esrosedotblog

POLL CUM

There is a lot of loose talk about how Obama is doing in the polls.

The answer is that he is on the upturn.

This is the most reliable aggregators of all poll results in the country.

If you want to see more with all the details of all the polls, go here

Labels: Administration Obama

UNSURE AT ANY SPEED

We came to the "no" decision five years ago when we put on a new roof and had to remove a lot of the wiring for the alarm system.

Weighing the Value of Home Security System

It was a no brainer.

Here are the things that happened when we had it.

A midnight call by the security company when the battery went down. The guy was a dick. He actually treated me as though I was a perp. I threatened to call 911 and he left.

We had a few "false" calls to the police. We didn't have to pay a fine as there was a grace fee but still.

The batteries were forever running out. A pain in the ass.

Now we keep the house open. Anyone can get in. Fuck it.

It is the same principle we learned when we got a convertible. Leave the alarm off so they don't slit your top.

Now, if they want to come in, welcome. Take what you want.

And, we have a big scary Airedale who will not even let a good friend come in without a bark and wants us to come before he lets them "in". If you are a friend, it is a welcome bark. If you are not, well, we can tell the difference and he won't let you get past the door.

Labels: crime, housekeeping

INSIDE OUT

After a year there aren't a lot of the inside stories that I like so much.

But this one has shown up and it does not disappoint.

There is a lot of the President in it as well as more senior officials.

Still all one big, more or less, happy family. More realistic perhaps but no less committed.

All the Obama 20-Somethings

Speechwriter Jon Favreau with the Boss

Labels: obama

CLEAN CUT

Booker went to the groomer this morning and, as a result, looks like a smart show dog this afternoon. The actual cut is not show cut but sparer and leaner but he does look like he is ready to go into the spotlight. His back is like velvet. Very pettable.

He was a little less reluctant to go into the place this time. He is a trouper and the hesitation is brief. He likes Alex his "stylist". It is only his second go.

He was quite excited to be home, barking at me before he was in the house then running and jumping. Joy joy joy. Very kissy and huggy. Sweet.

Labels: Booker

BACKSTAGE

Today's Stephen Frears' movie was

Mrs. Henderson Presents (2006)

This is a standard wartime backstage/musical show movie. But in Frears' hands it becomes a bit better than a melodrama and becomes very affecting and enjoyable. He does some neat twists on the convention as well.

I am not a fan of Judi Dench who plays Ms. H. but she is reined in here and does rather well. I do like Bob Hodgkins very much and he is a good counterbalance when Ms D. as Ms H. spins out.

The acting support here is very good. Frears manages to sail by with newsreel footage instead of spending money on planes. There is a great and obvious diorama view from the "roof of the theater" which, in spite of its toylike look, somehow makes the show of bombs and searchlights creepier and, ironically, more beautiful than the real thing might.

No CGI! Yay!

I have seen this before and would be willing to see it again. That makes it a Netflix5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

BIGGER BUT NOT BETTER

A decade of growth for the Coachella Valley.

But I am not complaining.

We are doing OK where we live. Palm Springs has 5000 more people. They are not in my neighborhood.

Coachella leads valley growth

As usual, a stupid headline from the local paper but nevermind. Coachella is a "city" at the other end of the valley. Not the point of the article at all.

The cities here have encouraged growth to the Valley's detriment in my opinion.

More traffic, lower quality of life in general. That kind of thing.

I know.

I am one of those who came here and now don't want anyone else to.

The natural evolution into a crabby old bastard who doesn't want change.

In some ways, I suppose, the increase is good. The tax base is needed because the city fathers signed our income away to entitlements for police and fire a long time ago.

Without the dough we would be struggling. Well, we are struggling. Make that "struggling more".

There isn't a whole lot to say. Until we stop worshiping the gods of development, this will continue.

And, eventually, the whole population explosion will inundate the world. We will be stacking them up here in the desert.

Unstoppable.

We had half a chance just after WWII and no one could bring it off. The Church opposed it and no politician would stand up for birth control except in China. Or somewhere like that. Now, all bets are off there too.

Labels: environment, life

PARTISAN JUSTICE

The Supremes showed their colors yesterday.

A bitter, divided, sectarian, politicized court caught in the culture wars.

Justices’ Ruling Blocks Cross Removal

I know where this cross is. I have seen it. It is butt ugly and, really, not much of a blight on the landscape. It is more of a cultural insult. A "fuck you" from the usual christist perps.

They have disguised the case as a matter of war memorializing. What it really is about is the integration of church and state and the imposition of a sectarian symbol in a publicly owned National Monument.

Graffiti.

The thing here is the arguments. You have to read through them.

Alito's words about the sweep of crosses in graveyards is myopic. It fails to see that there are crescents and six sided stars and, surprisingly, many markers with no religious symbol on them at all.

If they were to see a limited view of the field then the "no affiliation" markers are the ones they should see.

Kennedy wrote it for the minority.

The minority rejected that view. “The cross is not a universal symbol of sacrifice,” he wrote in a dissent joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. “It is the symbol of one particular sacrifice, and that sacrifice carries deeply significant meaning for those who adhere to the Christian faith.” ........NYT

These are the Bush Justices in their full flower right before, if we have the luck for it, being cut down to size again.

The photo is of the cross when it was covered after the last lower court rulings.

If you want to see what it looks like without the covering, Google it yourself.

Labels: christist watch, cults

DUST

This is the worst air day in a long time.

We have blowing dust throughout the valley.

We are usually immune from the effects of the wind but not today and, they say, tomorrow.

Visibility is thin, the mountains shrouded in a light air film.

Gauze.

We have had the house open today without thinking and there is dust on most everything.

Fine dust.

Tomorrow we clean so I think that there will be a closed house.

It is also not great for breathing so we can be running the air through the filters before it comes inside.

My eyes are smarting a little. Not much else. I thought of taking an extra Claritin but the head seems just fine now.

Labels: weather

OBAMETER

I like to check in with the Obameter every once in awhile.

They are doing pretty good on the promises!

The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises

Labels: Administration Obama

SHITSTORM

I have a long history of banter with UK friends about Gordon Brown, the extremely accident prone PM who is running for re-election.

Today he gaffed big in a typical Gordon Brown way and then, as my friend said, he wouldn't let go of the shovel. He kept digging a deeper hole.

Sometimes with something like this shutting up is the best thing. Apologize. Get it over. Move on.

Not Gordo.

This may sink him. He has, once again, allowed the media and his own obsessive personality get the better of him.

No grace under pressure. Always a foot in the poop or the mouth or back and forth in both.

This kind of guy rises to the top which is just about two feet too high for him.

I am watching a film about the deal that was made between Blair and Brown for leadership of the Labour Party. It will be interesting.

Here is a blow by blow.

How Gordon Brown 'bigot' jibe row unfolded

If you have a taste for slow motion train wrecks and like your schadenfreude served warm and piping, you will enjoy this. There are tape clips to drive it all home.

Labels: politics

AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

What A Difference A Law Makes

Major health insurance companies are implementing provisions of the Health Insurance Reform act early under pressure (and not) from Sibelius.

This is welcome news.

We are Wellpoint insured. About the biggest bastards around.

But as I have said before, we have never had a complaint with any of Blue Cross' insurance once we solved the problem of transferring to CA from MA. They made us go into a high risk pool out here rather than effect a straight transfer. We couldn't fight it. It was a "he said" "she said" thing between the MA plans and CA administrators.

We used an independent broker to resolve the differences.

A big hurdle which was solved with our getting old enough to have Medicare.

Labels: Administration Obama

DENTAL TRIPPING

Today, the movie was a trip to the dentist to have a molar root canal (four in one).

I regard my dentist as totally competent. I trust him. He is interesting to work "with" in that he enlists the patient in what is going on.

He works strong and fast. I can feel the power of his concentration.

And he is quite good looking even with the hair implants you can see very close up.

I am a very healthy man and my weak point is my teeth.

Well, I have a couple other weak points but those are worked on a day at a time and they don't need a doc or a dentist.

Labels: dentist

LATE BREAKING

Here in tremor land we never lack for data.

Map shows 50 new California faults

The map below summarizes the various fault lines around here with their potential shake size.

We live right in between there between the black San Andreas with a big 8.0 plus potential and the red San Jacinto with a potential of 6.5.

They won't all go off at the same time. I think.

There is also some quibbling about the effect of various I don't think much about earthquakes unless I read an article like this or if, right now, the ground starts to shake and I am in the middle of one.

I don't mean to be cavalier about it. There is just not much any other way to be.

We can't spend our time crouched next to a table or sofa waiting for the roof to fall. I might want to get there fast if the rumble is starting but that is a different thing.

We are ready. More or less. We have enough food and water for awhile. There is a wrench on the gas line to turn it off if the house lines break. Stuff like that.

You can a lot of food and shit and put it into a barrel but the trouble is that it all deteriorates and you have to replace most of it in a year. Too complicated.

They do have kits now which, like all such kits, combine totally useless stuff with compact calorie food packs. They say 5 years. The price range is 100-300 dollars.

I don't know.

Maybe I should buy one.

We have had three emergency kits in cars we owned all of which fell apart before there was any emergency.

I don't know.

Labels: earthquake, life, nature

SLUMP

The markets took a dive today as a result of the downgrade of Greek and Portugese bonds.

I don't really understand the dynamics but it would seem that what happens in Greece and Portugal is right up our street and affects us.

The global economy in action? Or just a bunch of nervous nellies who jump at the sound of a shot?

Either way, I stay, as usual.

As I have said before, I am a stayer.

What goes up must go down and what goes down must go up.

The trick is to stay alive through the cycle and not spend it all at either end of the wave.

Surely there will be cycle that I will not live through and that will be that. In the meantime, I stay.

Labels: economy, market

FREARS

I am watching all the Stephen Frears' films. There are 12.

Today was

The Queen (2006)

which focuses on the period of time just after Prince Charles' Diana's death and the final ceremonies of her funeral.

It is a crisis in the relationship between the Queen and the people with Tony Blair in between.

The film is a clear Netflix5 for a variety of reasons.

First, the acting. Helen Mirren is Queen Elizabeth. It is interesting to see that in still shots from the film she is not the Queen but in action, she is. Period.

Blair is by Martin Sheen who has played Blair before and done so with gusto. He is a very keen striver and, in the end, pragmatic royalist.

Sylvia Syms is not to be missed as the Queen Mother and the rest of the cast shines as well. But none look or act like their counterparts.

Second, the film succeeds because it keeps a very tight rein on the dramatics. With skillful use of actual news footage, Frears creates a sense of what is happening outside the bubble while the Queen and PM joust away over protocol and PR. No one is allowed to emote over the top. Some of the cynical background is interesting and sometimes funny but it never takes over the center of the stage.

Third, I think the film succeeds because of its extremely high production values—photography, set decoration, editing. The cinematic arts which disappear in a good production.

I enjoyed it quite as much the second time as the first and, since it is a repeat, it is a 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

REM

Today's Michel Gondry film was the wonderful

La science des rêves / Science of Sleep (2005)

This film is the reason I decided to see all of Gondry's movies.

It is hard to describe this film as it is hard to describe a dream.

Gael García Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg are a young, fragile couple who meet as neighbors. There is the old id/ego tension here as Bernal, who is all whimsy and invention, butts heads with Gainsbourg who is all mind. Or maybe it is right brain/left brain. Take your pick. There is a lot of tension.

There are many dream sequences which are fashioned from the stuff of their waking experience.

Gondry's invention here is startling in its simplicity. He uses all hand made objects, common materials, stop action photography and other simple almost homely devices to carry the dream and fantasy stuff. No CGI. Great.

The dreams here are at two, at least, levels. The almost waking dream which mostly occurs in a teevee studio with Bernal conducting his interviews with himself and his life. The other level is the more fantastic REM sleep dreams which carry rich material, turn it upside down and show the behind the scenes working of Bernal's mind.

There is some magical realism. Not all that happens in a dreamlike way is a dream.

One way to see the film is that it is all a dream but I don't think so.

I have seen this before so it is a 5 out of Netflix5. I will probably see it again.

Labels: films

A PUBLIC MESSAGE

Labels: republican whack jobs, tea party

NEO ORBITAL

No. Not a "new" theory. An old thing. No one ever thought about. Or not in my awareness.

How cool.

NEO Space

Near Earth Object.

How cool.

How tricky. A lot cheaper to get to and a lot of payoff if it works.

From Daily Kos.

President Obama threw out an intriguing idea during a speech about the future of the US space program earlier this month: "Early in the next decade, a set of crewed flights will test and prove the systems required for exploration beyond low Earth orbit. And by 2025, we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first-ever crewed missions beyond the Moon into deep space. So we’ll start -- we’ll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history".

Some asteroids are CO2 and water. A water source.

There are 7000 of these things.

If they were inhabited, you could see them. Lighting up the sky.

This is not too far from possible now.

Did I say how cool I think this is?

And so much more practical than traipsing off to Mars or another trip to the desolate moon.

Labels: Administration Obama, astronomy

MASSACHUSETTS GAIN IS OUR LOSS

Mitt Romney takes to life in new California home

He is La Jolla, a posh and beautiful beach town north lf San Diego.

Actually, it is OK for Mitt to be in California where we can keep our eye on him.

His residence and influence on the Republican Party here might be very interesting to watch.

I can certainly identify with the need to get out of the cold and into the warm air.

Contrary to popular belief, however, it is not hot in San Diego. It is not even warm.

I go there every year in August and it is usually in the 70s. Cool at night. A light jacket on the morning walks.

But it beats Belmont MA a whole hell of a lot.

Oh. The Pacific is colder than the Atlantic too. Sure people surf. Have you noticed those wet suits?

Labels: California, Republicans

THE SOUTHERN CLOSET

This week, a tea bagger used the rumor that Lindsey Graham is gay for a little pandering and demagoguery.

That resurrected my own slight interest in the subject.

My own general take on Graham is that he is a good guy who is a Republican and does a pretty good job.

He does vote against the gay side on various issues but he is ambiguous about repeal of DADT.

"'Don't ask, don't tell' is a policy I think has served the country well," said South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham, a prosecutor in the Air Force Reserve. "Why should we change it? I'm not going to be persuaded to change military policy by a bunch of political activists. If the military leadership tells me that 'don't ask, don't tell' needs to be changed, I'll certainly be open-minded to that."

As for the gay thing? Well, he does set off my gaydar.

He is the quintessential "southern sissy".

This article goes to some detail on the subject although they do not use the term.

Is Lindsey Graham gay? --Seven Minutes in Gay Hell: Is Lindsey Graham in S.C.'s airtight closet?

The funny thing is that this article was written in 2007!

So the seven minutes of gay hell is repeating itself.

The "southern sissy" is an institution. In the south, each town has a town drunk and a town fairy. Often more than one. Sometimes they are the same guys.

They play the piano in the motel lounge out on the town line. They are the choir director. They are sometimes hairdressers but that is more a northern and metrosexual thing. Most hairdressers are straight as an arrow.

The south treats "sissies" as it does its "coloreds". They are tolerated as long as they stay in their place and allow the occasional white woman or man to make a close friend of them in the way that someone has an imaginary friend or, perhaps, a doll.

You have to see it to believe it.

The old maid and the bachelor are long time roles played by gay volunteers. They serve a social purpose. Librarians. Teachers. Dedicated people with no distracting home life.

This is the other end of the spectrum from lynching. Someone who has not known their place. Who stepped over the line. There is no middle for a lot of these people.

Oddly, there are more closeted gays who are Republicans than Democrats. Well, not odd. The Demos are the party of equality and openness. How can you be out when your party has put anti-gay stuff on the party platform?

One might ask why a gay man or woman would be a Republican but, in the south, this begs the question. If one has political aspirations, a rightward lean is essential. To go all the way and be a GOoPer secures the deal. It is like a gay man or woman getting married to the opposite gender.

Sometimes you have a more courageous type who chooses not to be married for cover or otherwise. As a life long bachelor, if he is gay, we cannot call Graham a hypocrite on that score.

It is an interesting situation.

I am not for outing except for those who harm the cause. One could argue that any closeted behavior is harming the cause.

I don't.

I am all for the Larry Craigs to be outed.

I would probably leave Lindsey alone.

The same thing, incidentally, follows with Democrats who choose to be single and devote their lives to a career in politics. Janet Napolitano is having her own particular set of rumors and speculation. I don't think she is gay and, if she is, I don't think that she needs to come out.

One other thought.

There is a prevailing notion that a lot of people who are in the closet are in denial about their sexuality and that coming out is good for them. We are only doing them a favor by gossiping.

What a crock of shit that is.

Even if it might be true, it is none of our business.

None.

Labels: gay life, gay politics, Republicans

TAKING THE RAP

Today's movie was Michel Gondry directed concert film

Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005)

This film almost does the impossible. It makes rap and hip hop palatable to an old white fart like me.

It is a film. Not a concert.

Had I been made to sit or stand and watch the proceedings I would have been out of there forthwith. But Gondry mixes the show with rehearsal with talk with Chappelle bits in a way that keeps things moving and nothing lasts long enough to get old.

I realize the difficulty in presenting a live concert live. Keeping the energy up. When it is seen on film, unless the director is extremely creative, the flatness of it all comes down on the viewer. Here we are lifted up.

Chappelle is an engaging character. He famously walked away from a 50 million dollar contract because, well, it wasn't right. It didn't feel OK.

I can see that he is not formula. Not a sellout.

Gondry himself does some of the interviewing. The questions are always sideways to the proceedings and the answers fresh and spontaneous.

The idea is simple. The execution is quite complex and the result is wonderful.

I will give this film a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

BACHELOR HALL

John is away on a speaking trip this weekend. San Jose.

Booker and I are keeping house.

So far so good.

We get to walk together twice a day when this happens.

He is not so sure that I should be doing it in the morning. It doesn't add up.

But I can see the wheels turn and, sure enough, he comes around to the notion that if I am the only human and there is a walk to be accomplished, I am his man.

The morning walks are different than the evening. Route and routine.

In the morning there is a tendency to walk into the neighborhoods across Palm Canyon Drive. In the evening, we stay pretty much on this side or, if we go across, we walk along Palm Canyon and take a long narrow circuit.

Routine in the morning is brisk. Business like. Get to it.

Evening is slower, relaxed.

He can get into his scavenger routine in either walk. Not a good thing if it goes on too long. We have to have a discussion.

Generally, when John is away, Booker is more attentive and loving. Not so much this time. Not so needy.

It is nice not to cook. I eat the better teevee dinners. They are good for a change.

I don't vary my routine much except for the AM walk.

We have another day. John gets home tomorrow night.

We will all be glad to see him arrive.

It is fun to have a break but only for so long.

Labels: Booker, life

FARCICAL

Today's Michel Gondry picture was

Human Nature (2001)

This was Gondry's first film. It is a back to nature and back again farce which somehow is just this side of reality enough that it is not farcical.

It has a misfire in it somewhere.

A lot of the parts are good. It is just that the sum of the parts doesn't quite make it.

If "satire is what closes on Saturday night" (George. S. Kaufman) then farce is what dies when it is taken too seriously by the people who are in it.

I know that they were probably told to do it straight but they should be doing it straight with a flip.

Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ivins, Tim Robbins form a Darwinian triangle and a host of really really good supporting actors are here to support. It is enjoyable. It is sobering. It is another script by Charlie Kaufman. Watch out when the scriptwriter is more visible, in this case, than the director.

And so on.

I am glad that I saw it. I can see Gondry's future in the making here.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

WORD PLAY

Labels: christist watch

EYE STOPPER

Labels: fun

CONSPIRACY NOT

Let's take a look at DADT.

The repeal.

"It is moving too slowly" say (or scream) some gay activists.

"It has to move the way it moves" say the Obama Administration and the Congress as well as the Pentagon.

Therein lies the tension.

There is a lot of over the top rhetoric on the gay side.

It is mostly embarrassing and, as is often the case, grounded in a victim mentality which is not the way to get shit done.

Mark Ambinder has a nice rundown here.

Gay Activists v. The White House: The Inside Story

I have been in the military and gay. I didn't tell. I hardly knew myself.

I did have gay experiences while on active duty.

Well, on the weekend breaks.

No one talked about it then and we wouldn't talk about it now if it happened again.

Partly because it was no one's business and still is not.

When you pick a man (or a woman) up at a bar or meet someone who has the eye for you, it is unlikely that you or the other are going to "tell". You are just going to "do".

Most of the telling is by exes and jealous onlookers. Vendetta stuff.

It is nasty.

As for the shower room, has anyone worried about this ever taken a shower in a barracks? Please.

Labels: Administration Obama, gay military, gay rights

WIPE OUT

Today's movie was Michel Gondry's

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

This movie with Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, wants to be better than it is.

There is some sleight of hand going on and the audience has to catch up with the shuffle.

FIrst of all, I did not detect one spark between Carrey and Winslet. Now, my spark detector has a homo bias but I know "just buddies" when I see them.

This is also another script by the overpraised Charlie Kaufman who I really don't like much. The word mindfucker comes into focus.

Of course, this is what a lot of his films are about so maybe I am just not "getting it" but Charlie has a formula and he is going to use it.

I felt uncomfortable and edgy through a lot of this. It has some good support from Tom Wilkinson and Kristen Dunst who also have a relationship that doesn't spark along with a triangle with Mark Ruffalo. No sparks there either.

The director, Gondry, who I admire and am watching from top to bottom, is very busy here. Nice work. Not as good as the one I saw the other day, Be Kind Rewind or the other one that I will see last, The Science of Sleep.

Comparisons are odious.

Another thing. I do not understand how they got from Long Island to the Charles River. It can't be the Cambridge one is it?

I worry.

I will give this one a 3 out of Netflix5.

THE DOG IN THE MIRROR

This morning there was an accident in the kitchen.

Booker's jewelry caught on the rack that holds his dishes--water and food--and, as he pulled up to take a breath from chow-down, the bowl went crashing and broke in half.

The calamity was over quickly as Booker is not averse to eating anything off the ground. Anytime. Under any conditions.

My only concern was the there were a few pieces of crockery missing and that he ate them. Chips.

I have to comfort myself with the knowledge that he chews stuff pretty well, bones and the like, and that if there is a chip down there that is too big he will reverse the flow and give it all back to us. A dog has a reliably rugged digestive system.

The other thing is replacing the bowls.

No more china.

And the idea of having them on a rack so they don't have to bend to eat is, I think, bogus. If that is true then a dog is in the wrong position by design more than half the time during his walk as he scavenges and sniffs the ground.

So John picked up some stainless steel bowls at PetSmart today.

We already have one of these for travel. Nice. Rubber rimmed so they don't slide. He has had water out of it. And, I think, food.

But these are bigger (3 quart) and shiny.

Book got the food dish and he just looked at it.

"What?"

Then he tried a bite and jumped back. Back and forth. Then barking at us. And barking at the dish. Trying to eat in between.

We think that it is the reflections. He is a little nutty about other reflecting surfaces.

But he finished his food.

Then he went to his water and not a thing was wrong with that.

A funny dog.

It helped when I sat next to him and just touched the dish. I guess if I would touch it then it couldn't be all bad.

I hope this performance doesn't go on tomorrow morning at 3AM. We shall see.

Labels: Booker

VALUES

And more about financial reform and its appeal as a subject of common vision influence.

Robert J. Samuelson in a column.

It's unclear whether the Securities and Exchange Commission can prevail over Goldman Sachs in court. Goldman's legal obligations in this complex and contested transaction are murky. But whatever happens in court, the complaint against Goldman represents a watershed. It challenges a moral transformation on Wall Street that has justified behavior that most people would regard as deceptive or dishonest. [...]

A court will presumably decide the legal issues. But the moral question is more insistent.

I don't always agree with Samuelson. Actually, hardly ever. He is not a relative of the famous Economics author Paul Samuelson who just died this past year. Paul was a progressive. Robert J. is mostly regressive.

So here is where we meet in our common ground. Morals. Values. Agreement in principle.

Labels: Administration Obama, economy

MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY

From Kevin Drum.

Popping the Tea Party Bubble

Just as it ever was.

I love the picture.

Labels: republican whack jobs, tea party

GET ON BOARD

Today I read that Obama was going to Wall Street to "castigate" the workers and companies there.

I could not imagine Obama doing that. It is not his style.

The morning began with a very low market. They couldn't imagine it either.

Just now, the headline is quite a different thing.

Obama to Wall Street: ‘Join Us, Instead of Fighting Us’

When I was in the "influence business", one of the most powerful forms of personal influence was what we called "common vision".

That is what he is using here.

It is, actually, one of his chief modes of personal and collective influence.

One of the weaknesses of the style is that it takes people awhile to come along with it.

You have to have solid common ground which is hard to get if people are skeptical. You have to pull them toward a vision of the future that is different but not radically at odds with their ability to fantasize a better outcome.

"Unless your business model depends on bilking people, there is little to fear from these new rules."

The GOP is still struggling with the realization, just this week, that their opposition to the regulations is quite unpopular and that McConnell got his dick in the wringer when he went to NYC, himself, for a private confab, a talk that netted some campaign money, and then came back with lies about the so called bailout provisions that do not exist.

Eric Cantor's people still don't really have the picture. They are going to lose on this and had better get on board.

Obama is smart. He is not anyone's patsy.

These guys need a strong talking to and an appeal to join in.

I consider it a mark of the speech' effectiveness that right now the markets are in the green by 9 points after being down in the red 70s all day before the speech.

Labels: Administration Obama

GOODBYE

We sent the family off this morning to LAX.

We had a nice three day visit.

Just right.

We had them leaving at what seemed to be on the early side.

This is a good thing.

The corollary of "always leave them laughing" only, in this case, I think, it is "always leave them wanting more".

I have had my share of visits that hit their best part on the next to last day. There have been one or two which hit their best part on the planning for it and went down hill just after arrival but that is another kind of story.

There were two parents and two (larger) grandsons. All fit as a fiddle and interesting and enjoyable to be with. They managed their own time and respected our occasional need to be alone. The sign of the really good guest.

On top of that we get to see a family in full thrive. I guess that is the way to say it. Thriving.

Very nice and nicer because they are related and we have known them for awhile. Some since they were rather small people.

In this case, a rather long time.

Old friends.

Goodbye.

Labels: family

I WOULD SAY THAT THESE IS SOME REAL IGNORANT BASTARDS

Obama and the ‘Birthers’ in the Latest Poll

But what they are is really racist and beyond the pale, red dyed republican off the gridders, who tend to be creaky old and will swallow anything they hear off the AM talk or Faux News because they are ag'inners.

They are the same 30% who kept voting for bush and would probably vote for an ex-half-term governor or, worse, if there is anything worse.

It is actually laughable to read these. If it wasn't so damned sad.

One of them is a neighbor from Joshua Tree California. I might go up there and visit. He is surely one of the people with "ranches" off the dirt roads. There is no town at all.

“I really haven’t talked to anyone about him,” said Irene Santiago, 67, a Republican of Modesto, Calif. ” I just have a gut-level feeling that he is not an honest man. He is deceptive.”

Tommy Barnett, 56, an independent of Cullman, Ala., said: “Somebody told me he’s not from here. I said I never heard of Barack Obama, that’s not American, then we find out he’s Muslim. What they got somebody like that running our country for?”

....

Another poll respondent, Duane Rasmussen, a Republican from Reno, Nev., questioned the validity of Mr. Obama’s papers. “He has not produced a birth certificate from Hawaii,” Mr. Rasmussen said. “There were some pseudo-tries, and all of them have problems as birth certificates. They were not authentic. I believe he is a socialist.”

Harriet Tillman, 75, an independent from Corpus Christi, Tex., said: “After listening to the various news stories that have come out, I think there is a serious question about where he was born. I got it from TV primarily. It was probably somebody on Fox. … It’s been a while, and I haven’t thought about it since. I did feel before he was elected that he was really too young and too inexperienced to be elected, and I just don’t think he handles things as well as he sometimes should.”

I do like two of them.

“I said that because I’m not really informed well enough to know for sure,” Tracy Schepker, 44, a Democrat of Glenwood, Iowa, said. “I think I just heard rumors on TV that he was a Muslim or born somewhere else, but I don’t necessarily believe it. I don’t know and it doesn’t matter because he’s doing everything to the best of his ability and making history.”

Chris Garrett, 26, of Waggaman, La., said: “I don’t know for sure where he’s from actually, but it doesn’t really matter. I think he’s doing a good job. He took over a job that was already messed up, and he’s trying to fix it the best he can.”

And these goddam poll takers from the liberal lying NYTimes are a bunch of prying Jew bastards. With The Times, it always comes down to that.

Labels: republican whack jobs

CLIPPINGS

The other day I was looking for something. I don't even remember what it was. I never found it.

One of the places I looked was in the upper right drawer of the vanity in our bathroom. This drawer contains small implements like scissors and nail clippers. Tweezers. Stuff like that.

I knew that whatever it was that I was looking for would be in the back of the drawer and so I pulled it all the way out.

Aaaargh!!

In the back of the drawer was this immense pile of, what? I couldn't figure it out? A mouse nest? Something that had deteriorated and fallen apart?

No!

It was a huge pile of nail clippings!

I am sorry if this creeps you out. It did me a bit.

Here were all the nail clippings that I had not shaken out of the nail clippers for, well, about 13 years. Every time the drawer got closed the clippings would be shaken to the back.

Now, I think that I do dispose of the nails. But I guess not.

Here they were. Dare I say thousands? One thousand divided by ten would be 100. If I count toenails which these clearly were not, too small, then it would be 50.

So it is conceivable. All the residue of 100 clippings. Once a week. That would be two years. So it wouldn't take too much longer to collect half or a quarter of the nails.

Of course, it is a reflection on the degree of house cleaning we indulge in.

I showed John and mentioned that it was just the kind of thing where, when I am dead, someone would open the drawer and call everyone else in to look. "The old man saved all his nail clippings".

Of such stuff, legends are made.

I haven't cleaned the drawer out yet. I am thinking that perhaps I will not. It would be more fun to consider the reaction when someone finds them and wonders how the fuck they got there in the first place.

Labels: housekeeping

NOT THERE YET

Obama's order to Sibelius is a start but there are many hurdles to same gender couples in the ER and admitting rooms of the nation's hospitals.

For Same-Sex Couples, Equality in the Hospital

We live in an enlightened town and would have no trouble.

This is not true of other couples, paperwork or not, wedding bands or not. Or, if we travel to Bakersfield, not us either.

It is fucking scary.

Labels: gay marriage, gay politics, gay rights

NOMENCLATURE

I have known for a long time that there is a difference between a geek, a dork and a nerd.

But I couldn't quite assay or explain to myself, let alone another person, the exact distinction.

Now, it is all clarified.

FINALLY: The Difference between Nerd, Dork, and Geek Explained by a Venn Diagram

If you use the term "dweeb" you are out of touch with the culture. As I am most of the time.

This photo, itself, is a geek item in that I did not know what a Perl shirt was and had to go find that Perl is a programming language and that the community is formed around t-shirts with geeky sayings on the front. Many people sell perl shirts. I am not even sure that perl is upper or lower case, a noun or an adjective or, well I don't get it either. So, another geekish, nerdish, dorkish sideshow to make the rest of us outsiders.

Labels: computer, culture

TODAY'S MOVIE WAS AT THE POOL

We have visitors, grandsons and their parents.

It is the first time we have had folks here in a while. Since October.

Tthe activity has been pretty much centered at the pool.

We made the temperatures just in time. Today it was 84 in water in the afternoon.

We had such a good time we all forgot Booker's supper. Even Booker didn't think of it until two hours after it was due.

Soon, we are going to the Mexican restaurant down the street. Booker too.

That is the day.

I suspect that the blogging will be a bit slowed down over the next two days.

The gang leaves on Thursday morning. Early.

I was kidding about the movie at the pool but I Googled this up. Close. But we were our own movie.

Labels: blogging, life

WEEKEND

This is the Coachella festival weekend.

We are well away from it but the hotels here are chock full and many of the rental houses (all?) are occupied. There is an enormous market in short term rentals of homes here. More now that they can't sell them.

They bus people down to La Quinta where the venue is located.

The thing is very well organized and, this year, there are said to be a record attendance, maybe 75,000 people a day.

Some of the acts got caught in the air shutdown in Europe but it is still rolling along nicely.

This is not the kind of thing that I want to even get close to but I do not have to get close.

It is nice to know that a lot of people are having relatively safe fun and enjoying themselves while the locals are cashing in.

Once they heard me shouting over the sound they nicely turned it down.

Today it was a little louder but now, I think, they are on their way for the fest and will be gone tomorrow.

It is OK. It is so rare that this happens.

The last time I asked someone to turn it down, it was some fat plumber type guy playing Rush Limbaugh at the 11 setting. I took care of that very quickly. He was OK about it but puzzled as to why I didn't consider Rush out loud to be a public service.

Labels: fun. music, neighborhood

REMAKES

Today's movie is the first of the Michel Gondry films that I have queued up.

Be Kind Rewind

with Mos Def, Jack Black, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow and Melonie Diaz.

I wanted to see all of Gondry's films because I enjoyed the antic Science of Sleep so much.

I am on to something here. This film is as magical and funny as the other.

It is a situation comedy holding up a concept of making short film skits out of "famous" movies.

The process and execution are hilarious.

These in turn set us up for a larger film production, an original, the life of Fats Waller. As the guys imagine it.

How they get into this enterprise and at the same time how they manage to keep their video store building from demolition provide even more levels of comedic and melodramatic possibilities. All of area ably exploited by Gondry and his cast.

The film is written and directed by Gondry who is French. His word play with his adopted language is quite amazing. He has a child's kind of enjoyment of nonsense. I really like his style.

And, I am very impressed with Mos Def who plays a sort of smart Step'n'fetchit character. He is cool. But he is not too smart. It takes awhile for him to get it but when he does, look out!

Jack Black is throttled down a bit which is fine with me. I sometimes get too much of him although I have enjoyed most of the films that I have seen him in when I think of it.

Mia Farrow is beautiful. Danny Glover is a saint.

This is a fine, very satisfying film. Funny as hell with a great underlying story(s) and all ties together beautifully at the end.

The film was made in Passaic NJ with a lot of real people on site. Real locations. And get this. There is not one, not one, four letter word in this film. No one has sex. It is a clean machine. There is not even a fart joke.

I am going to give this one a 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

WOOD HE OR WON'T HE?

A welcome addon comment from Tom Degan about the hamsterish Mitch McConnell.

If a tree falls in the forest….

….does it make a sound if Mitch McConnell is not there to deny that a sound was made?

Mitch's job description is to obstruct and deny.

Be the go-to "no" guy for the GOoPers and then deny that he is saying no.

It is beyond comprehension.

Tom Degan has a great blog: "The Rant" by Tom Degan.

Take a look.

Labels: Republicans

THE HAMSTER GOES FOR THE PELLETS

OK. Let's get that joke over. He does look like a hamster. Mitch McConnell. The head Repub in the Senate.

I know. It is ad hominem but what the hell.

And he has done a major job on the previously bipartisan financial reform bill.

After going to meet with the Wall Street plutocrats.

And taking some heavy campaign money.

And then, lies and more lies.Here is the whole thing.

Calling Out McConnell

And the Prez, himself does the calling out.

"Now, unsurprisingly, these reforms have not exactly been welcomed by the people who profit from the status quo -- as well their allies in Washington. This is probably why the special interests have spent a lot of time and money lobbying to kill or weaken the bill. Just the other day, in fact, the Leader of the Senate Republicans and the Chair of the Republican Senate campaign committee met with two dozen top Wall Street executives to talk about how to block progress on this issue.

"Lo and behold, when he returned to Washington, the Senate Republican Leader came out against the common-sense reforms we've proposed. In doing so, he made the cynical and deceptive assertion that reform would somehow enable future bailouts -- when he knows that it would do just the opposite. Every day we don't act, the same system that led to bailouts remains in place -- with the exact same loopholes and the exact same liabilities. And if we don't change what led to the crisis, we'll doom ourselves to repeat it. That's the truth. Opposing reform will leave taxpayers on the hook if a crisis like this ever happens again."

Labels: Republicans

VACATION

After all that housework, I am tired. So I signed up for my annual vacation today.

Same place. The Bay Club Hotel and Marina, Shelter Island, San Diego.

I used to do training programs there and down the street at the Kona Kai.

I love it.

There is a marina on one side and the San Diego Bay on the other with the ship channel, the Naval Air Base, the SD skyline and my beloved boat ramp with the constant stream of fishermen and boaters going in and out. All day. A great place to gawk. Also the pelicans. The seals.

I will be going the middle of August when we will just about have had enough heat here.

It will be in the 60s on the Island.

There is also a lot of yacht stuff there. Boat yards. Brokers. They had the Americas Cup base there one year.

I reserve now because I got shut out one year. There was a convention or something.

The place can be packed and I do not know there is anyone else there. It is not that big really.

There is a restaurant, open all day. Good food. I never leave the premises.

It is so different than the desert.

A vacation!

Labels: life, travel

DOMESTIC

Today was the day I clean the stove.

Every six months.

It takes a long time and we cannot really do it in summer it is so hot.

I like the result. All that white ash inside.

Cremation.

There is a lot of maintenance around here.

At a certain point in life, it is all maintenance. They tell me. I am halfway there.

I have a lot of things on automatic. On my calendar.

Clean the oven. Put the blue stuff in the dishwasher. Put the anti-calcium drops in the fountain out front. Fill the fountain. Water the non-irrigated plants. Cover the pool, uncover the pool. Wipe down the tables outside (almost daily if the wind blows. Sand). And so on.

It is nice. Constant. A comfort.

Labels: housekeeping

GODPARENTS

Today's movie was the documentary

Soul Power (2008)

This is basically an embellished concert tape of the concert/festival held in Zaire 35 years ago when Ali fought Foreman.

It is the second film taken from that event. The first is When We Were Kings and that is mostly about the fight.

The musical footage, long held in storage, is very good. There is the young James Brown. Still able to send it home and do the splits. He dominates the film.

There is Miriam Makeba clicking along.

Here we have Hugh Masekela and there are the Spinners. I actually enjoyed their act more than any. How amazing.

Now BB King. Bill Withers.

All in their prime.

The problem with this film is not the fidelity of the recordings or photography. It is the insertion of a lot of yakking by the producers and crew and others who (all white, incidentally) probably have control of the film footage and use it for a little "remember when".

There is also a lot of blather by Ali which, by now, has gotten a bit shopworn. I would watch the When We Were Kings companion for all that stuff.

Soul Power is less than 2 hours long. There is no need for padding. Or maybe there wasn't that much actual concert footage in the first place.

Nevertheless, with a wise hand on the FF you can skip the shit and hear/see the music. Some of it is stunning. Actually, a lot of it is stunning.

So here is one of those films that I give a 5 to the half that is music and a sad 1 to the part that is devoted to "atmosphere". I am reminded of the Woodstock film which was able, because of the long presentation, to put the arrangements and backstage stuff in some perspective. Here it is ponderous.

So we end up with 5+1-2=3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: best films, music

I DON'T BELIEVE THIS BUT, THEN AGAIN, I GUESS I DO

Labels: fun

STICKY WEB SITES

Every once in awhile I go to a web site or get transferred there and it "sticks". I hit the go-back button and nothing happens.

It will simply not return to the place from which I came.

Sometimes this happens when I go for a Google image and it puts up a page that blocks the image and then it won't let me go.

Does anyone know what is going on here?

My only recourse so far is to go to "history" and just select where I was when the sticky thing got started.

Which is simple enough. It just pisses me off to get stuck.

Somehow I think that someone is pulling something over on me.

Advice?

Information?

Labels: computer, internet

CINEMA VERITE

Today's film was Ulrich Seidl's

Import/Export (2007)

Two parallel stories. A woman goes from the Ukraine to Vienna to find a better life. A man goes from Vienna to the Ukraine to find a better life.

Futility.

This is a tough film to watch but it has a lot of redeeming qualities.

There are a lot of funny spots. There is a reality to the whole thing that is totally different from a made up film. Real locations are used as well as non-actors.

And there is truth. The world is really like this for a lot of people.

This is in a long tradition of both Italian and French cinema. Updated. Very well done.

It is hard to say that I "enjoyed" it.

I, rather, appreciated it.

I saw Seidl's last film and gave it a 1 out of Netflix5. It was so hard to watch.

This is an easy 3 and, if I think about it some more, maybe a 4 out of Netflix5.

I look for more in the future. He is on a good trajectory.

Labels: films

HOW IS TOYOTA LIKE THE POPE?

It is interesting to watch this slow motion trainwreck.

Toyota Admits Lexus Safety Problem

At least this time it only took a few days for them to come around.

There was a time when I was convinced that, if we got another car, the Toyota organization was one of the best choices you could make for quality and service. The looks not withstanding. But, hell. A car is a car.

Now? No.

How could there reputation slide so fast?

Hubris?

There are a lot of people who are in denial about this. Some are buying the cars up.

I suppose that is OK. Not me.

They had that Prius thing going for them too. This slows the mo' all down so that other brands can catch up.

I have sort of left the world of brands and business and all. But this is so striking that I have to spend a little time thinking about it.

They show an ad in the morning with Toyota employees talking about "kaizan" or some such word that describes their pride and dedication to a good product.

Pride goeth before a fall. Kaizan!

This all reminds me of the Vatican and their way of dealing with their huge "pr" problem.

They are failing because it is not a pr problem. It is a pope problem and until the system gets fixed, the problem is going to persist.

That is how the pope and Toyota are the same.

Is the Popemobile a Toyota?

Labels: automobiles, christist watch, culture

BIRCHED

I love when I have written something and then, a few weeks later, someone else gets the same idea.

Birchers Yesterday, Tea Partiers Today

I like particularly the data which shows the cognitive dissonance the baggers have that so many other Americans agree with them.

Look at the actual stats.

Does anyone today even remember the John Birch Society?

I went to a lecture, in the army, by an army colonel who was a believer. It was pretty wild stuff.

There is a strong strain of conspiracy theorism in all of this stuff.

Labels: republican whack jobs, tea party

IN THE HOUR OF GREATEST NEED

This is huge.

Obama Widens Medical Rights for Same-Sex Partners

Most people do not realize the extent of emergency and terminal care "black holes" for gay people.

We have had to cobble together a sheaf of legal documents to indicate that our partners be with us at the times of extreme health crisis or death.

And still. There are places and doctors who make it hard for gay partners to have equal spousal rights at the critical times.

Unfriendly families intervene. There are more than enough stories about people who have been kept away from the final hours of the most beloved person. Whether you are the dying or the survivor no one wants to be alone.

This simple order has always been possible and yet in 8 years of Republican governance, not once, was it considered.

We live in an area that is mega gay. The hospitals and health care facilities here, for the most part, totally gay friendly.

This is not true in many, particularly red state, areas of the country. And even in blue state locations, religious institutions will still make it tough on gays to be treated equally.

If you travel, you have to travel with your papers and even then that may not be enough.

People who live in these areas do so at their own and their partner's risk.

Did I say that this is a big deal?

CHANGES

One of the side benefits or not in going to the dentist is that I get to see some teevee.

I mean with sound and everything. Not like at the gym where they have the hearing impaired writeup scrolling (incorrectly I am sure) along.

Today, for the first time in a very long time, I saw Michael J. Fox.

He is reeling from the Parkinsons.

He holds his leg in place and kind of braces himself but he swings in wide arcs.

It is shocking to see.

Then the shock gives way to admiration. Here is someone who is open and out with who they are and what is happening.

He has a new book to promote which is a good thing for him and probably us.

I never saw him on his own show but I did see him in Back to the Future. I am not a fan. Just a witness.

In my first job, there was a guy who had the disease. His symptoms were different. He was confined to very small movements.

He was the head engineer of a rather large department.

No one pandered to him. He came in a bit late so he could avoid crowds and then would do the small half steps to the back of the office where he hung is hat and then went to his desk and board.

No one moved his stuff to the front of the office. No one did anything. He did what he had done since he went to work there.

He was a great guy. He could joke about his situation.

The company was good to him in many ways that were not obvious.

These guys are heroes to me.

Not in a "oh I am such a wimp compared to them" way. Because I am not. I have had shit happen too. I have learned to walk through it.

Role models. Or something.

Just friends. Whatever.

I know as many now who have stuff. They walk the talk and do the deal. God love 'em.

We are all "more human than otherwise".

Labels: heroes

MARGARET WRITES TO HELEN

We survived Bush. You’ll survive Obama.

For those who remember Margaret, you will enjoy this. For those who missed it, try her archives.

Labels: Administration Obama, race

IN THE TEETH

I went to get my teeth cleaned and examined today and, damn, I have an infected molar and it is one of the anchors for my lower partial that fills in the gaps.

I am not too pleased with this.

It means a root canal which, I know from experience, will be painless with this guy.

I am on the antibiotic to clean up the infection.

I have a crown on this one too. They just re-ramp the piece and reuse it.

I am so healthy every other way I am grateful enough that my lousy teeth don't overwhelm me at all.

Labels: dentist

NO CANDIDATES. NO LEADERS.

The bags are an interesting group. More from the NYTimes poll.

The Tea Party's Political Favorites.

It turns out that there aren't any.

They like Beck! Imagine. Sarah Palin. No one bought Beck's gold and few see Palin as Presidential timbre, so it is only skin deep.

They love Fox News. Surprise. Drinking the Roger Ailes Kool Aid.

And McCain has lost them. Bummer. Even he says now that he was "never" a maverick.

This is all very interesting. And these are college educated, higher income, Republican men.

I know. I am doing a lot of tea leave reading.

It is just such an interesting phenomenon.

I keep saying to myself to drop it and then there is another bag to read.

Labels: tea party

PLEASED TO PAY UP

I am down with this:

Suck it, Tea Party: I love Tax Day

It is particularly galling to me that people in my own age group are acting like little children about their taxes.

We already pay an astoundingly low rate compared to other countries.

And yet many of the oldsters, all of whom are happy to be on, and even milk, Medicare, to say nothing of Social Security, are out their whining.

I said the other day that I was happy to pay up. Even when "they" were in there.

I sent my tax return in early this year. I paid some to the State.

I just sent my first quarterly prepayment for 2010.

Just in the way I was proud to serve in the military and proud to vote in every election I have had in my lifetime, I am proud to pay taxes in the best, not perfect, country in the world.

Roll out the bandwagon. Lift up the flag.

I am even happy to say that I pay these taxes to protect the rights of others to bitch and complain.

Labels: patriotism