIAN LIT
I have just finished reading one of the NYTimes Ten Best Books of 2007
The review at the link is almost longer than the book.
I wouldn't read it in depth. Just scan it to see if the book is to your taste.
I disagree in that I do not think it is gloomy at all. I found it life affirming.
Sure, there are some things that are not as 'right' as one would like to think but it is about a life.
The structure is intriguing. It spans fifty years but does so with memory.
You will like the protagonist. Well, I did.
If anyone wants the book to read I will send it to them.
I am getting over saving books.
On the other hand, this might be a re-reader for later on.
But I think not.
I got it and I liked it the first time.
Labels: books
Sunday, January 20, 2008
EXCLUSIVE CLUB
As if everyone was trying to join up, the so minority California Republicans have closed the doors to outsiders this year.
If you are registered as an Independent ("decline to state."), you cannot vote in the Republican Primary.
Shut out by GOP, independents may tilt Democratic
Now I happen to agree with them.
If you want to vote in the Primary, then state your Party. Sign up! Show your colors!
The delegates are, after all, going to a Party convention.
I think that I may have been an Independent once or twice but I am not sure.
I do know that I would not want to be shut out of the political process for half the election.
But it seems incredibly stupid to be the only Party to be doing it and, in this particular election year, it seems foolhardy.
Party purity has always been very important to the GOoPers.
More so in California where there are so few of them on the ground.
And don't be fooled that Arnie is registered as Republican. He is really an Independent!
American politics is endlessly interesting.
And here we have a case of 'interesting' for sure.
Labels: politics
BOURNE BABY BOURNE
Chapter two today.
This one was fast and furious as the first but has a really solid character driven plot to it nonetheless.
I think that, other than Matt Damon who is superb, is the base of success for the series.
There are a lot of other factors but this is essential to keep me involved.
There is nothing superficial about his coming back to speak to the daughter of a victim of his training.
Joan Allen is good too, along with a great favorite of mine, Brian Cox as the evil éminence grise.
He is in a lot of the 'best films' and also the good films not on the list.
We will not see the third chapter until Tuesday.
I am busy tomorrow afternoon.
MAC ATTACK
I like that John McCain is coming back.
I don't want to vote for him or anything.
I just think that he will run an honorable campaign and will talk to the issues.
He is not an establishment Republican. They hate him.
Reason enough to like him.
I would, in a way, feel the same way about Romney but I cannot stand to think of having to watch him over and over.
I just do not like him and I do not think that he is honest about his positions.
McCain Has Big Win in South Carolina; Huckabee Falls Short
The big thing is to see the huckster lose out. If he was going to do well anywhere, South Carolina is the place.
I think he is toast.
Has anyone seen Rudy?
Saturday, January 19, 2008
BOURNE X 3 = 1
Today's film was the first of the Jason Bourne series with Matt Damon.
A cliffhanger.
You know that I do not do sequels so I am looking at all three of the films together.
The first today, the second tomorrow and the third, well, Tuesday.
I am busy on Monday.
It is like Dickens isn't it?
Serialized novel of indeterminate length. But it is still all of a piece.
I can't even remember the names of each of them so it is seamless to me.
I never saw the second one because of my sequels policy but then they did the third one and everyone said it was the best so I figured I would look at it another way.
Friday, January 18, 2008
AND WHILE WE ARE AT IT
Every time the administration opens its mouth the market drops.
Headline today from Marketwatch: “Bush stimulates the bears.”
The only stimulus package that these guys have is cosmetic and even if they have a good plan no one has any confidence in it or them.
Lame ducks.
It would almost be better if they just shut up but they cannot. They must lead.
Or something.
Labels: economy
ROLLER COASTER RIDE
This has been a bastard of a week for the portfolio.
The markets are very volatile.
I am widely spread but no one has any protection in this kind of environment.
Since this is my nest egg, I get a little nervous about it all. Especially when some prognosticator says that this is "the big one". As in 1927.
But I am calmer than I used to be.
Look at the ten year Dow Jones Average chart.
This happened in 1997 just as I was about to retire and then again in 2003 and now, five years later again, in 2008.
It is encouraging that despite the dips, the equity trend has been up for ten years.
I have had the good fortune of being able to withdraw money from my nestegg and have the egg stay pretty much the same size for ten years (or larger).
So what is this up and down all about?
The mismanagement or non-management of the economy by the bushies is easy to blame as it is blameworthy but there is also the whole public belief in the money fairy. That somehow mortgages on the cheap can be good mortgages or that houses you cannot afford are going to more valuable some day and you can re-something.
But that is human.
We are no different than the tulip bubble guys way back there on the world economy road.
And we will get through this one again.
I found myself thinking today that if and when it gets back up there into the stratosphere again, this is the time that I will sell at the top and liquidate to cash.
Money markets.
But I know that the same bubble headed thinking will hit me as well.
"What goes up must go up higher".
Well, maybe.
Maybe not.
The older I get the more serene I get about my nest egg because whatever else is doubtful, I know that the time I have to use it up is shorter and so on a perday basis, I am probably gaining all the time.
If I live to be ninety, as I plan to do, and if I go out with zero in the bank account, as I plan to do, then ten years ago I had to have my nestegg last 30 years. Now I only have to have it last 20. Pretty good.
Unless I live to be 100.
Shit.
Labels: economy
TRE TRAGIQUE
Today's film was the Edith Piaf biopic
La Mome / La Vie en Rose (2007)
I didn't much care for Edith Piaf's singing when she was alive and I didn't much care about her after she was gone.
This interesting film is very well done with a bravura (Oscar level) performance by Marion Cotillard and wonderful production values. But I didn't care much for it either.
Cotillard is amazing in the electric eccentric way that I suppose Piaf was. I never actually saw her. Maybe on television.
She was an ogre. She had an incredibly tragic life. She was an addict and alcoholic without any recovery. She was so self destructive that it is a wonder anyone stayed around her.
She left people behind. She was a liar. Ultimately so temperamental that she could not really perform.
But perform she did.
When I came out she was a favorite of gay men in the tragic femme way that Judy Garland was a favorite.
The talent was there but the story trumped the talent all to hell.
The film suffers from a fractured time warp presentation and, in the subtitled version, the absence of words for the song lyrics which are obviously meant to convey aspects of her life. So there is a lot missing in one basic respect.
Of course, if you speak french and know the words this is not a problem but it is a curious omission from the American disc.
So here we are with a very unpleasant story to tell and a film that lasts 2 hours and 20 minutes with an unimpeachable performance and some breathtaking scenes.
How do you deal with that?
Give it a 3 or 4 out of Netflix5 and run like hell to get away from it.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Well, I really think he shatters the myth of white supremacy once and for all."
Congressman Charles Rangel {D. NY} when asked for his thoughts on President George W. Bush.>
Labels: bushie
WARMER
John reminds me that this is the week we had frost last year.
Killing frost.
Some of our bushes are still not quite recovered.
But this year it has been warmer. I just got the gas bill and our usage is lower these last three months versus 2007.
Not that it doesn't seem cold to us of course.
The forties are the new twenties as far as desert transplants are concerned.
It has been a wetter winter than last.
There is snow on the mountain and there are a lot of desert flowers starting to bloom.
There will be a lot more.
Labels: weather
HUMANITY
Today's film was the documentary
Four seemingly different life stories merge together in a line of development that shows how common the human experience is or can be.
Four men tell their history and experience.
A Greek model is used as a background and a tie in.
Euripides.
Puppets intersect the narration by the four protagonists to illustrate the director's ideas.
This also shows how timeless the sequence of life is.
It is very hard to convey how this works in the film but it is all quite wonderfully effective.
These are all extreme people but it is clear that what they have experienced is no less possible for any one of us.
I identified with a great deal of it.
This is a beautiful piece of work deserving of a 5 out of Netflix5.
And don't be put off by the Greek stuff. It is right up our 21st Century alley.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
THE HUCKSTER SPEAKS
Huckabee wants the Constitution to match ‘God’s standards’
Oh God. Deliver us from these assholes.
Labels: republican whack jobs
ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD
Today's film was
Somewhere in here is a great movie trying to get out.
I really liked some parts of it and then there would be this sideshow or magic trick or sudden disruption to take me off track and the sidetrip was never worth the diversion.
It took me a long while to get the story line and I still am not sure of all of it or where they ended up with people from everywhere when I thought they could not be there. At the end. See?
The hero is great. The love interest is pretty good.
Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert DeNiro add star power but should get half the time they do.
I so wanted to like it more.
I really did.
I suppose that they think the way to get attention these days is to trick it all up with stuff. Stuff hanging here. Stuff intruding there.
It was 2 hours and 7 minutes long and could have been done in much less and been a wonderful fantasy.
As it is, it is a clunker that needs a lot of rework.
I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5 and it should probably be a 2 but I liked the boy very much and I want him to be king forever.
GYM PALS
I am getting settled back in the gym.
It is nice to be in the routine.
Part of it is being in touch with old acquaintances.
Notice the I didn't say friends.
These are guys who are particularly eccentric. I am a magnet for them.
I wonder what that is all about anyway? Does that put me in their class?
I don't think so.
Today I saw Rob the Ranter.
This guy is a tinderbox. You are the match.
In any conversation, it is highly probable that you will strike a spark.
He is off!
Not at you. It is all the government, real estate rip-offs, his ex. There are a wide range of subjects. And he has the most extreme views.
The level of energy is extraordinary. You do not have to participate.
You do not even have to stop your workout. He will follow you.
It is not funny. Well, it is at a certain level but not for as long as it goes on.
There are others.
There is Tom the Talker.
Not a ranter. A talker.
If you get near enough you will be in a conversation.
You have to actively extract yourself. Better not to even get close.
There is another guy. Tim the Talker.
The other day I saw them meet at the leg curl machine as I started my workout. Tom sitting, Tim standing.
They were still going strong at the end of my workout.
Mutual deterrence. If you can get them to talk then they are not going around dragging "hello" out to extraordinary lengths.
I don't say hello to The Parson.
He does not say anything to anyone as far as I can tell.
He is semi-famous as a figure on the local scene but he obviously seeks to be cloistered in the gym environment.
He doesn't work out very hard.
Not that I am watching at all.
He also goes on the same bike every day and to be sure it is the right one, he counts down from the end. A little bit of compulsive behavior that looks good on a man of the cloth. It shows there are some moth holes.
There are certainly other people who I talk to and that are undistinguished by odd or annoying behavior. About ten or so.
So there is a nice mix of people to watch and people to be with.
I wonder what people think about me?
And I was wrong about the music. It is not the same on the same day at the same time. It does get mixed up. I think maybe the mixer was off when I started. It was the holiday.
Anyway I am seeing a lot of music video these days. Some of it very good.
Oh. By the way.
My workout routine is progressing very nicely. I am getting more fit every time. I can see and feel it.
This is actually the reason I go to the gym. Not to watch or meet people, form friendships or see music videos. But they are a part of the process.
Labels: fitness
Monday, January 14, 2008
BEST FILMS
Just to remind the reader.
I am working my way through the NYTimes 1176 Best Film List.
There are two editions of the best list, 2000 and 2004. If you run the lists together you end up with 1176 films. Different critics.
I have made a lot of progress. I think that I have seen about 600 of them. I am in the S's and there are a lot of those as well as R's.
There is also a large backlist of non-DVD'd films which are slowly becoming available.
I have started in recent months to add in new films which are good enough to appeal to a list of this kind. It has been four years since the last list and there are many films that would be on it in another edition.
So the purity of my quest has been a bit diliuted but that is OK. I think that I have a lot of time to do the job.
Since I started this project, I have made a list every year of the Best of the Best.
Somehow, I let this new year get going before I remembered about this listing.
Better late than never, here is the list of the Ten Best of the Best for 2007.
You will notice that there are more than 10 films. What the hell?
They are listed in the order in which I saw them.
Little Miss Sunshine: This quirky indie surprise gets you from the side. There is a great cast. Alan Arkin rules.
The Producers: I have loved this film since the beginning and it will always be on my life best list. I got to see it again this year when we hit the P's. Incidentally, the film of the musical is so lifeless that I couldn't watch it although I wanted to.
The Player: This is the best and most memorable (to me) of the Altman films. Tim Robbins is great. And there is the first long shot which we all just go nuts watching.
A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints: which is a memoir film, a first film, and one of the better films with Shia LaBeouf in it. Shia is selling out but there are a couple of movies that show his spirit unstrained through bullshit scripts. Robert Downey Jr. is the adult who is remembering. Outstanding.
My Beautiful Launderette: Another lifer best.
High Fidelity: Lifer too.
Army of Shadows: Jean Pierre Melville. Another memoir of his underground experiences. Just released this year in restored form.
Blue, White, Red: Three films. Krzysztof Kieslowski's homage to France. Gotta see them together in that order.
Diva: No best list without Diva. A perennial favorite. Watchin' it once a year. They just restored it for theaters. He never topped it and actually made only a few films. Jean-Jacques Beineix.
Raising Arizona: The Coens. Holly Hunter and that poor lost man Nicolas Cage. Come back Nick!
The Beat That My Heart Skipped: Sublime
Zodiac: Finally getting some praise on the ten best lists around the country. Revived out here.
Wind That Shakes The Barley: The Browns and the Tans and the Brits have it out. Cillian Murphy.
Lives of Others: East Germany. Listening in. The aftermaths. Great.
Motorcycle Diaries: Oh boy. Che as a young man as Gael Garcia Bernal. Or is it the other way around?
Say Anything: Perennial favorite. See it once a year.
Singing in the Rain: We get lost in a memory loop on the famous title scene but forget what a super musical this is. Perfecto. Comden and Greene.
Ratatouille: Best animation in a long time. It led me to the 2006 Incredibles and I saw it in 2008. Both by Brad Bird who did the Iron Giant which we saw years ago. What a great pedigree.
The worst of the year? There were several. But we won't mention them. Just don't order Caligula any time soon. It is not even camp.
SHOW BUSINESS
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Films was
This is all bunk of course.
The willingness to suspend disbelief is challenged for most of the film.
And yet it did get a hold on me.
A lot of gay men didn't like the erasure of Shakespeare's homosexuality but oddly it is there right in front of us if we wish to see it.
Having him make love to Gyneth Paltrow as a Lady and then in a trousers part in the theater is surely a reference to sexual ambiguity. And the bisexuality of male/female parts all by males is constantly referred to.
I just make the point as I need an excuse not to have liked it for PC reasons or something.
There are a lot of jokes and a lot of in humor on the whole Shakespeare ethos.
It is nicely done with a lot of good actors who all chew the scenery and scene steal but do so with some degree of brotherly (and sisterly) regard.
Joseph Fiennes is fine as Will and that is good thing because his career never reached this height again.
I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5. It is good but not as good as it would like us to think it is.
Incidentally, I went back and gave Once a 4 out of Netflix5. It drifted out of my highest rating overnight somehow.
I think that it is thinner than it seems when you are engaged with it.
Not that there is anything wrong with that but distance tells me that I more wanted it to be a 5 than really experienced it that way. Quibbles.
Labels: best films
WALKER
I was walking with Franklin on an old trail out to Granada and back; the big loop.
We don't do that one much anymore.
He currently favors anything that loops through the trailer park—sorry—the mobile home club.
We do not have trailer parks in Palm Springs.
He likes this new territory because it is new and also one of his best friends, a terrier mix named Foxy, lives there. She is one of my favorite dogs too.
There are also way more kitties per square foot than anywhere else I have seen and now that bunnies are practically disappeared from our territory kitties are the only blood quarry that a dog can go after.
But, occasionally, once a week or two, we return to the big Granada loop.
You can't abandon good paths entirely. There are old friends and sights and smells to visit and a lot of pee mail to collect and deposit.
We went out there this week and as rounded a corner an old guy came out of his house with a walker, all shaky and slow.
Our trajectories were such that we sort of hit the same spot together.
As I approached, I realized that this was Maurice's walker.
Maurice was this great cockapoodle with bright black eyes and great white hair. He and Franklin were great buddies and would always get up for a visit with skips and jumps.
Maurice was the only dog that I ever saw actually leap about ten feet forward.
I am not kidding.
He was the jumpingest dog.
I had not seen Maurice or his walker for quite awhile. A year? More?
Anyway. This was him. The walker. Not Maurice.
Shrunken. Half with it. He did not recognize me.
He asked if I could get his mail out of the box and put it on the bag on the walker.
I did.
He was kind of curmudgeonly about it.
Somehow I couldn't bring myself to ask if he remembered me or where Maurice was or what had happened.
I just got the mail and put it in and experienced the sour sick sweat smell that comes from lack of bathing and poor health.
Besides Franklin was jumping and trying to get back to the walk and I didn't want to have him in the way.
All that.
It was quite disturbing.
This guy was vital and alive and full of fun the last time I saw him.
Can it happen so suddenly?
All that lost?
I don't often get upset about my aging but every once in awhile I get an eyeful and a warning.
It is a little scary.
But then I realize that I don't have to cross that bridge until I come to it and it might not be on this road at all.
Labels: aging
Sunday, January 13, 2008
CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL MYTHS
I don't usually link to someone for the comments but this one is pretty good to go through.
Kevin Drum lists some Conservative myths and then invites readers to put down some Liberal myths for later summary listing.
At this writing there are 85 comments. You can skip the yak of the first ten or so to get to serious lists that people propose for us Liberals amd Progressive.
As a (gasp) Liberal, I have believed many of the myths listed and still do believe some of them. Here are a few.
These are all from the lists I see in the comments.
There are some liberal myths that I have never believed and do not believe today. I would put these on the list but I learned a long time ago that going on comment sections of other people's blogs is a mug's game..
And so on.
I don't believe these latter myths. I more or less believe the first five from the list.
Labels: politics
SIMPLY ELEGANT
Today's film was the musical
This is a simple but deeply affecting film.
Guy meets girl, guy and girl spend a week falling in love, guy and girl sing and play music while they are getting to know one another, guy and girl get through their personal crises.
The film is all handheld. It has the feel of a home movie.
But the sound is perfect.
The use of the medium is almost faultless. Every once in a while I want them to hold still but that is the point too.
The film is partly fueled by members of the group The Frames and Glen Hansard, the 'guy', was also a band member in The Commitments (1991).
The opening segment, totally unrelated to the rest of the story, is worth the price of admission.
Perfect slapstick.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5. Rare praise indeed.
I would see it again.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
WELL IF YOU WONDERED WHETHER OBAMA IS A PROGRESSIVE OR NOT...
Nelson's support shows broad Obama appeal
This would pretty much say that he is not.
Then why are all the lefty bloggers so enamored of him?
I dunno.
Actually, The Daily Kos crowd are mostly Edwards people.
We do know that the non Democratic conservatives like him for various reasons mostly that he is not Clinton.
If I voted with my politics I would vote for Edwards but he has no experience. And he is not very magnetic. And he doesn't 'touch' me.
Labels: Democrats, obama, politics
UNBALANCED
I have just been called on, what turns out to be, my bullshit about balance.
See 011008 below.
I knew it was too good to be true.
I said that I could pass the balance test for over 60 seconds which is true if I ignore the instructions and keep my eyes open.
But if I shut my eyes, I am more like 5 seconds like all the other 70-79 year olds.
I suppose willful denial, as usual, closed my eyes to the part about closing my eyes.
Now, I am going to take issue with the test.
What is the point of a test that makes unrealistic consideration of the situation?
You are not allowed to use your arms and you must keep your eyes closed.
I would like a test that would show how long I can stay balanced on two feet, arms free to fly in any direction, eyes open and, preferably, the shoulder of a nice young gentleman to lean on if I get a bit woozy.
It is a real bummer to find out that one is merely normal.
Thanks to Jim for reading and responding.
The rest of you pass the con-ability test.
Labels: health
JOHN. BOY!
There is something to like about John McCain.
“I feel like Will Smith in ‘I Am Legend’ — I’m the last guy standing that’s not a zombie,” said McCain.The guy has a sense of humor and uses it.
He is, in fact, not a zombie like the rest of them.
I may not agree with him and I think he is too old to be President, but I would not feel like my country was in jeopardy if he was in office.
I would actually like to see him be the Republican nominee. And I mean that in caps. I usually denigrate the other party with lower case.
He could restore their identity which I think we really need. It is, after all, an evolved two party system.
In any case, it is a great line and he has the balls to say it as well as a lot of other things which really put the zombies off guard and helpless.
Watch Mitt when McCain hits him with an honesty bomb.
The hair rises about a quarter of an inch.
It does not go out of place but it does rise.
Labels: McCain, politics, republican whack jobs
A KID'S EYE VIEW
When my kids were kids we took them to a wide variety of movies.
We didn't pay much attention to ratings.
I remember taking the older ones to Woodstock and the guy at the ticket counter asking me if I knew that there was nudity and swearing in the picture.
Of course, I knew. So much the better.
How does it prepare kids to be in the world to shield them from these things? Is it better that they learn in the streets?
And besides, the music and the vibes of the film were the point.
Many G rated movies are really really boring to say nothing of giving a distorted life view. Can I use the word 'Disney'?
Now, there is another viewer who, like me, believes that the ratings are only guides and that one's parental intelligence trump the uptight, insular, overly sensitive nobodies who sit in judgement on the Film Board.
Take the Kids, and Don’t Feel Guilty
Friday, January 11, 2008
SO YOU WANTED SOLUTIONS INSTEAD OF BULLSHIT
Clinton upstages Republicans with stimulus plan">
She trumps the competition and the bushies in one fell swoop.
Good for her.
I don't much know if the details are OK although they seem so.
Proactive leadership beats rhetoric any day.
And, once again, it is turning out that the state of the economy is the issue of the election year.
Labels: Democrats, hillary, politics
JIMMY EARL SPEAKS
I Got What America Needs Right Now
Characteristically, Jimmy thinks that he has all the fucking answers.
But I have to admit he is right about his record.
Labels: politics
WHETHER OR NOT
Today is the most brilliant day that we have had in a while.
It is in the low 70s and if you are near or in the sun it will feel a lot warmer.
This time last year we were facing and then getting killing frosts.
The coolest times this year were in December.
And not all that cold. Wet though.
The outlook is good that this will continue. Warm days. Very cool nights.
The cycle is self perpetuating.
The warmth dries the air, the uv rays take over, the earth gets hot, it begets warmer air. The hot air dries the clouds out as they try to come over the protecting mountains. They fail. The air gets drier and the uv effect increases.
And so on.
I am all for it.
I talked to a friend who is going to Salt Lake City tomorrow. Then north to Ogden.
A day away.
Two feet of snow.
I love this pocket of weather sanity.
Why don't the rest o' yez get your weather acts together?
Labels: weather
Thursday, January 10, 2008
SECOND BILLING
I am saying goodbye to Bill Richardson today.
It was he that I loved first and best.
Until I didn't anymore.
Richardson Said To Be Dropping Out
But I still deeply respect him and wish him the best.
They say that he has been angling for Vice.
If so, I will vote for him.
And also, if that is so, he is in a bit of a squeeze. Who will he throw his weight with?
The results of the Primaries is not obvious.
Interesting.
Labels: Democrats, politics, Richardson
BALANCING ACT
Around here we have always considered balance important.
I don't know where it came from. Not a fact base. Some kind of oral fitness tradition, I think.
We take great pains to find common everyday balance opportunities.
Putting on my shorts is a good one.
Stand on one leg unaided to pull up the shorts one leg at a time. Like that.
Stand on one leg to unlace and take a sneaker off. A sock. Just don't unlace the sock.
Now, we are proven to be right.
Preserving a Fundamental Sense: Balance
I can do the test...one leg up arms folded across the chest...for a minute.
Not bad.
Try it. You don't have to tell what you got.
If you don't have a minute, there are some simple exercises but I like the chore based ones.
Put on your shorts. Take off your shoes and socks. Hold it! Right there in the middle of the balance task.
As good as a formal exercise which, from my personal experience, is like flossing. It will not get done.
Labels: health
LURCH SPEAKS
Report: Kerry to endorse ObamaWell, that would do it.
John Kerry said Wednesday that he was very close to endorsing a Democratic candidate for president, and sources now tell the Associated Press that he has settled on Barack Obama......Tim Grieve Salon.
Solidify my support for Hillary.
Do I have a resentment against him?
Lifelong.
Political life.
I remember him when he was a fake VNVet. Well not fake by any means. I would not Swiftboat him.
But he was not all that then and he is not all that now.
How do you spell "opportunism"?
He was my senator in MA. He was a do nothing drone then and he is the same now.
In four years in the Senate since his near election suicide he has done nothing.
John.
A word.
Get the fuck off the stage.
And take your shrill billionaire wife with you.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
FINDING HER VOICE
I have harbored some doubts about my attachment to Hillary Clinton over the last weeks.
I was still for her but somehow worried enough to think that I might have to switch over from her.
This morning at the gym, I watched as she celebrated her victory and I felt the rush of joy along with her.
My feelings told me that I am still with her and that Obama, as good as he is, has not gotten to my inner being the way she has.
I truly believe that it is this emotional or spiritual component that 'chooses' our leaders.
For example we can spot a phony in a minute (Romney) or we can be turned off by a message of exclusion (Huckabee).
There are a hundred examples of this.
We do vote with our minds but then there is that other ingredient that speaks to the kind of leader we will follow.
An affair of the heart.
Labels: hillary
FOLLOWUP COUNTS
If I had any doubts about my new dentist they were swept away this afternoon when he called to follow up on Monday's extraction.
Without prompting, he told me that the swelling and slight discomfort were normal and that if there was a problem to call Friday before the weekend but otherwise he would see me in the office for a short look see on Monday.
I am not sure, but I think this is the first time that any doc or dentist has called me to followup in this way.
I am way impressed.
It was very reassuring to have the call because I have had swelling and some discomfort and that was OK but under the veneer there is a bit of worry.
That has been dispelled.
I am normal.
The medical world has gone to such a tangled mess that it is wonderful to find pockets of professionalism and personal care.
We have been fortunate in finding that kind of care but sometimes you have to quit a few guys to get to the good ones.
That is my part of it.
To have high standards and enforce them.
Did I mention that I have never had to wait one minute after my appointed time with this guy? And that if I get their early they thank me and put me in the chair early?
That goes a far distance to get me happy too.
Labels: dentist
SO MANY STORIES SO LITTLE TIME
Today's film was
This is a rebirth of an old form. The anthology movie.
And it is a brazen attempt by using films that are only 5 minutes long!
And it works.
It seems as though it would come across as only a stunt but that is not so.
It is amazing how much can be put into such a short time.
Very few of the segments bomb and I expect that those would be different for everyone.
There are enough stars to go around (that is Steve Buscemi in the photo) and there is, of course, Paris.
I enjoyed it very much.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
UNDECIDED
Not that I am self centered or anything but I am very happy that my vote will count in this primary.
Clinton Beats Obama in N.H. Comeback
And I am still for Hillary.
Here is why.
The vast 'Clinton machine', that all her enemies snidely refer to, is actually a ready to go outfit that has been managed rather well over the years.
It is the same network that will lead to administrative appointments.
And here is another thing. I do not understand all the progressive support for Obama who has actually run a centrist campaign.
This is why he appeals to so many conservatives.
Also, he is not Hillary Clinton and for many people, like Andrew Sullivan, that is enough.
I still believe that Hillary Clinton will make the best President and that Barack Obama is lightweight. Great on the rhetoric and slim on the particulars to say nothing of experience.
She will deal with the conservative slime machine much more effectively as well. She is electable.
Labels: hillary, obama, politics
SECURITY
We sent a book to someone yesterday.
It came back today.
You cannot send a package over 13 ounces with your own stamps.
You have to go to the PO to send it.
A security measure.
It evidently cannot be sent by air either.
Two things.
It cannot be sent from your house and if you do send it from your house it cannot go by air.
Keerist.
It is so fucking stupid.
So I will not mention that I could take the same book with 'something' added to the PO, get them to put the stamp on it and then that makes it safe?
Come on.
Maybe that they get to look into your eyes. Or see if you are a brown person. An Arab?
Labels: criminal morons
FRIENDSHIP
Today's movie was the Petey Greene biopic
This one didn't go very far when it was released but it should have.
It is a great film of its genré. Yes, it has the familiar arc of rise to fall to rise again but in a quite different way.
Don Cheadle is fascinating as Greene.
There are some very solemn and emotional elements in this film. Also some very funny parts.
The through line is the relationship between Greene, a street black, and his friend and manager who is the epitome of the whitened 'house nigger'. They learn from each other.
Synergy.
A simple story told well.
Its total truth is disputed but that is the case with most such Hollywoodized ventures.
It is still a good movie.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Monday, January 07, 2008
AWFUL
While I was at the dentist's they asked what I wanted to see.
They have the flat screen right there up on the ceiling.
I said I didn't care but then took the control and cruised to MSNBC.
Bad choice.
It was Tucker Fucking Carlson.
What a dope.
How do these guys get on there?
He showed Hillary getting teary today and was all over it.
Then he turned it around and asked someone if they thought that it was a put up job.
Got her both ways.
He did an interview with John McCain which, actually, was very interesting.
McCain got over Tucker and just did his thing.
He is attractive. McCain not Tucker.
It might be that we are going to get two candidates who are uniquely different than anything we have seen for many years.
Decades.
This country deserves an interesting and engaging election.
But I think that McCain is a far way from getting the nod.
Maybe not.
Guiliani is tanking and so is the robot.
Labels: politics, television
DEFANGED
So I went for part two and had the tooth out this afternoon.
I have never had this routine before.
The tooth comes out. The gum gets stitched (the dissolving kind), my partial (setup and fixed in 7 hours) is put in and I go home.
Ice every hour.
Don't take the partial out for two or three days, the longer the better.
Meds right there at the counter (optional—I bought them there) and home.
Checkup in a week.
I got in there at 2:50, I was in the chair at 3:00. I was out of there at 3:30. Had to wait 5 minutes for the meds.
The whole operation was very professional.
I felt him doing well with it.
No pain.
End of story.
I gotta go put on some ice.
Labels: dentist
MAKING A GOOD IMPRESSION
Today is tooth day.
I get the old one taken out and a new one put into my upper partial.
I told you that I had switched to a high tech, high energy, highly focused dental operation.
The first time out made my head spin.
But this time I was ready.
It is a two step process.
I went in this morning to have an impression made of my lower and upper bites.
Then I go back this afternoon and have the tooth out.
My partial will be ready for immediate installation with the new artificial tooth in place.
This is amazing to me.
My guy who worked alone had to send his work out so I would be 3 or 4 days with out the partial.
I guess it is all done in the guy's office.
Dr. Bruno.
That is his first name; a Quebecois.
I went a bit early because the weather has been bad here and road water can be a problem.
I got there about 15 minute early. Went to the john. Stood in a very short line for intake.
They came and got me almost immediately and I went into the chair.
I thought maybe a technician would do it but, no, Dr. Bruno himself was on the case.
They did the work, I got out of the chair, and went out the door to the parking lot.
I looked at my watch.
It was 8AM. Just the time of my appointment.
Pretty good.
I like this, I think.
I would, of course, rather the work did not have to be done but, since it does, I am happy to be into a one shop operation. They do everything but braces.
And I like him.
He is even a bit arrogant which I like as well.
The guy I just came from wasn't feeling too good about himself over the past year.
Not a good prerequisite for a dentist.
Dr. Bruno likes himself and likes his work.
Labels: dentist
SKY HIGH
Funny but sad.
I, of course, remember different times.
Even the circular seated Convair that Eastern used to use for its shuttle. Turboprop.
A banquette.
The old DC3 wasn't bad either. Too small for triple seats and all.
But that is all over.
Labels: culture, technology
Sunday, January 06, 2008
STILL NO END IN SIGHT
I watched the documentary
It is a streamlined outline of how we got into Iraq and how we fucked up.
It is, to say the least, damning.
I do not think that I saw anything that surprised me but I have never had it all laid out so competently and in one place.
And they did not have time to tell it all.
The interviews are terse.
There is one 'debate' with two interviews interlaced by the editing.
There is not a lot of blood actually.
It is more at the policy level.
I do know about it. I just, over time, lose track.
I had forgotten the UN bombing.
Stuff like that.
I think that it is hard to tweeze out the documentary quality from the political message.
I will rate it a 4 out of Netflix5 because of its clarity.
OLD FRIENDS
We spent five full summers in Provincetown—1981-1985.
We lived right on the beach over a few stores in the middle of town.
It was amazing how you could be so close to 'the action' and never really hear or see it.
Our own special place.
We had two neighbors, Mary and Molly, who lived in a little house nearer the water than ours. Small and cozy.
Today, I opened the LATimes Book Review and saw Mary Oliver gazing out at me right on the shore where we left her in 1985. There is even a rock jetty that was special to us behind her. A big upright rock at the very end.
On the opposite page was a picture of Mary and Molly in front of the little house.
And this article.
We never guessed. Or knew.
Mary Oliver is a well known poet. Molly was a photographer.
The LAT does not have the photos on line. True to their form, a lousy web site.
There are photos of Mary at Google but, ironically, not the photographer Molly.
They were sweet and private people. A lot like every year-round Provincetown person or couple.
It is amazing how hands reach out of one's past to be grasped again.
Very nice.
Labels: life
MINGLED
I would have liked to see this at yesterday's final NH debates:
The day ended with heated back-to-back, nationally televised Republican and Democratic debates, including a moment when the candidates from both parties shared the stage. For a few minutes, six Republican candidates and four Democrats mingled in front of the cameras, shaking hands, embracing and talking as the audience applauded.
Labels: politics
Saturday, January 05, 2008
HALF A STORM IS BETTER THAN NONE
We just caught the southern part of the storm that dropped up to ten feet of snow and all that rain on North California—our neighboring state.
No snow visible on the mountains but the mountains are not totally visible.
None down to 7000 anyway.
There is water! Rapids in the runoff channels.
Franklin and I went to see.
It has been awhile.
I guess we got half an inch.
It is more or less over now.
Spotty through tomorrow and then clear again.
Labels: weather
SUPER POWERS
Today's film was Brad Bird's Pixar animated
It is pretty good.
Who would think that you can mix suburban situation comedy, James Bond, superhero cliché and Edith Head into a highly enjoyable film.
Head would be the fashion designer. You have to be old enough to get it.
We saw Brad Bird's Iron Giant years ago and loved it. Saw it twice, I believe.
This film is totally different and yet has the same sweetness that is very hard to get in a 'cartoon' let alone one about super heroes and all.
I had a good time and will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Did I give Ratatouille a 5?
If so, then I would have to change that to a 4 or make this a 5. They were equally good. Totally different.
AN ACORN
Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in awhile.
In the same way, David Brooks writes a great column that informs and resonates with insight.
This is one such column.
It is interesting that the intelligent conservatives (Brooks and Andrew Sullivan) really like Obama and want him to win.
Is that scary? I think not.
Most intelligent people want the whole box to be shaken up and it would appear that Obama holds that promise for many people.
Me?
I want the box to shake but not all that much. I am an older being and want the stuff I want to change to change and the other stuff to stay the same.
In other words I want a bit of instability but not too much.
And I am willing for youth to have its way.
If it goes to far, the world will correct its course rather quickly.
Labels: politics
TIMBRE
Today I was reading Glenn Greenwald in Salon and he referred to the candidates as (or as not) "presidential timbre".
I have heard this term all my life and have always assumed it meant wood!
The tall kind as it stands in forests.
Not a bad image in a way.
But I have been wrong.
The correct spelling is 'timbre' as in the resonance of a tuning fork.
And it comes from an article in Time Magazine in the Forties.
I do not like to be found wrong but I sure don't like to continue being wrong.
Of course this misunderstanding is all in my head. If I verbalize the term, right or wrong, it sounds the same.
That's the English language for you.
I don't think that I have used the phrase "presidential timbre" out loud once in my life.
Well, maybe once. Perhaps twice.
But still. I might need it soon and I like knowing what it means when I say it.
I think that there is a verbal misfire when someone says "s/he is (or is not) presidential timbre".
You must say that "s/he has presidential timbre".
Now to the real question at hand.
Of the candidates, who has presidential timbre and who does not?
Obama has it I think. Unfortunately it is only in the rhetoric and not in the day to day interview talk.
Hillary does not really have it. But then that might be my inner misogynist talking.
Edwards is a mish mash. Too southern.
NO one on the other side has it.
Bush? Timbre? Hah!
I think what is meant here is a kind of gravitas that conveys over radio.
Perhaps the term is obsolete as we now see the candidates all too many times.
We do not merely listen.
What is required is a blind test but it is too late for that.
At the bottom, the whole thing may be malarkey. The standard held up in the Time article was FDR and for anyone who listened to the man on the radio as I did there is no other who has ever sounded so presidential.
There would be no winners here at all.
Labels: politics
Friday, January 04, 2008
BARD LITE
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Orson Welles'
You know how I am about Shakespeare.
I can't stand him/it.
But this is something else again.
I still didn't get the words but I sure got the drama and the plot.
This is visually stunning. Welles didn't make a lot of pictures and he was at the end of his tether with this one but he did get it down.
The theatricality of the camera work, the sets, and the pace all help this become more accessible than the stagey Olivier films or other so called 'modern' productions which dress down but still confuse.
Be sure to read the story of how this film was made, or nearly unmade, at the link.
There were definitely cliff hanging moments, a real rush at the sight of it.
He was a genius who was bent on undermining himself. This film was retrieved from the jaws of disaster.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: best films
ANOTHER ERROR?
I heard on CNN this morning that they are sending Bill into New Hampshire for 5 days.
I love Bill. But I think this is a lousy idea.
It shows desperation.
It reminds us that maybe he is running as much as her.
Is she going to call him in when she falters as President? No can do.
Even I take a dim view of this surrogate shit. I don't like it.
She should run it on her own terms, period.
But I guess they are not going to do that.
I can hear Andrew Sullivan crowing already.
Too bad.
Labels: hillary
Thursday, January 03, 2008
HILL SPILL
I am not surprised.
I don't think that they have managed it well.
At first, she didn't take Iowa seriously. Or didn't get it.
Never a good thing.
I am not at all upset. I am surprised that I didn't or don't have more invested in Clinton.
I am not hot for Obama but I can take him up easily.
And it is not done.
I still think that I will have a chance to vote for the eventual nominee in February.
What I like especially is that the Democrats got twice the turnout as the Republicans.
Energy.
FINALLY
So the Iowa caucus, decidedly not a primary, will be today and it will, after all is said and gone, prove nothing.
They say that Edwards has to make a showing but I don't buy that.
New Hampshire, a real primary, is Tuesday.
That has more substance I think.
I am pleased that the Democrats have such a vital center, so much energy.
The GOoPers have proven to be a fractured, "none of the above" group for my Republican friends.
They are almost universally despised with the exception of McCain who still stirs some hearts.
I really do not believe that anything will be proven for the Democrats until Super Tuesday when I get to vote.
Then you will see where the true winner is to be.
In the meantime, it is all anecdote and excellent training for the main event.
Labels: Democrats, politics, republican whack jobs
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
AWAY GOES TROUBLE DOWN THE DRAIN
We have had a slow toilet. Always a bad sign.
Then it got way slower all at once.
A worse sign.
I didn't scramble the defense forces right away. It was the back toilet and it was isolated to that area.
We don't use it that much and we have two other alternatives.
But, it being the new year and all, I called Roto Rooter today.
You call them on the day you want them because they are there in less than two hours.
Miguel arrived and I learned several things.
They do not put the snake in the toilet. It will shatter it.
There should be a clean out. Ours is behind the toilet. You cannot get to it.
But that is OK because the best way to clean is to go down through what I used to think of as the vent on the roof.
If one toilet is clogged you go down at that vent.
If all toilets are stuffed you go through the main which all three lines run to before the cesspool.
Yes. A cesspool. We are still not hooked up to the city and probably will not be in my lifetime. Although every time I say something like that, nature comes around and turns me into a liar or a denier.
Miguel stuck the snake down the pipe and went to work.
I went in and ran the water.
There was no immediate success.
In fact, a brown cloud came up the tub where all the excess water was going.
Miguel said that might mean there was a broken pipe.
Oh shit.
I started to plan how we could take the toilet and tub and sink out of there and open the room up as a large closet and back entrance to the yard.
But then, suddenly and dramatically, all the water ran out of the tub.
I turned on more faucets.
I flushed 8-10 times.
The drain was clear.
Crisis averted.
It is always darkest before the dawn and all that.
Yawn.
It is over.
Miguel got me to buy a special product to make the house smell good again and to bio-clean the drains. Once a month application.
The good smell was welcome as all of the rooting led to a shit odor coming up through all the sinks.
I suspect it is the same stuff I buy for half the price in the hardware store but maybe not.
I tipped him a 20.
Another day, another problem solved.
Labels: repairman humor
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Randy Newman.
Whew. Do I love him.
A thoughtful new ballad for the beginning of a new year in which we get to have a r/evolution if we want it.
A Few Words in Defense of Our Country
TRAILER TRASH
While we are on the subject of movie annoyances, it is time to denounce the trailers that are now showing up on DVD's.
One of the reasons I look at DVD's is to escape this shit.
It used to be that Disney was the only company who put what we used to call 'previews' on the discs.
And a lot of other crap too like promo's for the Disney magic and all.
I just sit there with the remote and click it away to the next one.
There are sometimes ten clicks.
Then the trailer disease got out of the bag. The Weinsteins were a Disney division and they started using previews then took the practice along when they formed their own company.
Now other independent companies are going in for the trailers as well.
The other day we had an advertisment for a car on one of the discs.
Keeerist!
Click. Click. Click.
A royal pain in the ass.
I just thought I would say so.
Labels: film
JOHNNY WILL HAVE TO WAIT
I backed out of seeing the Depp film today because..........well, I don't know.
The chili party came up yesterday and I wanted to go to it.
That created some time binds.
I don't like to have too full a day or to rush around.
The movie would end an hour before the party and that means rushing Franklin for his walk to say nothing of his being alone for 4 or 5 hours.
And I had told so many people about the hazards I experience in going to the theater that they began to overwhelm—the talk, the kids, the ads, the trailers, the stink of popcorn.
So I didn't go.
Now I am thinking that I will just Netflix it.
I will sit closer to simulate a big screen and turn the volume way up.
IN THE MIDDLE
I just finished Jonathan Ferris' wonderful
I have lived this book; or a lot of it.
Much of it is the collective wit and wisdom of middle managers in a mid size company; the wit and wisdom that has nothing to do with work.
The bickering, the rumors, the gossip, the lame way that people with a little time on their hands can put off their corporate assignments.
I have always been in a group like this.
Well, until I had my own company and this workload was taken up by others who worked for me.
I was often a ringleader. One of the reasons that when I was in management training I had a feel for the reality of work.
I probably honed my leadership skills in this environment.
Maybe you will feel at home in this book too. Any time you have spent at the water cooler or on a smoking break will immediately inform you about what these people are up or down to.
The book is hilarious in an acid kind of way and very telling. Another reason that I felt right at home.
Eventually, as in real life, this book will turn on you.
Harsh economic realities begin to nip at the collective heels.
People begin to, rightfully, feel insecure.
The layoffs begin.
The denial mounts.
We begin to see under the smart exteriors.
Acting out becomes more involuntary. (You didn't think all acting out was unconscious did you?)
There is a great ending.
Oh. And there is a parallel story about the woman who manages this group.
I will keep this and perhaps read it again.
The book is on the top of many 'best' lists for 2007 and was a nominee for the National Book Award.
Labels: books
TURNING THE CORNER
So this is the election year.
Finally!
The clock is ticking.
What better way to start it out than a full throated rant from the New York Times editorial page.
Labels: criminal morons, politics, republican whack jobs
