esrosedotblog

IMPRESSIONS revised

My early adult life was almost totally in sync with the years of J.D. Salinger's writing.

Catcher in the Rye was written in 1951. I was 14.

By the time I got to MIT, this work was part of the 20th Century canon and I studied it in my sophomore year.

It is now required, if at all, at high school level. So is calculus. About the same level of complexity, in my book.

Everything comes earlier to kids now. A good thing. I wasted so much time because they fed me pap.

Salinger produced further works at a slow speed which allowed me to catch up to him. For awhile I identified with Seymour Glass, his continuing main character, until Seymour committed suicide in Banana Fish. Gulp. Talk about pulling the rug out from you. But then there were other Seymour works. Different times. Different Seymour. Wonderful.

I loved the Glass family and I wished I had one like it. Sort of. Part of the time. I thought, as Seymour, I could straighten them all out.

I couldn't even straighten out my own family. Or me, for that matter.

I read everything Salinger wrote. Since I had started reading the New Yorker in my freshman year, I didn't miss a thing. That is where Salinger was.

Then, like Seymour, Salinger committed a kind of suicide himself. He quit writing. For years we waited for more. For a word. Nothing, to this day.

Still Paging Mr. Salinger

Imagine.

He is going to be 90. He is still alive. Mystery of disappearance unsolved. No one even looks for him to appear personally any more.

But still, there are those rumors about shelves of unpublished works. The Glass family chronicles. Other novels.

I don't know what, if any, his influence is today. Just another author for the young reader?

I doubt it.

Holden Caulfield still holds out a light for a different path.

At depth, the other stories told of our times. We felt like his characters. Some of the same stuff was happening to and for and with us.

Perhaps those were unique feelings of that generation. Perhaps the the writing is timeless.

I think I will pick them up again and see what's happening as I read them now.

J. D. Salinger. Hang on, baby. You had the stuff and I bet you still do.

Labels: reading

COLD AS ICE

Today's Paul Newman Fest film was the Merchant/Ivory/Jhabvala production

Mr.and Mrs. Bridge (1990)

Any film about repression ends up being, well, repressed.

The usual slick MIJ production is pretty cold but the performances of Newman and Joanne Woodward warm the piece up and it is good to see them work together.

Here, Newman is not the anti-hero. He is a master of quiet domestic violence. Woodward is excellent as the browbeaten wife. The two work together beautifully.

And that is the whole thing.

I have seen this twice. Enough to get that Newman could still do the job in something entirely different than he had worked in before.

Very nice.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: film, films

PRUNED

I pruned the roses this morning.

It is a pleasure to do so.

Somehow the idea of cutting things back to make them grow is a happy paradox.

It feels right in a human sense too.

We get rid of bad habits, thoughts, actions. We grow.

That is my experience.

With roses "bad" is pretty simple. We want the dead wood out. No use in keeping what doesn't work any more.

We want to cut down to new buds so the potential of the rose can be realized.

We cut out cross shoots, branches that go off track and don't work to fulfill the ideal shape of the bush. A bowl.

And we pull off "suckers", the little branches that are a waste of energy, that will never come to anything.

Come to think of it, the metaphor holds pretty well at this level too.

As humans, we grow when we get rid of the old useless stuff, place our growth priorities on the emerging self, quit wasting our time on useless paths and get rid of actions that turn out to be ineffective and uselesll. That don't go anywhere.

I don't think I am pushing the connections too much. Do you?

Anyway. The roses are pruned for this season. My pruning is ongoing.

Metaphors now put away for another year.

Labels: garden, life

SIDEWAYS

I went to the store early this morning. I have a "long day" so I started at 615AM.

When I came back, the rising sun was just hitting the mountains in the west. Incredibly beautiful.

As I pulled onto Farrell southbound I gasped. The whole range of mountains with their white crowns were lit in that winter sideways light that shows every feature.

We get used to looking at the mountains. They are always there.

But sometimes they jump out at you.

In summer, the light is flat. Brilliant. In winter, the sun is in the southeast and catches all the edges.

The sun addresses the mountains at an angle. Sunrise is extreme. Low and to the side.

We always have this effect on the south facing mountains that mark the rise from the low to high desert. The Sonora to the Mojave. The sun meets these at an angle in all seasons. The evening is especially glorious as the sun is coming through the Banning Pass and is at its lowest level in the west. Filtered through all the smog out there we get a wide array of colors and hues.

This place is just beautiful.

The Native Americans who settled here did so for spiritual as well as practical purposes. The hot springs were part of it. The mountains were the other.

We have five canyons. They called our part of the valley the "hand of god". Five fingers, see?

Properly lit or not, they are a profound sight. All I have to do is look up.

There they are.

Here I am.

Wow.

Labels: desert

BACK BITING

The fun starts on ex-bushies. Vanity Fair is doing an oral history of the bush years.

Needless to say, it will not be kind.

Ex-aides say Bush never recovered from Katrina

One guy says he was just like Sarah Palin when he came in. And, if I can get my two cents in, he would be like her on the way out.

Sometimes on the job training is OK but, in this case, the training never took. He learned nothing from his experience and compounded his errors.

Epic tragedy. Well, no. Tragedy requires a heroic figure.

Labels: bush. bushies

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Pink Floyd and the asteroid.

Labels: astropix, nature

ALIGNMENT OR FOLLOW THE LEADER?

I was a member of MoveOn.Org until they seemed redundant to the Obama campaign and that has not changed.

They recently took an issue poll of members and look what they found.

What they chose: universal health care; economic recovery and job creation; building a green economy/stopping climate change; and end the war in Iraq.

What they didn't: holding the Bush administration accountable; fighting for gay rights and LGBT equality; and reforming campaigns and elections.

MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser says that this happy alignment with Barack Obama's agenda -- and fortuitous absence of conflict with same -- comes in part because "the people he's listening to and the people we're listening to are the same people."

But it also may be a sign that MoveOn's members want to move ahead -- and that they're willing to make some ideological sacrifices in exchange for real progress.

They are still redundant. Iw won't renew.

Incidentally, the results echo here that gay rights will take its place in line behind other issues.

That is OK with me but I have the long perspective. I have seen it so bad that down looks up to me.

I am not sure of my sisters and brothers though.

I, for one, and I assume they, for more, have higher priorities for themselves. Health care, the economy, greening and the end of the war are pretty important.

Some will still holler and cry out. That is good. That is their job. We don't want it off the menu.

But single issue politics are not for me. I want it all but I know we have to do first things first.

Labels: Administration Obama, gay rights, politics

DEADLINES

Slow season on blogging again. I have interviews to do for the MIT Educational Council.

They have to be done by January 6 and the last minute guys and gals are coming in the door.

I had my very best kid on Friday. Best this year. A great candidate.

A few of my propects got "deferred"' on early action which is between "accepted" and no dice.

I like doing this a lot.

Today will be my last interview. Period. They have to make arrangements before December 10th and we are way past that.

I am a softy on that deadline. I have had three kids signup late.

The whole purpose of this is to put a face on the Institute for the kid (me) and a face on the kid for the Institute.

I had a guy like me when I applied 50 years ago.

So, this is the last one. I assume I will do it again next year. There are two year terms but I don't think there is any alumnus other than me in this territory, the whole western half of Riverside County.

At least not one who is of sound body and mind.

But I may be wrong. Maybe they will oust me.

My reports tend to be a little off the edge. I write from my heart.

So, off I go to the last one for the year. Maybe ever. In this world one never knows what the carousel will bring around again. Or not.

Labels: MIT

PUBLIC SERVICE SPOT

Labels: comedy

WALL-E TOO

I forgot to mention one of the nicer surprises in this film.

Fred Willard

He goes way back to Fernwood 2 Night where I first saw him. Look how many credits he has. 197 acting roles and 87 spots as himself. Extraordinary.

He has the handsome face of a teevee actor and the personalty of a crazy man. Very funny. He is in all of the Christopher Guest films. His metier.

Perfect for this lonely human role in a cartoon. The face of command central. Or something.

He is great.

Well, there are other humans. The movie tape of Hello Dolly.

Labels: comedy

THE SOURCE

How often have you said "what a dick" when some politician or sports figure or hollywood star qualifies for the title?

I have "dick" as a label on this blog but I forget to use it.

Now, I will have inspiration. We have a source and resource.

Dickipedia

This item is on Santa Claus. How many others can you find?

Try "random page". I did. I got a dick supreme.

Russell Crowe!

Another random page.

Cindy McCain!

Females qualify incidentally. We can't use the "c" word so they are dicks.

The list is bi-partisan, incidentally, so there will be some upset no matter who you favor.

Rahm Emmanuel is on it and so is Joe Biden. I know Rahm can be a dick so I agree with that one. Joe has me in my heart so I can't go with that but maybe someone knows something I do not.

We can all agree on Tom Cruise though. Eyepatch and all.

I will put this on my daily 'walk through the blogs" to see who is new. Maybe I will report.

Labels: dick

IT ONLY TAKES A MOMENT

Today's film was Pixar's

WALL-E (2008)

They had me at the titles when they played "Sunday Clothes" from Hello Dolly. Goosebumps.

Later we get "It Only Takes a Moment".

I love it when they recognize my cohort and do the old stuff.

Late in the film, near the end, he reboots to the Macintosh gong.

In between, there are so many references and cross references and jokes, it would many five viewings to get them all. Rich and generous.

The first fifteen minutes, which everyone raves about, are great but so is the rest of it. I don't get the focus on that part only. There is nothing I didn't like. I didn't even get that usual cartoon anxiety that I get when the shit happens and there seems to be know way out. We know that WALL-E will find a way. He is a spunky little guy.

I will give it a 5 out of a Netfilx5 and promise to play it again when I have my Pixar film fest sometime in the future.

Labels: film, films

GUIDELINES

I like Buffet. He is a guy who has learned some basic lessons and he has the record to show for it.

Timeless and Time-Tested Warren Buffett Watch Predictions

I am not going to invests another dollar in my life (my money managers will though) and I still find it settling to read this.

Labels: economy

PRESS CORE

There are always a minimum number of reporters no matter whether the Chief is on vacation and practically non-existent or not.

But it isn't too bad now.

For the White House press corps, covering Obama's 13-day Hawaiian sojourn is a departure from past holidays hunkered down near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Tex. They've upgraded their offices from highway hotels in Waco to the Westin Moana Surfrider Resort on Waikiki Beach. They've traded a backdrop of rusted farm equipment and bales of hay for sailboats, longboards and crashing waves.

And they've hung up their winter coats.

"What a difference a year makes," exults NBC White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie, leaning back in a padded armchair on a veranda overlooking the Pacific.

"No offense to the people of Crawford, Texas, but taking the presidential retreat from Crawford to Honolulu is change anyone can believe in" Henry says, borrowing a phrase from Obama's campaign.

WaPo via Daily Kos

Labels: Administration Obama

ALKIE

Today's movie was the documentary

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter Thompson was essential reading in the 60s and 70s. He literally changed the world. At least mine. The sad thing is that he was over the hill before the bushies took over. When we really really needed him again.

He became a celebrity, a literal cartoon character (Uncle Duke in Doonesbury) and more famous than the people he covered. He lost his anonymity and his muse. An outsider who came inside. Even Pat Buchanan, who is in this film, was a friend of his.

What happened? Well, success. But beyond that, he was soaked in alcohol and the progression of the disease is totally visible in this fine film that covers his life and times.

Not one person in the film mentions the possibility that his downfall was from booze and drugs. More evidence of how alcoholism proceeds to swallow the alcoholic and all who are in his life and orbit. The film, of course, speaks for itself in the action as all good docs should.

That said, the film, narrated by Johnny Depp, is an in depth appreciation. It wakens the memories of those times for those of us who were into them or had them come into us. I read everything Thompson at that time. I think I quit when he began to flame out. He became unreadable.

Nevertheless his recordings of that period are indelibly printed on my mind. You could not escape his over the top voice and prose.

Thompson's work was inseparable from the cartoons of Ralph Steadman. There are lots of Steadman cartoons and lots of Steadman who not only lived through it all but survives as a respected artist.

Once is enough with a film like this so it will get a 3 out of Netflix5.

Paul Newman will be back tomorrow.

Labels: film, films

LEGACY

I only have a little more time to kick bush while he is down. After he leaves the office he will be gone. That's even better.

But for now, let's work him over one more time.

While they are trying to burnish the record of the worst president in my life if not the life of the country, no one is buying it.

BUSH LEGACY PROJECT FACES RESISTANCE

Read this.

Now, everyone obviously knows that Bush is extremely unpopular, and has been for quite some time, but it's helpful to pause once in a while to appreciate just how despised this president is. We're witnessing something truly historical here.

Consider, for example, the question of post-presidential contributions. Eight years ago, 55% of Americans wanted to see Bill Clinton remain active in public life. For Bush, the number is 33%. The country, in other words, not only wants Bush to go away, but we don't want to see him popping up from time to time, either.

Eric Kleefeld went through some of the internals and found widespread distaste for Bush on every level. Americans don't like him, don't trust him, don't think he cares about them, and don't admire him. The public doesn't think Bush united the country, doesn't think he brought about the change we needed, and believes he failed to manage the government effectively.

The scope of the public's disdain for Bush is almost impressive.

Labels: bush. bushies

BLOWN AWAY

Last night, a new front came in and the winds blew and the shit flew.

Gusts up to 50 mph were recorded.

We lost power for about an hour. We went to bed and it came back on fairly early in the night.

This morning, there was the inventory taking.

A lot of branches in the road. A eucalyptus tree at a neighbor's house lost a huge branch. The tree is enormous. Too big for this kind of wind.

I turned into the mall on the way to the gym and mailed some letters. There were six small mesquite trees down. Small means maybe 15 feet high.

The biggest event at our house, other than the leaves and branches, the shit in our yard, was the toppling of the huge plant "Eileen".

This thing is huge in a huge pot. It tool two of us to turn her back up again.

Her name is Eileen because she started as a three foot plant that a friend bought us as a housewarming present. She now has about eight big three and four inch thick trunks and is about ten feet tall. Eileen has grown up.

Labels: horticulture, weather

COUNTRY LOVE

There's parent love and lover love and brotherly love but nothing is as contentious as "country love".

I remember when we lived on South Street in Plymouth, MA, one of the neighbors, a guy who beat his kids and didn't work and was on the dole and was working his way to being the town drunk, had an "America, love it or leave it" sticker on his battered up car.

Proud to be an American but an utter failure as a human being. There is too much of that.

Then you have the professional country lovers. The full time paid flag wavers. The type who fit the aphorism about the "last refuge of the scoundrel".

Joel Stein, who is marvelously funny, captures all this posturing in his column today in the LA Times.

Republicans Are Blinded by Love

What I like about Stein is that he goes to the source. Here, an interview with the crazy CNN soon to be Fox guy Glenn Beck.

I saw him once when I was on vacation and searching for a weather report on the teevee. A foamer.

Stein also talks about that other super patriot Sean Hannity who can raise the hackles on my neck just by his smug demeanor.

These flag wavers need to be brought down a peg but we won't do it. They will sink in their own craziness or run headlong into a scandal or something equally self destructive.

They have always been with us, these people.

When I was a student in Boston, we would go of a Saturday or Sunday to the Commons where guys like this were on a soapbox. We would heckle them.

I learned right then that they were un-hecklable. Immune from criticism in their bubble of country love. The heckler became an instant appeaser, traitor, communist sympathizer. Whatever.

This was before we had teevee. The good old days.

Stein asserts that the universal solvent of humor may take these guys and disappear them. I doubt it. But, in the meantime, we can at least have a good laugh at their posturing phoniness.

Labels: patriotism

PINTER

Make sure that you see a live production of a Pinter play before you die.

If you can't do that then go to Netflix or somewhere and rent a film of one.

I have seen three productions. Two in London.

Unforgettable.

He was a tough bastard and he did great work. I don't think that he ever became Sir Harold. But he did win the Nobel Prize and used his platform to castigate bush's America.

Harold Pinter, Nobel-Winning Playwright, Is Dead at 78

Labels: art, obituary

GYM RAT

He has the groove and it looks like he will keep it.

As Duties Weigh Obama Down, His Faith in Fitness Only Increases

There is also a lot of good stuff in and around the workout story that tells us how he spends his time and how he runs things.

He still has Reggie Love as his body man only now he is a staff assistant or something.

I always look for Reggie Love.

Labels: Administration Obama

FINAL RESTING PLACE

I mentioned that we had new beds for Franklin to replace his ratty crate liners.

We bought beds made with plastic beads and they made a noise. There were also too many beads in the bags. They were very tight.

We took the beads out some but they still rustled.

We got him to lie down on them but he wouldn't stay.

Finally, we gave in. The beds will go to Revivals, the charity store here.

John went yesterday and got really nice wooly topped foam mats, about two inches thick, and Franklin went right right for them.

He played and pulled one around and bit it all over and then lay down on it and that was that.

He found the second pad when I was meditating this morning. It is right near where I sit. Franklin is a follow dog to the nth degree.

When our friend Randy was here earlier in the weekend, he said that he wouldn't want a bed that rustled like that.

I guess we should have taken a survey before we bought the bean bags. Live and learn.

Labels: Franklin

COURT OF LAST RESORT

Today's Paul Newman Fest film was also a NYTimes Best Film, Sydney Lumet's

The Verdict (1982)

This is really a great film.

It has Newman firmly in place as a character actor who can hold an entire project together. He is still improbably handsome but he transcends this and you see the entire person he is portraying.

As an attorney with a drinking problem, he has special resonance with me. He hits the exact right chords. I can identify with him inside and outside.

The script for this is by David Mamet and Newman has the support of James Mason as the villainous opposition, Jack Warden as a trusted friend and Charlotte Rampling as, well, see the movie.

I would love to see this again sometime. My third or fourth time.

I will give it a 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: best films, film, films

ALOHA SPIRIT

Obama’s Zen State, Well, It’s Hawaiian

I know about this from friends who have moved there.

It says a lot about his attitude of outreach and the singleminded anger of the people who don't like it. They do not, understandably, have the Aloha spirit.

Once again, the grandfather, Stanley Dunham, is seen as having so much influence.

A man who did not have a lot of success in life but had a strong spirit, he is one of the fathers who stood in for the absent biological one.

See Dreams From My Father.

Labels: Administration Obama, Barack Obama

NORAD TRACKS SANTA

I love this web site and have watched it for years.

Look at its history.

It used to be a more primitive tracking with voices from NORAD bases around the world. Satellite tracking stations and so on.

Now it has googled up and there is a photo with each location as Santa moves from one side of the world to the other.

You should get onto this now because Santa has already started his trip.

It may be Eve where you are but it is the big day right now in Africa.

If you can do the Google Earth version, you must. It is very kooool.

The history.

Last year, NORAD's Santa tracking center answered 94,000 calls and responded to 10,000 e-mails. About 10.6 million visitors went to the Web site, which can be viewed in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese and Chinese.

NORAD's holiday tradition can by traced to 1955, when a Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears, Roebuck & Co. ad telling children of a phone number to talk to Santa. The number was one digit off, and the first child to get through reached the Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor.
Col. Harry W. Shoup answered.

Shoup's daughter, Terri Van Keuren, said her dad, now 91, was surprised to hear that the little voice on the other end thought he was Santa.

"Dad thought, `What the heck? This must be some kind of code,'" said Van Keuren, 59.

Shoup, described by his daughter as "just a nut about Christmas," didn't want to break the boy's heart, so he sounded a booming "Ho, ho, ho!" and pretended to be Santa Claus.

Enough calls followed that Shoup assigned an officer to answer them while the problem was fixed. But Shoup and the staff he was directing to "locate" Santa on radar ended up embracing the idea. NORAD picked up the tradition when it was formed 50 years ago.

Labels: holidays

WANING?

Gallup says:

"Two-thirds of U.S. adults today perceive that the influence of religion in American life is waning, while just 27% believe it is rising. This represents a sharp decline in the image of religion compared with only three years ago, when 50% thought its influence was on an upswing, and marks one of the weakest readings on the influence of religion in Gallup's five-decade history of asking the question".

I am not surprised.

We have seen the effect of self-described religionists over the last eight years. Lousy PR. People voted for a pragmatist who happens to be a christian.

The term "religion" is pretty loose. I would take it to mean any organized belief system which tells its adherents what to think, feel and do to be "good". Or something like that.

I guess you would have to add God in there somewhere to make it a religion, huh? But not really.

There are so many "gods" around that it is hard to figure out what the core beliefs might be. It is the practice that counts.

I, for example am not religious but I believe in God. My own conception.

In fact, I am, indeed, anti-religious. I don't mind if you are religious and keep it to yourself. I am anti-religious when you want to impose your dogma on me.

We have had a bad case of that here in California with the Prop 8 thing. It must be said that many religious opposed this measure.

So where does the poll leave us? In the Prop 8 case it shows that this time more people, including some religious, were supportive of gay marriage than ever before. Since most of this is about religions, then we have a QED even though we lost.

I hope this is a hopeful sign. Hope squared.

These guys worship a golden cow. At least the cow doesn't hate queers.

Labels: christist watch, religion, republican whack jobs

THE HOLIDAY

For some, the holiday looms ahead.

In our house, the holiday has already passed.

Yesterday was John's 70th birthday and it was a nicely orchestrated extravaganza.

No one actually orchestrated it but it had the aura of a performance nonetheless.

A parade of friends, FedEx men, postal workers, florist delivery people as well as phone calls came in a regular cadence. Flowers, gifts, messages of love. Even a bunch of balloons while we were having cake and ice cream. Talk about perfect timing!

Inside the house we had two best friends visiting to give a bit of human mass to the birthday dinner (roast beef and oven roast potatoes) as well as the cake and a lightly sung "happy birthday".

There were some neat gifts.

Good tidings.

This morning another beautiful tropical flower display. I wish the weather matched it.

Of course, I am just an observer but I think that he had a pretty good time. I think yesterday's events were unexpected, in a way, because the biggest event was his trip to Italy. This serial celebration was icing on the cake, so to speak.

I had a good time too. I get to smell the roses and play with the gifts!

I realized today that I have a husband who is 70 years old.

I told him recently that it had never occurred to me that I would end up married to a 70 year old man.

We think like that.

I never expected to be a 70 year old man myself. I must say that being one has been rather nice. Painless. An easing into the unexpected.

I think that most of us realize throughout our lives that we will continue to age and then die. This is just a superficial awareness. The actual experience comes as a, so far, gentle surprise.

So here we are. Two guys who made it this far and have so much more to see and do.

What a wonderful time of life!

Labels: aging, birthdays

CIC HUNK

So the papps finally got to the Chief.

This isn't the first time. They did it a few years ago. His walk out of the water is number one on Google images under "obama".

He is in far better shape this time. Look at the pecs and abs.

There was/is some consternation about this. On CNN one of the dunderheads said that she didn't want "to see our President with his shirt off". Repressed?

Others are worried about the security.

Somewhere I read that he just "gave it up". You want to swim on a public beach then you will have to have the photos going around. I just finished a photo essay with 15 photos of other presidents with their shirts off.

Obama rules!

Even our Arnie is a tub now. A cautionary tale for body builders who don't "train down" but just let it turn to fat.

I think it is great. Shame about the body is such a relic of the past. He and she are good looking people in great shape. How else to underline the problems we have with obesity and fitness?

Good for him. The power of example.

Labels: Administration Obama

MISSING IN ACTION

No report filed yesterday.

I was too busy.

I had an interview with an MIT applicant who lives in my area and, what with the Sunday long morning dog walk and the Sunday paper and the afternoon dog walk which turned out to be long too, I didn't get to the blog at all.

Mea culpa. I hope that you also had a nicely busy day.

We are also getting company today for three days.

It is John's birthday tomorrow and we are trying our damnedest to aggregate a crowd to celebrate it. True to the season, everybody seems to have other plans.

This is the problem of having a birthday during Christmas week.

But I snagged two people to sit at the table with us and to have cake. I did my best.

We are also still working with Franklin on accepting his new bead beds. Today, we decided to take out some of the beads so the beds weren't so tight and hard. He stayed on one a little longer. Not too long. But longer. We will see.

We are giving it a week and then, if it is still a washout, we will go to PetSmart and get some fluff beds and give the bead ones away.

You can lead a dog to his bed but you can't make him lie in it. It is supposed to provide rest. Not provoke a fight.

It is hard to say how many posts there will be for the week.

Our friends leave Wednesday morning so there is all day Christmas to moan about no mail and a limited diet on the internet. We will watch a movie. Not the one with the angel and the awful people of Grover Corners. Boy do I hate that film.

Oh. I nearly forgot. They were showing that at the neighbor's Christmas party Saturday night.

Yes. I went. For half an hour.

It was OK. Toy food. Puffy little balls and pillows. Almost all made with cheese.

Last year they had little sandwiches and lox. The recession.

I did find fruit and some broccoli. I came home after half an hour and had half a ham sandwich and salad to finish things off. Healthy and not one cheese ingredient.

I am not complaining. But for an introvert one way to stay in a corner and feel good about it is the food. When you don't have that, well, there is no solace.

Yeh. And I don't drink either.

John stayed way past my bedtime and had a good time. Franklin and I went out and looked at the stars. Me in the hot spa and he next to me. A man and his dog in the out of doors. Bliss.

Labels: blogging, life

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

As a graduate of a technical university, I am more than pleased to see Obama's plan to place science first on many fronts and to recognize that the scientific method is applicable to political and governing decisions in almost all instances.

Labels: Administration Obama

SENSATIONAL NEWS

Today's Paul Newman Fest film was

Absence of Malice (1981)

directed by Sydney Pollack which is a good start.

Newman ages in this one. He is not physical any more. He is deeper gray and he is very thin. He is 56.

This is the third phase of his career. He started as a pinup and then in remakes of his and other's broadway plays. Then he got to be a star with star treatment. Good films but a bit too Hollywood for me. There are exceptions with Hud and Cool Hand Luke.

Now we are entering the vintage years. Everything comes together. You can see it starting in this film. His acting is beyond approach.

Sally Field is good too. And this is the film with the really great ending with Wilford Brimley kicking everyone's ass.

If you saw the film you will remember the performance.

This is an issue film. Freedoms of the press taken too far. Probably improbable but we don't care.

I saw this the first time and I liked it a lot and I liked it this time too but that will be enough unless I can bring the Brimley piece up on YouTube or something.

Well, I might include it in the Sydney Pollack fest that I will do someday.

I love Pollack movies and especially when he is in them but he is not in this film. He is all over it but he is not in it.

He manages scenes that are thrilling. He gives us scenes that are explanatory and are very clear about the law for god's sake. He gives us a very controlled performance from Field who we know can vary over the lot.

But for now, I think I will cherish it in my memory. I have seen it twice.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: film, films

NOISEMAKERS

Franklin has had these old crate liners that he lies on in the sun room and behind the couch.

Being kind and considerate human companions we got him two new real beds for his birthday and for christmas.

The beds are made with plastic beads like a bean bag chair. They rustle.

He does not like the rustling.

He will not go up on the beds. He does not want anything to do with them.

Shock. Dismay. That's us. Not him.

Then I made the mistake of "making" him walk on it. That, as I said, was a real mistake. It worsened his aversion.

So, we have let the bean bag beds lie where the old ones were. Waiting for him to accommodate.

No dice.

He will give the look of a martyr and lie right next to them.

The old beds are outside in a box ready for the trash collectors but we have not yet put them into the "take this" category. They sit inside the gate.

I hope that we do not have to bring them back.

He is relenting a bit. I got him to put both feet on one this morning and then he played with it some. The rustling noise is not as off putting.

When I came home from my Meeting this morning he went over to the bed and put his feet on it. Another sign of weakening resolve.

We know that when and if he gets used to them and lies down, he will be very happy with them. They are firm but flexible and quite comfortable. They fit to the body.

He is a stubborn cuss. The issue is as much about his making his own decisions as it is about the change of furniture.

Airedales are notoriously independent. He is a true example of the breed. He will resist going any walk way that he does not want to take. He will not even snuggle or eat if it is not his own idea. It can drive me crazy.

In this case, we have decided to go gentle with it and give it a week.

I foresee his getting on with it and liking the result. Warm. Soft. Firm support.

But I cannot push.

John has a different way of working with him and he will get into it also.

Another project.

Why didn't we get a compliant, easy going, slave of a dog? Because it would be so dull.

Never a dull dog moment. Never. And we love it.

Labels: Franklin

EQUALITY

Tomorrow is the winter solstice.

Thank heavens! It is dark and cold enough now. I am ready for a return of the sun.

I usually show Stonehenge or another British henge but here is something different.

This is the Astronomy Picture of the Day or APOD which I follow religiously.

Here is what they say about it.

Tomorrow's solstice marks the southernmost point of the Sun's annual motion through planet Earth's sky and the astronomical beginning of winter in the north. In celebration of the northern winter solstice and the International Year of Astronomy 2009, you can watch a live webcast of the the solstice sunrise from the megalithic tomb of Newgrange, in County Meath, Ireland. Newgrange dates to 5,000 years ago, much older than Stonehenge, but also with accurate alignments to the solstice Sun. In this view from within the burial mound's inner chamber, the first rays of the solstice sunrise are passing through a box constructed above the entrance and shine down an 18 meter long tunnel to illuminate the floor at the foot of a decorated stone. The actual stone itself would have been directly illuminated by the solstice Sun 5,000 years ago. The long time exposure also captures the ghostly figure of a more modern astronomer in motion. To watch the live webcast follow the indicated link below. The webcast is planned to go live at 0830 coordinated Universal Time (for example, at 3:30am Eastern Time in the US) tomorrow, Sunday, the 21st.

Webcast of the solstice sunrise from Newgrange.

Labels: APOD

UPSET

They are still flipping over Obama's choice of Rick Warren to say a two minute invocation at the inaugural.

Obama’s Choice of Pastor Creates Furor

Yesterday I stumbled upon some of the vilest and most scurrilous anti-Obama material I have seen and it was on a presumably liberal gay web site.

I guess being a lefty doesn't immunize you from being hateful.

I have pretty much put this away but I still think that people should get a grip.

This guy Warren is not my cup of tea but he has done some good things. He is not a hellfire and damnation guy. He is just ignorant. And out of date. Not evil things.

I really think that Obama is being very wise here.

He is fundamentally co-opting the fundamentalists. Warren is seen as a leader from outside but inside the fundies, the power centers are with the really really hateful Dobson and others of his ilk.

This has to upset the inner workings of fundamentalist politics. And yes there is one.

Before I saw it anywhere else, I pointed to Warren's potential as a Billy Graham figure.

There has always been one and, mostly, it has been Billy Graham. A relatively harmless figure head who provided political cover to many administrations over the years.

Warren is moving to a new point of view. He favors gay unions. He has done much of his work with AIDS.

Does anyone know that this guy reverse tithes? He gives away 90% of his income and keeps 10. And that goes to some pretty good causes in my book.

He has said some stupid things but he is talking to his base after all.

I have said before that this is why I do not like identity politics. It is why Obama is trying to get beyond it.

Look!

I want my rights and all. I want to stay married. And at the same time, I want a national consensus on health care, a solid move to solve the energy crisis, an initiative to get the world moving on slowing then stopping global warming. I want us out of Iraq. I want to speak to our allies and our 'enemies' before they become enemies. I want what Obama offers overall.

I want an end to this partisan poison, this name calling, this divisiveness.

That means that I have to be willing to talk to "them" as much as for "them" to talk to and acknowledge me.

There are going to be more of these upsets as Obama tries to right the listing ship of state. He will want to include a lot of people that I may not approve of. Good for him to have the courage to unite rather than to pander and separate.

We can see where that has gotten us.

Labels: Administration Obama

GOOD Ol' JERRY BROWN updated with more detailed NYTimes article

Top Lawyer Urges Voiding California Proposition 8

He has changed position on his brief to the court. It was expected that he would argue for the Proposition to be upheld. He did not.

An action of conscience.

A big surprise to a lot of people including the No on 8 people.

Labels: gay marriage, gay rights

JACK OFF formerly titled UP GRADO

I have two sets of headphones.

One has fallen apart and can't be put back together again save string and rubber bands. The other is 15 years old and has a disconcerting buzz in the background.

Neither have a micro-jack which is required for my iMac.

I want to use the earphones (known as "cans" to the geek set) for movies when only I am watching and my husband does not want to hear the soundtrack. Or to circumvent his interrupting to ask "who is that"? just at the wrong moment.

Blanked out.

I also really really want to hear Daryl Hall's Live from Daryl's House and other music sites without running others out of the kitchen where I also have my office.

So, I decided to get a new set of "cans" (I guess if you have to put quotes around it you are not really as hip as you might think you are) and, for sure, get a set that has the micro-plug.

So I consulted and searched and decided on the extremely economical Grado SR 60s. Decidedly with a micro-plug.

The earphones arrived yesterday and fuck-all they had a big two inch jack. Keerist!

I called my consultant who was as dismayed as I. While I was in the middle of my upset, I thought that I could go out and get an adaptor. So I called my local Radio Shack and, sure as shittin', they had just the thing.

I asked if I should bring the earphones and they said "sure" in that way that means you don't really need to but, just the same, we will say you do to keep you happy.

So I took off straight to the store which was only moderately crowded at 515 PM.

Let me say a word about Radio Shack.

I hate to go there. And yet, they always have just what I need and want.

They have been having all I need or want since I was in college 50 years ago.

Radio Shack was new then and so were we. We Techies would go to RS of a Saturday and just hang out. Fondle the merchandise. They were not the cut-rate place then, really. They were pioneers. Leaders. They had all the stuff you needed for Hi-Fi. What was a big breakthrough then. Stereo was yet to come but it was on its way. No one had a stereo but you could listen to auto race records and shit like that at Radio Shack and no one would bother you. As I recall, there were two floors on Tremont Street in downtown Boston.

Radio Shack was also the source of our business' first computer. The TRS 80. It still lives in the basement of my partner's house. A certified antique.

Today, Radio Shack is a pale shadow of that time.

As I entered our local store I noticed that it was filled with low lives and thugs. And that was just the staff.

The sales people waited on you while keeping a suspicious eye on all the other shoppers. So did I, actually. Gang bangers for sure.

But listen to this!

The guy who waited on me, fat, a wispy mustache, one eye floating, took me aside to the adaptor department and asked to see the earphones.

I opened the box.

He looked inside.

He raised an eyebrow and took the big jack in his fat little hand and with the other hand he pulled the big jack off (!!) the end of the cord to reveal—voila!—a micro-jack! Hiding right there in the earphone cord as installed. Jesus H. Christ.

I laughed. He laughed. I said that I should by an adaptor anyway to make up for his time.

No. It was obvious that the pleasure of one-upping one of the outside world with inside knowledge was satisfying enough. Geek pride.

I came home and tested my earphones and they are really great. And, despite rumors to the contrary, they do not leak sound. I can blast away at Daryl and the guys and not bother a (blue-eyed) soul.

Labels: macintosh, music

FROM THE TOP

And now, from our Commander in Chief. I rest my case and this is the end of it here.

Labels: Administration Obama

MORE INCLUSION

I am surprised that a bunch of lefty agnostics care so much about an invocation. And now, others join my argument that it is OK. Not to worry. Not the end of the world. And maybe even a genius stroke!

ACCOUNTABILITY WATCH

Labels: Administration Obama, gay rights, politics

SEE I TOLD YOU

Obama Selects Evangelist for Invocation

Barack Obama has selected the Rev. Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor and author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, a role that positions Mr. Warren to succeed Billy Graham as the nation’s pre-eminent minister and reflects the generational changes in the evangelical Christian movement.

And Yo Yo Ma in a quartet. By John fucking Williams?

Well, he had a leg up with his Patriot, which even I think is very nice, at the Grant Park victory speech.

Labels: Administration Obama, gay rights, religion

PARTNERSHIP

This is about Obama's speechwriter (and more).

Helping to Write History

This guy is 27 years old and way wiser than that.

I have read about him before but this is the best article I have seen hands down.

Many touching moments. Teary. Happy. Human.

"There's a mutual respect and appreciation between them, and the president-elect trusts Jon's instincts and ability. It's a partnership."

They stumbled upon it by accident in 2004, when Obama, just elected to the Senate, needed to hire a speechwriter. He brought Favreau, then 23, into the Senate dining room for an interview on his first day in office. They talked for 30 minutes about harmless topics such as family and baseball before Obama turned serious.

"So," he said. "What's your theory on speechwriting?"

Awkward silence............Favreau looked at Obama and went with his gut.

"A speech can broaden the circle of people who care about this stuff," Favreau said. "How do you say to the average person that's been hurting: 'I hear you. I'm there. Even though you've been so disappointed and cynical about politics in the past, and with good reason, we can move in the right direction. Just give me a chance.' "

"I think this is going to work," Obama said.

Labels: Administration Obama

BALANCE?

The Obama's reply to the Rick Warren backlash. Very much the point that I made in the middle there.

"Pastor Rick Warren has a long history of activism on behalf of the disadvantaged and the downtrodden. He's devoted his life to performing good works for the poor and leads the evangelical movement in addressing the global HIV/AIDS crisis. In fact, the President-elect recently addressed Rick Warren's Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health to salute Warren's leadership in the struggle against HIV/AIDS and pledge his support to the effort in the years ahead.
The President-elect disagrees with Pastor Warren on issues that affect the LGBT community. They disagree on other issues as well. But what's important is that they agree on many issues vital to the pursuit of social justice, including poverty relief and moving toward a sustainable planet; and they share a commitment to renewing America's promise by expanding opportunity at home and restoring our moral leadership abroad.
As he's said again and again, the President-elect is committed to bringing together all sides of the faith discussion in search of common ground. That's the only way we'll be able to unite this country with the resolve and common purpose necessary to solve the challenges we face.
The Inauguration will also involve Reverend Joseph Lowery, who will be delivering the official benediction at the Inauguration. Reverend Lowery is a giant of the civil rights movement who boasts a proudly progressive record on LGBT issues. He has been a leader in the struggle for civil rights for all Americans, gay or straight.
And for the very first time, there will be a group representing the interests of LGBT Americans participating in the Inaugural Parade."

This is exactly the point that I was making.

Labels: Administration Obama, gay rights, religion

INCLUSION?

The gay politics/blog world is incensed over the choice of Rick Warren, the evangelist, to say the invocation at the Inauguration.

Warren and Obama are old friends. Friends who disagree but friends.

Warren was outspokenly for Prop 8 and doesn't hold views that are very satisfactory to gay spokespeople or to me, for that matter.

So there is an uproar. And this is why I do not like identity politics.

One can find a lot of reasons why Warren is a good choice for this position. Politically, he represents a bloc of people who don't necessarily agree with me or Obama. But he is more of the middle than the right right wing.

He could be the Billy Graham of this administration. Some may think we don't need one but my observation is that Billy always stayed in his corner (the amen corner) and didn't step out of it much. He was a spiritual guide for many political leaders and he had a vast constituency on a wide spectrum of religious adherence.

The last administration didn't have one. Not even Billy.

Another thing is that Obama is about inclusion. Not division. I am for that. It is a big reason why I voted for him.

As a result, I am going to have to swallow hard around some of the people who are included.

Another thing. The point has been made by gay political operatives that the problems around Prop 8 were that they did not reach out to the religious community. They polarized the dialogue and, as a result, many religious voted for the proposition. These folks believe, as I do, that we must engage the churches and the religious leaders.

The way to do that is through other religious leaders. Not with people like me who have a low regard for religion and its works.

And so on.

There are a lot of things that the Obamas are going to do that I won't like. I want the world my way.

But that means I am going to get into a lot of arguments with people who want it their way.

I think that Obama wants to find ways to do "it" our way.

I am tired of the ceaseless arguments between identities. I would like a larger umbrella.

If Obama can unfreeze Rick Warren and move him even a bit toward a more liberal gospel then I am all for it. After all, these guys are politicians at heart. Warren can see the opportunities for him in this. Be like Billy!

This is an experiment in collaboration.

I am willing to bite my tongue while it is going on and, at the same time, work from my side to get our point across. I may even write to the Obamas and tell them how I feel. That is what they want. That is what they are getting from many sides of many issues. The web site is right there for us to rant away on.

Inclusion.

Labels: Administration Obama, gay politics

THE MEDIA

Labels: weather

YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR

My family is in that 1870-1900 stream for the most part. From Germany. See those 16 little dots? My great great grandparents.

This is from Andrew Sullivan.

Labels: family

RAIN AGAIN

I know. I shouldn't complain.

Yesterday was nice.

But today there is more rain than there was on Monday.

If all this rain was snow, we would be up to our ass in it.

But there is and will be snow down to 2000 feet, they say.

That means another beauteous day tomorrow, looking at the mountain.

The water is not really hurting us. I just worry about it. We have one leak at the join between the sunroom and the main house structure but that is an old standby.

A pot and a towel around the pot.

Franklin had to walk this afternoon. 15 minutes. Rewarded with a huge poop. I am glad that he moaned me out the door.

He knows.

We have more rain this year than last. 4 versus 3 inches. How many inches of rain did you have in your town last year?

If you want to read about it, here it is in the local paper.

Winter Storm Closes Roads

There is no drainage on most of our roads. It is left to run to the lowest spot and then into the giant flood control channels that mostly follow natural valleys. So on the way to the flood control system, it floods the streets.

They just go out and put the temporary signs up and people take the other route. Or go slow through the water.

If it rained every week it would be a problem but it doesn't.

We are really as obsessed about the weather as John's Mom was when she lived in Florida. Good days, bad days, weather in the north. She was always looking at the weather.

Now we are doing the same.

Labels: weather

HOCKEY PUCK

Today's Paul Newman Film Fest entry is

Slap Shot (1977)

This rollicking and profane (even now, let alone for its time) sports movie is a lot of fun to watch.

It is the beginning of Newman's turn into non-romantic leads. He is still the rebel with bad ideas. A manager/player on a near defunct hockey team with a lot of girl trouble on the side.

I remember this movie fondly and was not disappointed in seeing it again.

Strother Martiin rejoins Newman and Michael Ontkean has his career high water mark in this one. He is the ingenue. His grand finale is great.

Funny.

There are tons of 70's references. I am sure that they figured on making this a document of the times. The television is always on. The double knit clothes glare into the tube. The haircuts alone are worth the viewing.

I would see this again any time to get all the lines I missed this time.

A 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: film, films

DISASTERLESS

Every time there is a fire or earthquake out here, the emails start.

We are glad to get them because we know people care and are worried for our welfare.

Almost always, we are miles and miles away from the place they are writing about. California is a big place.

On the other hand, sometimes, we feel a bit singled out. People seem to think that we are about to slide into the Pacific on a mudslide or an earthquake. Or that we will burn to a crisp in the fires that have, I admit, become more frequent.

When we moved here, people seemed puzzled as to why we would want to go to a place that had so much hazard in it.

But our own perception is different. I have been in an earthquake. It took a few seconds. I have been in a hurricane. It took a lot longer for the danger to be over.

We know that we read about a hell of a lot more stuff happening back east than we get here.

Now we have some data.

Disaster area? Southern California has it made in the shade

It turns out that we are in one of the safest places in the country!

In any week, a whole lot more shit happens somewhere else than happens here.

For example, 400,000 and more people lost their electricity in a Northeast icestorm for most of last weekend and it all seemed to be a normal thing.

Then there are the hurricanes. The flooding rivers. The tornadoes. The tropical storms. The nor'easters.

Somehow the balance of disasters, what some call the "random acts of god", seem to be distributed across an area that is located anywhere else but here.

Labels: California, life, nature

BIDEN LOVE

In what is probably a loaded poll, the Daily Kos today asked which Obama team member people would want to invite to their house for the holidays.

Biden won hands down. No one else was close.

I think that Biden love is widespread. And now that he has a puppy, wow.

Labels: Joe Biden

BLAGO

I think that the Obama team and its leader (Obama, natch) have done masterfully well with the whole Illinois corruption thing.

I spell "Illinois" which isn't too easy so I don't have to spell the governor's name.

First, they did the general statement.

Then, he got the internal investigation rolling.

Then he tied in with Fitzpatrick who conveniently asked them to wait a week for the publication of details. In a week, Obama is gone on vacation and the whole world will be rolling into the holidays.

Today in the presser, yet again, the media started to waste our time and theirs by diverting from the appointment of the Education Secretary to bring the corruption thing up.

Obama sharply interrupted and told the questioner the results would be released next week and not to waste his/her question.

Fast, pivot and shoot.

And look at the result!

Poll: Only One In Four Think Obama's Team Did Something Wrong In Connection With Blago

Well, that is the same one in four that we will be hearing from from now until the Obama period is over.

They are the same people who still approve of George Bush, who think that Sarah Palin would make a great president and that Obama is really a British subject and a muslim.

Labels: Administration Obama

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

DA DA DA DUMMMMMM!

They were immensely satisfying. Good thing as I was only getting 25% and probably a dim sample of that.

That is the deal with Beethoven. There is enough that is accessible to be totally involving and pleasurable and, when you are ready and if you are able, there is always more.

I have heard the most accomplished pianists say the same thing about the Sonatas.

Then there are all the other works. The Symphonies and Choral Works (I capitalize in awe of the composer, all others are lower case) are for us to sit back and absorb. Less to participate in.

And then you can overdo it.

John and I signed up to hear the Julliard String Quartet do all the Quartets in four concerts, in one season. There are 16 of them. Four per recital.

I could only make it through about half of them. I found myself suffering an anxiety attack in my seat at Boston's Jordan Hall as a result of the conflict. Part of me was pushing myself to stay and hear them and another part wanted to run for the exits. Overload. I bailed.

No composer has yet had the effect on me that Beethoven has and yet I do not listen to his work much today.

It is there on the radio from time to time.

I think that to study him further is to assay one's own inadequacy of genius. Or something.

Maybe I just got tired and ran for the exit.

In any event, it is his birthday and he would be 238. What a long time after one's living life to have such an impact.

Labels: music

ORION IS EVERYWHERE

I see my one and only constellation in this great APOD photo

He in Turkey these days.

I wondered.

He has left our morning skies and is just here in evening.

I wondered where he was spending his days.

Labels: APOD, astropix

PRESIDENTIAL TRAINING

I am still excited about the train ride the Obama and Biden families will be taking to the Inauguration.The idea is to have him see as many people as possible along the route, thus stretching out the length of the procession. He could travel in front of millions. Well, a few hundred thousand.

The Presidents, campaigns and trains have a long history. Trains are a great way to be in touch with the people and, at the same time, keep a distance as the train keeps moving. Very efficient.

When I was a kid, campaigns always included a whistle stop trip or two.

They never made it to my town but the idea was there. The people who did see the train were my surrogates. It felt as though we were in touch. all together.

Obama used this in his campaign two or three times. I felt it then.

And, of course, Biden is the guy who commuted to the Senate by train "every day".

Here is the great man on a whistle stop. The Democrat that circumstances and temperament may be the closest match for Obama.

I am looking forward to seeing and feeling, yet again, the thrill of the charismatic power of the Presidency and its availabilty to all the people even in this age of the bubble that surrounds the man.

Labels: Administration Obama

TILED OUT

The tile guy is here. A friend who is a pro.

He has done the worst part already. Sawing/grinding the grout out and recovering the existing tiles.

Dust. But not as much as I expected.

This afternoon he will put the tile back down.

He thinks the reason we are getting this rising up of tiles is that they were not put down very well. Not a lot of cement or whatever on the bottom.

We know that everything shifts in the house's structure. There are constant itty-bitty earthquakes and such. The tiles are squeezed and rise up. So now we are paying the price for the original negligence.

We will sleep in the guest room tonight so that 'someone' doesn't walk on the newly glued tiles.

'Someone' isn't too happy with the arrangements.

We have gone to the room several times to inspect. We put his bed in the guest room and he took his regular nap with me. Now, I have brought it out to the kitchen so that he can be with me.

Things will be back to normal tomorrow night.

Between the rain and the dislocation it is an unsettling day for the dog and his companions.

We would treat it as a vacation trip! But it is raining.

Labels: repairs

RAIN

Things just stop when there is rain in the desert.

I get to see how much of my life is outdoors or near outdoors.

The misty rain started early about the time I went to the gym. Time to be careful on the roads. They rarely get wet so it is important to know that a little rain will make them very slippery. I saw one accident.

A little later, the rain was heavier and Franklin would not go out. No walk.

Special vigilance then to see if he needs to pee. Which he did around 1130. He didn't want to do it but we took the dry route. Out the front door, into the garage, out the garage door, quick around the corner to the carport and out to the patch of lawn with its tree and ahhhhhhh--relief.

I had a visitor this morning. We get together every week out at the patio table in front. Not today.

There is a guy doing work in the house. Fixing tile in the bedroom. Everything has to be stored out of the way inside. No taking the carpets out while he works.

Now we are watching it rain, Franklin and I. A rare sight. Pitter patter. John just called me to see the mountain behind us wreathed in rain and fog. It sort of rises into it and one gets the feeling of a fantasy land. The movie Lost Horizons (1937) part of which was filmed here. Dreamy.

And, at the same time, I am keeping one eye on the water levels and taking care to see that there is no water running into the house. We have iffy drainage out there. So far so good. It is persistent but gentle rain.

I suppose there will be no afternoon Franklin walk either. That is OK. But we will have to make some effort to get out for the "big P" if not some exercise.

He will let me know. He is the one who made the call on the "little p" run so I am sure I will hear when he is ready for more.

This is a big storm on the other side of the mountain. Less so here.

It will be over tonight with sun tomorrow. Another small run of showers on Wednesday.

It is OK. It is winter. It rains in winter.

Today will be one of the eight days without sun in Palm Springs. We will make it.

Labels: weather

THIS IS GREAT!

From Salon War Room:

Inaugural train trip

Today, the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee announced that the President-elect, Vice President-elect and their families will travel - via railroad -- to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 17th and host events along the way in Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The trip marks the final leg of a journey that began on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Illinois and will culminate on the steps of the United States Capitol.

"As part of the most open and accessible Inauguration in history, we hope to include as many Americans as possible who wish to participate, but can't be in Washington," said Emmett S. Beliveau, Executive Director of the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee. "These events will allow us to do that while honoring the rich history and tradition of previous inaugural journeys."

In the tradition of past Presidents-elect, the daylong trip will include a series of events on the way to Washington, DC. Saturday morning, President-elect Obama and his family will hold an event in Philadelphia before boarding a train bound for Wilmington, Delaware, where he will be joined by Vice President-elect Biden and his family. Together, the families will travel to Baltimore, Maryland, and hold another event, before finally arriving in Washington, D.C. on Saturday evening . . .

Nicely played: This should give more of the millions of Americans hoping to participate in the inauguration ceremonies a chance to do so.

Labels: Administration Obama

DOWNSIZING

How many politicians are aiming for less power?

Biden to shrink VP role — big time

It says here that Cheney got his intelligence briefing before the President.

Well, we knew all this shit, including the "shadow government" was going on.

I love Joe Biden.

And I regret that I haven't put in the picture of him with his puppy so here it is.

Labels: Joe Biden

BZZZZZZZZZ

Today's Paul Newman Fest film was

The Sting (1973)

Newman the rascal again. With Redford. Better than the cowboy film by far, same director.

This is a film that you can only see every twenty years or so because it is all twists and turns and if you know them you are left looking at the beautiful period detail which is fine enough for me but I am afraid that the drama part would lose its bite.

Should there be a comma in there somewhere?

Nevertheless, I did see it when it came out 35 years ago and it was all fresh and new and very entertaining this time around.

Newman doesn't do a lot in this but it is still good to see him running things. There is a huge cast with wonderful character actors. Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston, the wonderful Eileen Brennan (the whore with a heart of gold). and Harold Gould.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5 and look forward to seeing it again 35 years from now. Maybe 20. Maybe sooner. I am getting more forgetful every year.

Labels: film, films

REDEMPTION

I gotta hand it to McCain for this:

McCain scolds GOP for whacking Obama

“I think that the Obama campaign should and will give all information necessary. You know, in all due respect to the Republican National Committee and anybody — right now, I think we should try to be working constructively together, not only on an issue such as this, but on the economy stimulus package, reforms that are necessary. And so, I don't know all the details of the relationship between President-elect Obama's campaign or his people and the governor of Illinois, but I have some confidence that all the information will come out. It always does, it seems to me.”

It has been annoying to see the daily diatribe of the RNC about this.

It is pure political pot stirring. Just the kind of thing we all voted to have done with.

As to whether any of the Blago shit gets washed up on the Obamas shoes, time will tell. I would assume that there was communications over the vacant senate seat and no doubt names were named in recommendation.

That there was talk of payoff? Forget it. And if some flunky did it, fire them immediately as an example and move on.

As smelly as the scandal is, there is nothing close to the smell of unsupervised billions to the banks, catastrophic unemployment and the continued wars in two countries. The laundry list goes on and on.

First things first.

Labels: Administration Obama, McCain

SEASONAL

We really have two seasons in the desert. Summer and Winter.

We distinguish the two very simply.

Winter begins, as it did today, with the unconscious decision to walk on the sunny side of the street.

Summer begins when we find ourselves walking in the shade.

I first became aware of this, early in our residence, when I was at a car wash. I found that I was not standing in the shade as I did on our arrival here (summer) but was leaning on a wall basking in the sun (winter).

As it happens, we are also pretty close to the solstices when this happens. But why look at the calendar when you can just sort of naturally find the right sun position.

Another dependable sign is when you meet someone in the summer and stop to talk you both automatically head to shade. Any shade. Even if it is just a telephone pole.

In winter, the opposite.

This may sound sort of "duhhh" but the reality is that we live in extremes here.

The air is so dry there is no heat in it. At night, the desert is cold. During the day it is hot.

How cold and how hot are the things that define the season. And all of it is around the sun.

Because it is dry, we do not feel the heat as much if we stay out of the sun. We really really feel the cold when there are no solar rays.

I am laboring the obvious but it is not obvious until you get it first hand.

I can assure you, from our ground observation of our sun-behavior, that winter started today in Palm Springs. Gloves. Hooded sweat shirt. Fast walking. Moving into the sun as soon as it was up.

Labels: desert, seasons

IMPRINT

Labels: photography

BIG BOY

Franklin is 6 today.

He and I just walked out back to put the trash in the barrel.

He loves to help and go along with.

It made me think what a pleasure it is to have him in my life.

I could never have imagined the experience that we have with him on a daily basis.

It goes beyond companionship. He is a participant in our lives. He has a role and he knows it.

I don't like pet gushers. I will try to keep this within the limits of moderate appreciation.

Labels: Franklin

INTERVIEW

Not the magazine. The interview that I am doing at one p.m today.

My last MIT kid for the year.

He will be the eighth I have done so far.

Almost all of them were for 'early admission'. I will know whether they made it or not on Monday.

This one is satisfied to lope along and just take the regular route. I think he will know in February.

I know that he is the last because the deadline to contact me was yesterday and the deadline for my report is January 7th. His report will go out today. I am a same day guy.

I am all up for it. Dave sent me a picture from MIT today. He works nearby and favors me with an iShot of some scene from time to time. It keeps my young blood from tiring out.

Today's photo was of the giant Alexander Calder sculpture right behind the dining hall where I worked for four years earning my keep.

I was, at first, a hash slinger and bus boy. I worked my way up to shift captain and then to head captain of the hundred or so kids who worked with me.

The photo and the reminiscence will stand me in good stead in the interview this afternoon. I will be energized and memorized to the max.

The Calder work is called "The Big Sail". It does not photograph well.

This shot is almost the same perspective that Dave's showed. The dining hall, Walker Memorial, is all but blanked out by the iron.

In real life, the piece is pretty good to look at. It does soar and sail even with its immense weight.

I like Calder's work but more the mobiles than the stabiles. He preferred calling his still works "stabiles" because they were to be seen as in flight. Or something. Calder. He was quite a guy. A regular on educational television.

Labels: MIT

HALF IN THE DOOR

I found this buried in a NYT article about Obama's management style.

A White House aide said Mr. Obama speaks with Mr. Bush “more than any of us know.”

Deeply engaged and not worried about who he is engaged with if it gets the job done.

Maybe this is not as extraordinary as I think it is but still.

These are extraordinary times.

It also says something about Bush that he is willing to do it. And I also credit Obama's apparent power to engage and network. He is irresistible.

Labels: Administration Obama

JOE BIDEN, REGULAR GUY, SORT OF

Biden's Puppy

Labels: Joe Biden

POPCORN

Today's Paul Newman Fest film was

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Newman is a star now and is getting big money so he gets big productions. It is not the best phase of his career and this is definitely not one of his better films.

It is a post-western western. All irony and tongue in cheek and heavily influenced by the Penn film Bonnie and Clyde.

The first half is amusing and the second drudgery.

Amazingly, Ebert found the same thing.

I swear I didn't read his review before I saw the movie.

Robert Redford is in this one, of course. It is a buddy movie after all. Another star-buddy.

The film is so lightweight that it floats from the mind. Newman will get over this fluff soon. There will be the con-man film next. Then we will get back to serious acting and strong character roles.

In the meantime I will give this a 3 out of Netflix 5. I don't ever want to see it again but it was pretty.

Labels: film, films

WALL STREET CAROLS

Labels: economy, holidays

ANTI-HEROES

Today's Paul Newman Fest film was

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

This is the ultimate anit-hero film and it fits Newman's style to a tee. T? Tea?

Luke is surrogate rebel for the other inmates in the prison farm where he ends up for a relatively minor offense. He earns his chops.

He is, of course, anything but a hero to the authorities.

This film is a monument to the idea of questioning authority. And rebelling. Note the time that it was made.

It is also a prison film. A legitimate genré.

It is great to watch again. There is a lot of humor and tragedy. It runs the gamut.

It is so good that Ebert wrote a second review.

I liked it. I will probably watch it again someday. It does seem a little long but maybe that is because I knew what was going to happen here and there. I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: film, films

ASTONISHING

Someone has done a survey of religious practice and politics.

Here is the correlation that they found between partisanship and prayer.

It turns out that the expected correlation between right wing partisanship and prayer is, indeed, present. But the astonishing part is that left wing partisans pray as frequently!

There is some speculation that this arises from belief intensity.

You certainly know people who do not have very intense beliefs, if any. I cannot believe it when I run into them. On the political side it would be the people who haven't decided yet or don't see a difference between the two parties. Vaguely disconnected.

So perhaps there are strong and weak believers and intense believers believe in it all—their country, their particular god, their party and, probably, themselves.

Take me for example.

I pray twice daily, at least. Sometimes, if you include group prayer, maybe as many as five or six times.

I told you that you would be surprised. Well, I didn't tell you but I bet you are.

Note, please, the this survey and my revelation do not discuss the "who" or "what" being prayed to. That is quite a different thing.

But prayer is prayer and faith is faith and strong belief always begets strong practice whether it be religious our political.

On the other hand I do not in any way identify with the people who stand outside the Supreme Court and pray for some political issue. Weeping and wailing and flailing their arms about.

This is the mixture of prayer and politics. I do not do that. I do not think that it should be done. Well, I am not in charge of who does or does not do it but I disapprove anyway.

Someone famous once advised that we should go into our closet to pray and I don't think that he meant that closet. He meant somewhere anonymous and quite. Private.

So there you are.

If you want to read more about this go here and here where you will find other links and other charts.

Labels: politics, religion

COMPLETION

Inauguration Is a Culmination for Black Airmen

The Obamas are masters of the little gesture with powerful meaning and impact.

There is nothing better than to see them apply this skill and sensitivity to this very important event in the life of our country.

Their bravery during the war — on behalf of a country that actively discriminated against them — helped persuade President Harry S. Truman to desegregate the military in 1948.

“The election of Barack Obama was like a culmination of a struggle that we were going through, wanting to be pilots,” said William M. Wheeler, 85, a retired Tuskegee combat fighter pilot who lives in Hempstead, N.Y. He tried to become a commercial pilot after the war but was offered a job cleaning planes instead.

Labels: Administration Obama

WHAT IT'S LIKE

It is very hard to explain alcoholism and what it feels like to be an alcoholic. I mean to people who are not alcoholics. People for whom a drink or two or even more is not a problem in their life.

This article comes pretty close to doing the job.

It's the Holidays. How about just one?

I like the part where he says it gives him an excuse not to go to parties.

What he means, I think, are two things. One is that parties that are mere excuses for drinking, "partying", are pretty boring. And two, if you are not drinking, you get to see what it is like from the outside and, believe me, it is not pretty.

I don't use my alcoholism as an excuse really but, in the case of parties, it is a pretty handy one.

The fact is that I can go just about anywhere there is drinking as long as I have a good social or spiritual reason to do so. After all, I get to talk to people who are drunk and want to be sober quite often.

One other thing. This guy breaks his anonymity in AA. Now I could say that is not a good thing and that it is not done but then I would, by implication, be breaking my anonymity as well. But I think that I have already done that in the blog so what the hell?

I am doing it at the level of blog conversation. He is doing it at the level of international press. A definite no-no by Tradition.

Labels: alcohol, life

STONEWALL 2.0

It's just like the old days only with computers and a hell of a long reach.

Gay Marriage Ban Inspires New Wave of Activists

I love this photo.

Labels: gay politics, gay rights

HOW'S HE DOING?

Take a look at this. Unprecedented approvals for Obama.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Here is the quote:

"An Obama job approval rating of 79 percent! That's the sort of rating you see when the public rallies around a leader after a national disaster. To many Americans, the Bush Administration was a national disaster," says CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.

Very nice.

Labels: Administration Obama

IDIOT

This guy Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois Governor (who had a very low approval rating before this) has been on the wire for months.

Now he got nabbed with an audacious attempt to extort money for Obama's senatorial replacement.

Here is Kevin Drum's great summary:

Blago Update

The former Illinois guv, a Republican, is currently in stir for the same kind of thing.

What is the deal here?

I don't know if Obama gets tainted or not. We will see. Rod was heard saying that Obama's preference wouldn't work because all they would give him was their appreciation.

Still. Good it didn't happen before the election. I will have to score a couple points for the prosecutor for political sensitivity.

It is the suave Patrick Fitzgerald, incidentally. I wouldn't want him on my ass.

Blagohevich even looks like a moroon. And the rug!!

Look at this presser from yesterday before the indictments were handed down.

Labels: corruption, politics

TAXING

OK. Yesterday was the dentist. That took a piece of the afternoon. A big piece. I had to wait some and then stop at the store on the way home for some extra milk. A misfire on the store visit on Friday.

My tooth is good though. I lost a filling and my man Dr. Bruno made me a new front tooth. It was a big filling.

What else took up so much time that I couldn't blog?

I can't remember.

But it was a busy, hectic day.

Oh. I know. I got a letter from the IRS about my return for 2006. My investment company told them that I received securities when I didn't. An obvious accounting error which took time and considerable mental and emotional energy until I got it sorted out. Or as sorted as it could be before my accountant and money manager take a look at it.

There is something that makes the blood run cold when I get something like this.

When I opened the letter, I figured it was the envelopes to mail my next year's quarterlies. No. It was a fucking rewrite of my return.

I am OK now though. Not too upset. I just want it resolved. But it will take t-i-m-e. What I don't like is the assumption of guilt. You have to prove innocence.

Fine when it is another tax cheating citizen but not OK when it happens to me who is innocent of any wrong doing and the mistake belongs to my investment company.

Today, I have time to spend with two friends and a guy to look at the tile in our bedroom. Still having small 'bubbles' show up. The tile rising up in a mound. I think it is because we had water in the room a couple of times.

Will we have to replace all the tile? Shit.

What else in bizzy today?

I have cut my own hair and taken a shower. The two definitely go together. Haircut first. Then wash off the little tiny fallout hairs.

I trimmed the roses. No post cutting shower here.

So here I am with a limited amount of blogging going on today.

In fact, none except this.

Labels: life

TENNESSEE TERRITORY

Today's Paul Newman film was Tennessee Williams'

Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)

Newman played this on the stage. It is his role. The hapless loser, Chance Wayne, who is happy anyway. Newman is everything a Tennessee Williams anti-hero should be: charming, brooding, subtle, and looks fantastic without a shirt on. Williams cast his men very carefully.

Chance returns to his home town after a career of failed hopes in New York and Hollywood to see his real love who is the daughter of the local political boss.

He is the protegé of a faded film star and he drives her here on the way to Palm Beach where he has a new job as a beach boy for a posh resort.

The astonishing Geraldine Page is the actress, Newman's latest gigolo gig, and Shirley Knight is the girlfriend.

The powerful Ed Begley is the boss and Rip Torn his henchman son. Mildred Dunnock is the kind and ineffectual aunt of the family.

These are all standard Williams' characters and all the actors are familiar players in Williams' plays.

The political shenanigans are just the same as we see now in the Palin crowd. Redneck populism brought to a boil.

Newman explores the ground of failure without missing an inch. Armed with a pretty face, a good performance in bed and little else he faces the loss of his youth. And more. His partnership with Page shows him his future. A fading film star who is either high or low on drugs most of the time.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

In reviewing Newman's work, it is amazing that he built his stardom on these doomed characters.

Labels: film, films

WHAT HE SAID

Whatever we have coming up the road will be met the same way.

With capable leadership for our time.

Labels: Administration Obama

INFAMY

I was only four years old but I remember that something terrible had happened.

My mother was crying and on the couch.

My dad was glued to the radio.

Not much more than that.

The attack on Pearl Harbor.

The War (as I still think of it) took a toll on us.

Later, in the winter of 1943, my father joined the Navy. He was too old to be drafted. Friends of his went. He thought that he should go too.

There are a lot of memories of that time. Not all of them bad, really.

On the home front, we dealt with gas and food rationing, saving tin cans, doing the air raid warning thing, blackouts.

My mother worked. She had to. I was alone a lot of the time.

It was a different way of life for sure.

I think that it was strengthening for me.

I certainly learned that change is constant. Hard times can be close by. You can get through them.

I remember when it was over. I remember when my dad came home.

The war wasn't over for him for a long time. If ever.

It got over for me pretty fast. I was eight years old. Pre-baby boom. Always young for my school class, through an accident of admissions policy, I was in fourth grade.

One of the benefits of the War was that my Mom and I went to Boston a couple of times to see my father. He was stationed on the North Atlantic on a destroyer.

I remember lots of things from those trips. I went back there for college and then to live for over forty years. A brief stay in Philadelphia doesn't count in my mind.

So you can go through some wrenching shit and still get a lot out of it in a positive way.

We were lucky. No one invaded the mainland. No one bombed us.

That came later.

Labels: history

GENIUS updated

This is the guy that bush trashed when he disagreed with the admin-iraq policy.

Rumsfeld nemesis Shinseki to be named VA secretary

As it happens he was right and the bushies were wrong. A nicely placed slap in the face to both W and Rummy. And Shinseki will be great at it.

The VA is not doing its job. The bushies have defunded it as the scandal about caring for wounded troops grows.

Another military guy in the Obama administration. And an Asian American. The first to reach 4 star rank.

Obama said he chose Shinseki for the VA post because he "was right" in predicting that the U.S. will need more troops in Iraq than Rumsfeld believed at the time.

"When I reflect on the sacrifices that have been made by our veterans and I think about how so many veterans around the country are struggling even more than those who have not served—higher unemployment rates, higher homeless rates, higher substance abuse rates, medical care that is inadequate—it breaks my heart," Obama told NBC.

Shinseki, 66, is slated to take the helm of the government's second largest agency, which was roundly criticized during the Bush administration for underestimating the amount of funding needed to treat thousands of injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Labels: Administration Obama, bush. bushies