Friday, November 30, 2012
SHAKING THE TRUE DISBELIEVERS
I put the film Chasing Ice in my queue some time ago. This is one reaction to it by a true righty. A Bill Reilly fan.
Labels: global warming
STILL RUNNING
You know what dieseling is, eh? I am dieseling about the election.
Kos put up his favorite video today. See below.
My favorite moment is that Romney will end up with 47%, the fateful number. Also that people I know who were so sure he would win still have the crepe out.
The congress people, some of them, don't even seem to realize who won the election.
But I notice some ranks breaking both in the House and the Senate. I am not lulled by this. They will be whipped back into line.
Still.
Labels: Re-election of Barack Obama
WHO'S ON FIRST?
Today's film was a first time effort by Robbie Pickering
A middle aged woman discovers that her husband has been "cheating" on her for all their years together. The deal is that he is a born again and doesn't believe that sex should be for anything but procreation. She is barren. So he jerks off at a sperm bank to religious porn.
I know. I know. This sounds like some wild ass over the top comedy about the poor dumb evangelicals. But it is a premise that works when the husband, believing he is near death, asks the wife to go find his one success at insemination out there.
She goes to find the boy. Who turns out to be a man. A wild man who is on the lam.
Somehow this film absorbs all the nuttiness. I don't know how it does that. We believe it, we are all for the people involved to work it out. We are drawn into what turns out to be a love story of a kind.
The wife is played with great skill by the comic actress Rachael Harris and the young man is Matt O'Leary, a natural clown in wolf's clothing who reminds me very much of the young Red Skelton. I know. You are too young. You didn't see him. Great physical stuff. He too, is able to fold the daffiness into a sensitive and likable character. The one we love to hate.
Funny and on the target, the film is very well done. Rough for being done on the low down. Still, that is no excuse. It has been an award winner if not a distribution success.
I liked it. I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
SLEEP IN
I woke at 340 AM today. Too late to go to the gym. And do the rest of the stuff I wanted to do in the morning.
So I surrendered. Skipped the gym.
I have been getting up at 3AM more or less for eons.
Not today.
I am happy that I neither punished myself mentally about it or just blew it off. I didn't like doing it but it is not the end of the world.
After all, I do not work with an alarm. I haven't for many years. So the natural timer wanted to stay there for 40 more minutes.
I even went to bed a little early. Not early enough.
I will make a mental note. I do "sleep in" on Saturday and Sunday and do not go to the gym at all. So I will have three days.
Like last weekend when the gym was not open early enough.
I suppose that I could go in tomorrow, a Saturday, but I will not. I am not that upset.
A trend?
No. I would set the alarm first.
LETTING GO
Interesting.
When They're Grown the Real Pain Begins
This mother found out what most parents know. Kids are people and when they grow up they have the lives of people.
Holding on brings a considerable amount of pain that is not really very useful to anyone.
A friend of mine has three adult kids and he has all kinds of wrenching thoughts and even physical reactions to their life situations.
One son had a drinking problem, now gone away, and he agonized that the kid wouldn't go to AA. Huh? I didn't go to AA until I was 40. There were job and wife problems. Again, advice up the wazoo. And then alienation. His son told him that he was meddling.
Well he was.
Another daughter is splitting up from her husband and now going through the familiar yo yo effect of maybe I'll stay or maybe I'll go. My friend took his position a long time ago. That was for her to go. So. There is a play by play every time she shifts and wiggles to find a right place for herself with this guy who just happens to be the father of her children. Tough. Tough life. Tough situation. But it is not my friend's business. Plain and simple.
There is a third kid, a daughter, who seems to be having clear sailing in her life. My friend uses that as a wedge to intervene with the other two. "Why can't you be like your sister", although he probably doesn't say it that way. It must be tough to be the family role model.
I have been through this for a long time. I have five kids. My god! They grew up. Now what do I do? Worry?
No.
I have my own life to attend to and if my life is any indicator they are better off making their own mistakes. I remember the few times my parents tried to intervene with me. All that did was make things harder, tougher and more confusing.
I try to stay out of it all.
I long ago accepted that my kids are going to have problems in their life that I cannot even understand let alone help with. Well, there is the listening ear. If they want me to listen. They seldom do. Good for them.
In this article, there is an old lady at the beginning who talks about the "burden" of adult children.
Good christ!
My mother suffered that way. It was a spectacle. And, of course, it was all about her and her life.
I celebrate my kids lives. When they get into difficulties, I know that I can listen if they want to talk it out. I know that I can stand to the side and watch and, perhaps, learn from how they work through the things that happen to them.
But to interfere, to judge, to "suffer" with them is a path to a very unhappy existence for all the family.
Labels: family
Thursday, November 29, 2012
NO ONE'S TELLIN'
Lunch.
Oh. To be a fly on the wall.
I notice that Obama has his hand in his pocket.
Romney the usual awkward body language.
Fascinating for some reason.
I don't think this would happen in the rest of the world. Romney might be in chains or in exile or something.
This is the American way. Even if it doesn't mean anything.
Hey. He gave Hillary one of the most important positions in the Cabinet.
Labels: Re-election of Barack Obama
KIDS
Today's film was a NYTimes Critics' Pick and won a jury award at Cannes. Maïwenn's
She is also one of the many lead actors in this documentary like account of the Paris Child Protective Unit.
Frank and understated at the same time, this film is riveting. It is novel. Something never seen before. Extensively researched. Based on ten, it seems fifty, real cases. Maïwenn spent much time with the unit. It took her a couple of years to put together and get permission to use child actors.
As she points out, this prevented using anything explicit. She realized in editing that this was a blessing because the "action" such as it was now took place in the minds of the viewer which, mostly, is much worse than the actual thing.
Many of the cases are about sexual abuse but many are about other things. Abandonment, homelessness, teen pregnancies and so on.
There are a few victories. There are some very upsetting things but none are sensational.
There is an ongoing romance. Something for everyone. And a change of pace. Some hilarity as well.
I liked it a lot. The subtitles are very rich and so they go by rather fast.
I would not mind seeing this again. It is very good. I do not think that I missed anything. No loose ends. A 4 out of Netflix5.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
THE INNER MAN
More about introverts.
You know that I have spent my whole life informing the "population" that introverts are not the quiet guy in the corner that they seem to be.
Actually, some of us are working from the inside.
This guy presents introverts as an oppressed minority.
Not me. Fuck that.
I choose my ground and don't waste my time with the noisy gang.
But that has been a lifelong journey.
Labels: Introvert
HOOKED
Today's film was The Sound of my Voice (2011)
Two investigative reporters sign up with a cult to check it out and expose their chicanery.
We get to be right in the middle of this process and I almost signed up myself!
A con game? Maybe. Certainly there is evidence enough. And then there is the ending. More evidence.
Who gets hooked? What happens with the couple?
What is going on here?
The clairvoyant is from the future. 2041. So she knows what will happen.
Do we?
I liked this. Some things had me going. Tricks are used but the film is wonderfully edgy and answers are not really given until you need to see or hear them. I did not figure anything out in advance and I jumped when "it" happened.
Not one person jumped out and said boo. There was no chain saw. No one drank Kool Aid. Although they might have.
Once you see this there is no future for it. That is a 3 out of Netflix5 in my book.
Labels: films
UNEXPECTED
Another unexpected day. Our 2PM financial guy called to bail out as he had a medical emergency. Well, something he was worried about and the doc would only see him at our time.
OK with me. And he said he "wouldn't be any good" if he had gotten a later time at the doc as he is worried.
Me too. I wouldn't want him under stress. Then I couldn't add any.
Not that I intend to.
We will get together next week at 2PM. Same deal.
I am prepared. One of the benefits of having a postponement.
Tom Lehrer from my college years. He was prophetic. Solicit for your sister, indeed.
Tom was gay as a goose and could be found in various gay bars when I was there. A nice guy. An icon to students in the Fifties. We were getting ready for the Sixties.
Labels: fun, gay fun, life, music
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
LONG DAY
But not as long as I expected.
My 8AM appointment cancelled and so we had the Mac service guy here for three hours.
He got us set up with me on the new iMac and John back with his old computer with some added memory and a new mouse. He also got the wireless keyboard.
Most of the work is arduous for the consultant, not for us. Quick decisions are needed from time to time so we needed to be on our toes.
Then, I had a haircut at 130 and came home to smooch the computer into my way of working. Not too bad.
Tomorrow and AM meeting and then a 1PM sitdown with our new financial rep. I am ready.
Amy Winehouse. Unreleased. ca 2002
Labels: music
Monday, November 26, 2012
TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN
Not a great place to be. But it looks good.
Today's movie is the NYTimes Critics' Pick film by Andrei Zvyagintsev
It is the law of the jungle. Rich, poor. Well to ne'er do well.
A slow motion thriller. Hitchcockian in a way although there is no doubt who is doing it.
The wife of a plutocrat, of lower class, discovers that the husband is going to change his will giving most of his money to his dissolute but amusing daughter.
The wife has priorities of her own. A dissolute and not so amusing son who needs money to get his son out of compulsory military duty and into college. To say nothing of finding another way to be a sponger.
None of this is on the surface.
Modern Russia looks a lot like a western city. But below the surface it is Mother Russia to the core.
This is a beautiful film, belying the ugliness underneath.
Nadezhda Markina in the title role is a force of nature. There is a lot of nature in the film. Mostly serene and carefully filmed. Slow and methodical. Until it isn't.
This is a quiet thriller.
I liked it a lot. I would not mind seeing it again. That makes it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
Sunday, November 25, 2012
VOTER EXPRESSION
In some places, the problem is voter suppression. Not in California where more people voted than ever before.
California as a Model of Good Voting Practice
We signed up over a million new voters this year many of them under 35. On line registration that works!
We have voting by mail. I am a convert. 9.2 million people or 65% voted by mail.
And if you do go to the polls, they are conveniently located and have plenty of room when you go.
When I voted for real in the polling place I never waited. Well, once and it was about five people all of whom I knew because it was in my neighborhood.Old home week! Entertainment while you wait.
The costs for this are not higher. They man the polls with folks who volunteer and in places that give the space over for free.
And yes, California has initiatives on the ballot and the initiatives bring out the vote. This year it was Prop 30 in which we raised taxes on ourselves. Yikes! I bet even the teas voted for that out here. People turn out for issues like this.
I don't like propositions and initiatives but I like to vote on them, up or down. It brings the government closer to me even when it is too simple minded.
Give people a reason to come out and they will. Engagement.
Labels: elections
BIZZY WEEK
No movie today. I am going to an early supper for someone who is celebrating 20 years of sobriety. Unusual for me, but I like this young woman a lot and have learned a lot from her in Meetings and by being my grandsponsee for a period of time.
Tomorrow is calm. A movie day for sure.
Tuesday is the tough one. A no nap day, perhaps.
First thing a short meeting with a sponsee. Then, the Apple service guy is coming in the morning to transfer the new iMac from John to me. John is taking his old one back. The 18 incher. It turns out he is not impressed with the big new one with the newer operating system. When his machine poops out we will get it fixed and then, eventually, he can face the music of change. Or not. Deferral is always to our advantage in matters such as this. There will be more changes but, who knows, they might be better ones.
And I will have what I wanted in the first place. A 2011 iMac that still has the DVD player as the new one will not. And when will the new one be out anyway? Doesn't matter now.
After all this computer stuff, I have a haircut in the afternoon. Always a bit of stress there. Don't know why. Not my favorite thing.
Wednesday, we meet our new financial guy. Our long term manager from Smith Barney, now Morgan Stanley, moved on and we didn't move on with her.
The new guy is a bit like the guy we had long ago who you can hear wanting to sell an annuity program or a mutual fund. No dice.
It is too late. I have been with Smith Barney longer than he has. So long that it is still Smith Barney to me. I like my plan, a managed fund of 2/3 equities and 1/3 bonds and I am sticking with it. I am paying them well to manage it that way.
But, he means well and I will be kind.
We do need to meet him as he is John's link if anything happens to me. When something happens to me. And he should hear my "philosophy" from the horses mouth.
Face to face is better. We have already had a few small skirmishes. I do not want to alienate him but he is at our service, not the other way. Hard to let these guys know that I like the clang and clash of the market. To see that I own a piece of the Riverside California Water Authority. Things like that. I own about 200 stocks. Spread out in teeny pieces. P&G, Apple, the bigger ones. Some companies I don't even know what they do. But it works. This managed fund has stayed ahead of the market right along even in the crash.
Thursday, it gets quiet again. Perhaps a movie.
Meanwhile, the clang and the clash.
Who wouldn't want to be in the middle of the melee. In a second life, I am coming back as a commodities trader.
Labels: computer, films, finance, life
FILLING THE HOLE
I have had a bit of a withdrawal experience with the ending of the election.
All those months of polls and watching the GOoPers destroy themselves.
The runup. The debates. The worries.
Then the election itself and the aftermath. The Romney watching.
It is all over.
Ended.
Fini!
I am relieved but it is amazing to find how much time I was spending each day poring over the websites, the blogs, the polling numbers.
Now there is a big vacant spot. A hole.
I realize there are a few things that I had been neglecting.
The blog is one.
I usually lose some people as this gets more political.
I have missed reading. Books. Fiction. Enough "reality" if there is any in politics.
I am now reading up to an hour more a day and happy to be doing it.
I have found a couple of authors to annoint as my current favorites. I will read all their stuff.
I am taking longer walks with Booker, not worried about missing something on the web or whatever.
Life is sweeter and less edgy.
I was not as stressed this time as the recent past.
In 2000, I actually got sick over Gore's loss. I had to get meds for irritable bowel syndrome. I vowed not to let that happen again.
In 2004, I had ato admit that I was not as big a fan of Kerry as I should have been. I was way critical of my party for turning it into a money game. I didn't want a second Bush term but I never really thought we had a winner.
The 2008 election started early. That was the one where we had the primary to end all primaries. Barack and Hillary.
I switched from Hillary mid primary. I didn't like the Clintonian bullshit. I was worried about Obama, he seemed to green. "Callow" was a word I used with a friend. But then he caught me. I read his books. I listened to him speak and I started working for him and giving.
Then, the general election. McCain and Palin. The perfect villains.
The inaugural was just incredibly exciting. (As this one cannot be I know)
Romney was not the perfect villain. He was a sad and scary leftover from the GOoPer wars. For awhile there, it seemed he might actually win but I never really believed it. With Nate Silver and Sam Wang at my side, I exuded confidence to other Demos who were, as usual, worried sick. I scoffed at over confident republicans.
It was still a big win. A big and exciting experience to see my expectations realized. In the numbers!
What now? Second terms tend downward in the second half. There are the beginnings of the new candidate feelers.
There is no one that I am interested in just now. Time will tell.
In the meantime, fill the hole. The election cycle will catch up with me sooner or later.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
THE MAN
Today's film was a PBS documentary, American Master Series, about Johnny Carson.
It is very good.
I would give it a five but I don't want to see it again.
That is how ambiguous I am about Carson.
I liked him then I didn't.
But his early life is fascinating. I mean until he is about 50. That is an early life from my viewpoint these days.
As most of these guys are, he was complex. An unrecovered alcoholic. A serial womanizer.
Why do I mention these things? Because it shows that great contributions can be made regardless.
Think of this. He left the largest charitable foundation of any entertainment figure, anytime, anywhere. And he was a serial giver to people and groups who had it hard. He did this all his life. He gave and gave and gave.
His friends, while few, show up in this very funny and sad documentary and I am grateful for the experience to relive the best of Carson and to see his friends mourn him. And appreciate his life with them. He sent Dave Letterman jokes to use on his show until his last days with emphysema.
Friday, November 23, 2012
THE PISS POOR POWER OF BIG MONEY
Yeh, we were all afraid of it.
Citizen's United. The fucking Koch Brothers. Karl Asshole Rove. The boys with the cash. The big boys. The motherfuckers.
Sorry.
I shouldn't say those things. The bastards.
Now the schadenfreude.
They pissed it away.
I remember the moment Kos discusses here.
The realization that it was going down the toilet for them.
40 MIllion Pissed Away Attacking Sherrod Brown
Read it and gloat. Especially if you are from Ohio.
Labels: elections, republican whack jobs
BLACK BLACK
I have always believed that Black Friday referred to the craziness and mayhem.
And I am right. Read this.
I first heard about this in Philadelphia in the fifties where I worked downtown. You will see the appropriate new items.
I was there!
CARRIER
I am in the middle of reading about the huge scam the Brits pulled on the Germans in WWII, fake intelligence to throw them off on many aspects of the war but mostly the DDay location.
There is a chapter on carrier pigeons and their utter ineffectiveness in wartime.
This made me think about it again.
Code Found on Pigeon Baffles British Cryptographers
I also am interested in homing pigeons. I have known some people who had them. I wouldn't want it because of the mess and worry. "Will they come home"?
So I really enjoyed reading this.
Labels: birds, war and peace
BOYCOTT
Well, not really. But yes. I am going to quit wearing New Balance.
I have been a loyal buyer over a number of years but, it turns out, they are now owned by a right wing christian bigot and that is all it takes for me to bolt.
I originally went to NB for a "cause". They were one of the few, the only perhaps, manufacturers that still made athletic shoes in the USA. Union.
That is no longer the case.
I have been thinking about the shift for awhile, but a son has made the switch and mentioned it and that was my tipping point. Thanks Tom.
I am going back to an old favorite. Asics.
I ran with Asics for years.
Now I will walk. In a few days I will be getting my first pair. The ASICS Men's GEL-Tech Walker Neo Walking Shoe
REPEATING THE SAME ACTIONS
Todays NYTimes Critics' Pick film was Hong Sang-soo's brilliant
Book chon bang hyang / The Day He Arrives (2011)
in which a retired film director walks the streets of a Seoul neighborhood experiencing people and events both from his past and present which in one form or another, keep repeating themselves.
Of course, he brings himself to each encounter.
Shot in digital black and white, a first for me, and seen on the big iMac screen, this is a moving and always challenging film to watch.
It is not inscrutable. There is no doubt about what is up. What is exciting is the almost seamless way in which the "director" and the characters repeat the same situations but show how they might be different with a small change in the sequence.
This is thoroughly explained by the characters as they sit in a bar. They are film people after all. All of them.
A study in the importance of minor circumstance.
At first I thought the director was the director himself. It is that first person thing, so real and tangible. But no. It is a show. Not a tell.
In a way, this is not a spoiler, the film ends where it begins. But with a finale that is breathtaking. To me.
I would not mind seeing this again because there are subtleties that I saw. How many did I miss? But the game has been given away and I am not sure that a repeat would yield the same experience. Of course, that is the point of the film. Small variations in circumstance can yield quite different results.
I am really really glad that I saw this. A 4 out of Netflix5. I would want to see some other of his films. Perhaps I have. I have seen the lead actor before. I love Korean films.
Now here is something!
The trailer is just a key scene shown in reverse in color and with added graphics.
As ingenious as the film.
Far fucking out. What a surprise.
Labels: films
Thursday, November 22, 2012
THE OLDEN DAYS
Macy's parade in 1940.
I got tired of it very early in my life.
John and I found ourselves in NYC for Thanksgiving and wandered into the parade as it was going along.
Wandered out.
But it is a pretty good thing somehow.
It is good to have institutions. It is like the Rose Bowl Parade out here. A big deal for a lot of people. I wouldn't go or even see it on TV but I am glad it is there.
Does that make sense?
Labels: holidays
CAUGHT IN THE WEB
Today's movie was the latest, and redo of the first,
In two words, Andrew Garfield. Intense, strong feelings, a bit tragic, the reluctant hero and skinny. A high school kid before, during and after.
I think this was darker than the original startup of the franchise and a lot better to read and understand. For me.
Garfield is quite an actor. I recently saw him on Ellen. A gimmicked fund raising thing. He had to do a bunch of dances. A thousand to the charity if he got them. He hit them all with a lot of wit and grace. Funny.
I have watched him come along and thought that somehow, like many young stars before him, that he would be diminished by this exercise in superstardom extravaganza. But this spider has his feet on the ground.
Sally Field is a bit overwrought at first and somehow the plot rises to meet her concern. Martin Sheen is the uncle who takes them in.
The villain is actually believable in that he is really sorry that fucking around with these hormones or whatever will be harmful and turn him into a monster. Rhys Ifins. Love him.
The cop? Denis Leary. Boston kid. Emerson College graduate. An old favorite. He has aged quite well.
I liked the acrobatics. Just about right. Super but also not super. Still a high school kid who has to grow into his new role.
If you stayed through the credits you will see that we are not done with this unless we want to be.
I would not mind seeing it again. I would like to but won't give it a 5 today. Just a 4 out of Netflix5 until I get to think it over.
Almost 20,000,000 saw this trailer.
Labels: films
SKEWED
Funny hours for the gym today so, as a result, my routine.
They will close tonight at 6PM and reopen tomorrow at 6AM.
Kinda late if they are trying to give the employees a break but good for the customers to come in and work it off during the feasting.
The result for me is that it will be a shutout tomorrow morning so I went in today at the usual 430 time and found John, the desk guy, working out in back and a few other stalwarts in various stages of their routines plus a sprinkling of newbies. Vacationers? Dunno.
Tomorrow will be a sleep in day for me. Three in a row.
The thought did occur to me that I could go in Saturday morning if I was so upset about missing a day but that thought did not last long.
I think this happens every year and I forget about it.
I came home this morning, did the pumpkin pie and now will coast for the day.
I got the long awaited Spiderman with my boy Garfield in it.
I moved it ahead in the home pile, out of turn, to have a holiday film event.
Just like the movies.
Labels: holiday
WRONG TEAM
This is a great coming out story.
I think that his is fairly common. There must be a psychological term for it. Something more than "denial".
Many guys I know had the same. Celebrity couples were a particular target but, as it happens, dating a girl or being friends with a girl because of her boy friend is just the same.
I did it.
I woke up.
I now have all that I ever wanted or, actually, everything that I didn't realize I could have, with my husband of 37 years.
I like what he says about the realities. Sickness, health, fights over the dishes, breakups over things that hardly seemed important in hours. All that.
No airbrushing.
Still, it all starts with being on the right team so you get a chance. A lot of guys did not. Have not yet.
I am so happy for young men and women who are so much closer to finding their way than we were in my time.
Labels: coming out
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
CREEPING INTO THANKSGIVING
We will have a traditional Thanksgiving meal tomorrow but it will have been assembled in pieces.
I made the annual real whole cranberry sauce yesterday. It is setting in the refrigerator.
Today, a turkey breast, which I needed to make anyway. By chance, the menu for this day is turkey! The 60 day menu cycle. A direct hit.
Tomorrow, the pumpkin pie which will count as a vegetable.
I am still in my "losing weight mode" and am now thirty pounds down.
I feel pretty good about that and will do nothing to jeopardize it.
I have eaten everything I would normally eat for about three months now and have still lost the weight. Everything, that is, but frozen yogurt which I gave up cold turkey at the same time I started it.
That has helped the loss move along quite a bit. After all, it is probably why I gained most of the pounds.
A habit, incidentally. Not an addiction. I had no withdrawal. No seizures. No DTs. I just quit and lived through a brief period of mild craving at the time I would normally eat the delicious dessert.
Anyway, I have had just the same menus every day only less. The yogurt plus the less is more idea has won the day.
I have already had to buy some new pants and belts and am on my way to the second wave of that.
My goal is to get down to the weight I had when we came here or, perhaps, into the 150s. I will know when to stop. And how to stay.
I know. I know. Thanksgiving is not about food but this year I am grateful for having been able to get myself healthy again and to reverse the thinking that it was OK for me to be obese. It is not.
I am not now and will stay here in happy thin land as well as I can.
In the meantime, a short modest break for pumpkin pie.
CHOOSING THE WORLD
Today's movie was the Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda's
Two young brothers, separated by divorce come together around one's belief that a wish made where two bullet trains cross will be granted.
Magical thinking.
There is a lot of other magical thinking in this film. A grandma that wants to be a hula dancer, a girl who wants to be an actress, a grand dad who dreams of a new form for a traditional food and so on.
The point here is the charm and gravity of the kids. Each one.
Ebert says that the two boys are gold. Pure.
When the time comes for the trains to cross, there is a moment of truth for all the kids.
This is about growing up. There is not a lot of sentimentality. But the palpable joy of the kids in their daily lives is the answer, not the question.
I enjoyed this very much and would not mind seeing it again just to watch the kids move through space and time and experience. A 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
MOCKING THE FEVER SWAMP
I watch a little bit of Fox in the morning and they are still beating Benghazi.
Kevin Drum does a good job of mockery here.
Benghazi Coverup Goes Even Deeper Than Anyone Imagined
Labels: republican whack jobs
MEANING?
Today's Daniel Auteuil film, the last, is by Michael Haneke.
A creepy mystery where the main man knows most of the answers once he listens to his own memory and guilt.
There is a lot of interpretation going on about this film in the review and others but Haneke himself is cozy about the truth and encourages viewers to form their own opinions.
Today, I saw a gay subtext and an Oedipal interaction between father and son.
It is the third or fourth time that I have seen it and I will see it again.
There is little that I can say except that it is one of my favorite films, very watchable, always surprising, even in new ways each time.
Autieul is superb and Juillette Binoche very near the top of her form as the puzzled wife.
A five out of NetflixFive.
Monday, November 19, 2012
REIGN OF TERROR
Today's Daniel Auteuil film was Benoit Jacquet's
Auteuil is Sade. The movie was built expressly for him.
There are many Sades. This book or film will depict him as a madman, a play will show him writing a play (in the same asylum depicted in this film), another will show him as a cruel bastard. We have none of these here.
I suspect that this Sade is seen as whatever we bring to see him with. A product of our times.
We see him during a short period in the Reign of Terror. Robespierre. A real nut. A religious nut. Familiar.
Sade is given favors by people who may despise him but still have an interest in his welfare. We see his daily routines and activities while he awaits an inevitable death on the guillotine. But we know that did not really happen. God knows there is enough going on to keep us busy.
Sade takes an interest in an innocent girl who wants to live life before she dies. He helps that happen. It is quite beautiful actually. It is as though he is producing a small play.
The film is gorgeous and takes us in almost immediately. It does not seem strange or exotic that they are wearing these clothes or that there is a guillotine being put together in the front yard. Life in the "asylum", all refugees from royalty, goes on.
I was amazed to find myself IN it all. Maybe wearing the same dated clothes.
There are a lot of familiar actors in this as there are all French films. A small rep company. Gregoire Colon is a sexy favorite. He is Sade's reluctant benefactor. We saw him in Beau Travail.
I would not mind seeing this again. I liked it very much. A 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
Sunday, November 18, 2012
IT IS NEVER OVER
We sometimes think that coming out is a matter of telling people you are gay or if not that then just being gay.
This is a short sighted view.
Coming out is a process that is life long.
First, simple knowledge is not enough. A living breathing gay life is illuminating and illuminated by being gay 24/7 and not pulling any punches.
The little things count. Every little thing.
It is not necessary to give punches although some are certainly deserved when some relatives or friends maintain their silence or outright ignore your life. But that is easily remedied. If you gay and they are not in your life they are out of your life. Easy.
Then there are our immediate relatives. Our closest family.
My Mother did not want anyone to know I was gay even though I had divorced my wife and lived for years with my husband John. She didn't want anyone to know that I was an alcoholic either. And, certainly there were a whole list of embarrassments that she did not want "them" to know.
When I was younger this led to my being a sneak and a liar. Later in life it just led me to ignore my mother, consider her forms of love to be irrelevant to my life and, at the end, pretty much not be terribly grief stricken at her exit.
Tough words but what else do you say about or to someone who doesn't want you to be who you are.
Here is a Mom who wants to do it all the way and has found that all the way means just that.
Labels: coming out, gay life, holidays
A SHINING MEDIOCRITY
This takedown by Lucian K. Truscott is just the ticket.
FASTIDIOUSNESS is never a good sign in a general officer. Though strutting military peacocks go back to Alexander’s time, our first was MacArthur, who seemed at times to care more about how much gold braid decorated the brim of his cap than he did about how many bodies he left on beachheads across the Pacific. Next came Westmoreland, with his starched fatigues in Vietnam. In our time, Gen. David H. Petraeus has set the bar high. Never has so much beribboned finery decorated a general’s uniform since Al Haig passed through the sally ports of West Point on his way to the White House.This has always been my feeling.
Indeed, it was with a falling stomach that I read about Obama's giving him the CIA.
An empty shell of a man. A popinjay.
He let his dick get caught in the wringer.
And what a wringer, the same intelligence apparatus that he was to oversee.
It was a lousy appointment from the get-go and a concession to the "looks good" mindset that so characterized the George W. Bush era.
He was an easy guy to get through the Senate. Petraeus is nothing if not the consummate politician.
They say he cleared up the Benghazi story. He did nothing of the kind really. The Senators fauned and fell over themselves as the adulterer told them a bedtime story.
Understand, I am all for guys getting themselves laid well. But there is good sleaze and hypocritical sleaze.
This is like the self righteous right wing preacher who is sucking dick in the men's room up on the Interstate.
ROMNEY EVEN PISSED GINGRICH OFF
It is quite amusing to see them gang up on the guy.
Of course he can't keep his mouth shut or stop showing his tin ear.
At least Romney is, apparently, incapable of any self knowledge.
Even if he fucking feels this way it is intemperate and impolitic to say so.
It is amazing.
I thought that we would be over this by now but the guy is fascinating in his ability to dig a deeper hole.
Can you imagine him as President? Goddam. What were people thinking? Did they so hate Obama or the Demo-policies that they were willing to accept this chucklehead?
An elitist thug without a scintilla of compassion or care for anyone less, well the word isn't "fortunate" because he is pathetic. For anyone outside his Mormonic, plutocratic sights.
Let's keep it simple and just repeat. He is a dick. And he is proving that on a daily basis.
No wonder they want him to disappear.
Jon Stewart called it a long time ago.
Labels: Romney
Saturday, November 17, 2012
MISOGYNY
Today's Daniel Auteuil film was Claude Sautet's
Un Coeur en Hiver / A Heart in Winter (1992)
Autueil is a violin maker, as his partner, Andre Dussollier (a favorite), a violinist, Emmanuelle Beaert and Maurice Garrell, an older mentor.
The partner and the violinist fall in love but the violinist also falls for the violin maker who cannot return love. Has none to give.
It is hard to imagine putting a film together where the main character does not love others. He likes them, gets along with them, functions will in his society but he has no feelings for other people.
The script does the job beautifully along with the skilled actors. The music is another character in the film, Ravel sonatas. The cinematography is sensual and, when necessary, cold and distant. You feel what the character does not feel.
It is a great movie and I would not mind at all seeing it again.
A 4 out of Netflix5.
This is a great example of why I am such a fan of Daniel Auteuil. He has a challenging part and with very few words, only his face and body, conveys the prison that he has constructed for himself when among others.
Labels: films
GAIL COLLINS REVIEWS THE ELECTION
Hilariously, as usual.
First, there was that matter of losing the election. Then this week Romney told some of his donors that while he was pursuing the “big issues,” President Obama had purchased the support of blacks, Hispanics and young people with goodies like college loans and health care reform. College-age women, Romney claimed, traded their votes for “free contraceptives.”To which, as we know, many, a lot, of Republicans said "shut the fuck up Mitt".Show them a birth control pill and they’ll follow you anywhere.
Romney said all this in a private conference call, so he couldn’t have suspected that it would wind up in the media. There is no precedent whatsoever for reporters getting hold of remarks presidential candidates make to private groups about the inherent greediness of American voters.
They had enough as we had much earlier.
The thing that amazes me is the shear ignorance of this supposedly smart man about even the basics of social policy or, for that matter, political skill.
Why would he say such a surpassingly dumb thing? A repeat of the infamous 47% talk to earlier wealthy donors in Boca Raton.
Because on top of being unable to take personal responsibility for anything, Mitt Romney is a dick.
Privileged, entitled, out of touch and a plutocratic object lesson. Money does not make the man.
I had a headline a week or more ago in which I said we wouldn't have Mitt to kick around any more. The Nixon line. Mitt does not even approach Nixon's awkward and graceless resentment.
Before he disappears entirely, he is not going to "run" the Republican Party. No autumnal period of a go-to talking head like John McCain (who sort of stepped on his own dick this week when he was doing a presser about knowing more facts about Bengazi when that actual thing was happening in a hearing he had decided? not to attend).
There will be no elder statesman role for Mittens. Yes. Obama said they would get together, not for a beer, but later. How later? Later enough for Mitt to slip into the White House and out again without much of a stir.
Collins gets to use the dog on the roof meme one more time and then we are fairly certain that we will not hear it again. Or from the Mitter.
Labels: Romney
Friday, November 16, 2012
FOOTWORK
When I was a kid, my Dad went out before each election and knocked on doors.
We lived in a town of less than 2000 people and he knew who most of his supporters were. He knew the kids in school and who their parents were. He knew the people who would put a little money in the hat or go drum up some more votes or call their own neighbors.
He had a little machine going. Well, it was part of the local Democratic machine.
It was systematic.
When I ran for office, I mostly didn't know anyone. Plymouth, MA. In those days maybe 20,000 people. The elections that I ran for were non-partisan.
The first one, the school board, I was the sock puppet for the school administrators and existing school board. No one liked them. I became part of that gang. I lost.
The second time, I ran for Moderator of the Town Meeting and I had learned my lesson. I took non-partisan a step further and ran on my independence. I had been the Chair of the Finance Committee, the group that makes recommendations to the Town Meeting and I had a reputation.
While I often took the side of the establishment, I, or we, actually, frequently took the side of the "outs". Or the gad flies. Or the disenfranchised. Yes. There even those in a small town. Especially in a small town.
I had given equal fervor to all our positions which were most often fact based and thorough. Our job.
When I ran for Moderator all I had to do was have a few huge signs on the expressway saying MODERATOR ROSE.
I had already elected myself.
I also had a unique position. Every one of those signs were in the yards of the most notorious trouble makers in town meeting. People who were shit stirrers. And popular.
This was not lost on the general public.
I also had the support of the Selectmen, the shadow Democratic polls, the shadow Republican polls, the administrators or civil service in the Town and so on.
My opponent? Both times, a chairman of the Public Safety Commission with dirt on his hands. A bottom of the heap surgeon/doctor, a womanizer. A sleazy guy who was popular because he was also a shit stirrer but not as popular as mine. He was a friend of the police and firemen. Not that I was an enemy but they fell behind him. But that was good for me. Everyone has it in for the police. Not so much the fire.
Anyway, picture my fascination with this.
The Socially Networked Campaign
An app! I saw them. I got them in the mail.
The Obamas knew that I was in the sphere of the Cathedral City phone bank. I was available, if I wanted, to go to Las Vegas for a weekend or, for that matter, to Nevada for a month.
They knew how much money I had given so far and how much it would take to get to the max.
I did, incidentally.
They passed my name to the Raul Ruiz campaign which was the local Demo Congressman and has been elected. They had me targeted too.
If I ran for local office, of course, again non-partisan, it would still be like Plymouth. But the high tech stuff now available says to me that it is only a matter of time before everyone will have this level of stuff.
Of course, the main thing is to have supporters who are interested in doing anything. That is still the basic thing. People to knock on doors, drive car pools and the like. The army.
Romney's ORCA was supposed to do the same thing but failed in the middle of the election day. Buckled. There are a lot of reasons for that. One of them is that despite his rep, Romney is a shitty manager. In fact he is not a manager at all. Unskewed pollsters? Yes men? Too bad.
Here is another fun article on the tech campaigns and why Obama beat their ass.
And finally, some door knocking basics from, I think, the other side of the pond. Same thing different place.
Labels: computer, elections, technology
WAIT
We took John to get his eyelids shortened this morning.
Yes.
There is a technical name for it but I don't want to have to spell it.
OK. A blepharoplasty.
His lid was dragging on the eyeball and making him cry all the time to say nothing of hurt.
It is common.
I feel that I do have to state that it is not cosmetic surgery. Or we wouldn't have done it. Maybe. It is covered by medicare.
Of course, to the self centered, like me, the whole thing was an inconvenience but not one without some entertainment value.
They want you to stay around and the fucking thing took 2.5 hours!
But I took Booker and we did the morning walk around the place.
Here is what we found.
A long strip of new dirt to walk in. There was no evidence of any plant life whatsoever. When we turned on a very long side street there was new grass on one side for the entire length. No sidewalk!
Along there, we found another big dog who was friendly and had an obsessive interest in Booker's ears. Sniff sniff.
I have never seen that. Booker seemed OK with it. He is a bit sensitive about the ears and I worry when people do too much ear work on him. But they enjoyed each others company while a neat looking/talking guy and I flirted a bit. Both of us were strangers to the street. He from out of town. Well, me too.
Then. We realized that we were passing a development of really huge houses which turned out to be eight gated estates behind another gate! Space in each of 6-8 cars. A development of macmansions!
They are paying through the nose for the outside the wall landscaping.
Booker almost immediately found a low bush and pooped on it. He loves to do that. We can't figure the attraction but it is inevitable when he has a mind for it. The bush has to be thick enough to kind of make it hard to extract the poop and not high enough to tickle his tummy.
Then we returned. An hour walk.
For the rest of the time we read, rested, did small walks around the medical complex. A retinal expert, a cosmetic surgery place, a lab, a few individual docs and a snack bar in the making. A cafe.
As we waited, the nurses copped to us being out there and one by one came to see Booker. Of course, in my opinion, this probably added half an hour to John's stay inside. But probably not so.
At the end, John emerged. We were happy to see him. All swolley eyed and in a wheel chair. Not that he needed the chair but they always make you go out in one of those.
The people are very nice and we had a good time when we thought about it.
This is not John!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
STILL CELEBRATIN'
They did this. Had it been the others it would have gone red.
But it didn't.
Still celebratin'.
Labels: Re-election of Barack Obama
MOM
Today's Daniel Autieul film was Andre Techine's
Ma Saison Preferee / My Favorite Season (1993)
Catherine Deneuve is his sister. Their mom is a pain in the ass. They are estranged.
The mom gets a little dizzy and the brother and sister, in middle age, must find a way to come together to take care of their only living parent.
False stops and starts in the relationship are explored in a natural way. Deneuve is matronly! Autieul is a living brain, a brain doctor, as a matter of fact.
The proceedings are very french with an adopted son and a daughter who both have a thing for a young woman who works in the sister's office.
And so on.
It is a lot better to see than to write about. It is a movie. A film. Quite original in its material and way of dealing with it.
I liked it well enough and will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.
A short clip.
Labels: films
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
STUMBLE CAUGHT
I always stumble over Pedro's last name.
This guy on this tape, I hope it is the same, corrects and teaches at the same time.
I will consider this the movie for the day.
He is found, incidentally, on dListed "hot sluts" feature. Take that for what it is worth to you. He is hot. I don't know about the slut part but I wish him well.
CRY, BABY
It is all about "them" for Mitt. That goddam 47% who turned out to be well north of 50%.
Yes. A reflection.
Look Mitt, in the fucking mirror.
It is music day at esrosedotblog.
Sing it Janis. And don't worry, he won't be back.
Labels: Romney
THE BIZZzzzY DAY
It is Wednesday and the busy day.
I led the Meeting this morning. My turn. Or in the opinion of the Secretary.
It was fine. So was I.
Then the last session with my regular 8AM meet up. He is on his own for awhile and I have the time free which allowed me to reschedule my 1PM at 8AM.
Great.
The 1 PM punches a hole in my day and I won't do that again.
I am sloooooowlly moving my email to iCloud.com. A free Apple site for users like me. I don't know if anyone can get on. I hope not. I want exclusives.
It has not been an easy move. Perhaps through my own insecurity. But it is pretty well believed that my first day, last week, there was a shutdown of the cloud. Some rain perhaps. And nothing worked well.
For awhile I have been diverting my old earthlink account to the new site and, at the same time, to John's email as well.
Today, I dropped the extra added John safety. It wasn't great for him to get all my mail. A lot. And have to erase it off his machine and iPhone.
Then I was worried about my "send" as for some reason it does not want to send a test email to John. But it does work for everyone else and so I must have some corruption around his address. He got one mail that I forwarded.
Are you snoozing yet? Zzzzzzz.
I am. But that is my non movie day and I am going to pass it on to others. Like it or not.
The re-arrangement should help a lot as 8AM is my natural working with others" time.
Labels: life
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
TV ANNALS
I guess some sly studio gnome slipped a good one by the censors.
More about the Petraeus case which is increasingly laughable.
Watch it unfold.
Yeh. All these guys talk about security issues while they are in bed with their ladies.
Labels: heterosexuals
WINK
Today's film was the French
Poupoupidou / Nobody Else But You (2012)
This is a wonderful comedy film/noir in a covering of snow.
A novelist/gumshoe gets stuck in a small town on the French/Swiss border and falls into a case of suicide which is not.
Desperate for ideas for a new book, he takes interest and eventually finds himself hip deep in a snow job.
What is very good about this film are the characters. One, the corpse, is a Marilyn fanatic who has designed her life to model her heroine.
In this respect it is similar to the movie Marilyn which I saw recently, but this film goes to extra lengths which will turn out to be prophetic.
Flashbacks with the dead lady telling her story, a rogue cop who decides to help the author despite his boss' prohibition and so on.
Lots of tongue in cheek. You have to watch carefully or you will miss some of the fun.
I liked it a lot and would not mind seeing it again. Especially the young cop who turns out to have a story of his own.
Labels: films
Monday, November 12, 2012
RAGING HORMONES
Today's film was the Norwegian film
Få meg på, for faen / Turn Me On Dammit! (2012)
A sweet story about a dirty girl who can only think about sex. A small rural town. Only one boy to act it out. Or fantasize.
The funny, frank story turns the tables nicely and shows how boys are expected to be horny and to act on it while girls are not supposed to have any of this going on.
There are a lot of surprises in this very short one hour film. I enjoyed it. A 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
CLASSY SLEAZE
Yesterday's movie was Paul Schrader's
with the young Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton.
I haven't seen this for many years. Maybe when it came out.
It is memorable, if for no other reason, the traverse of Gere's body, all of it. In various angles and poses.
Beyond that, he controls this film very well. The trick is to make us believe that he is in control and has managed to climb the hustler pyramid to the top in LA.
Rich dames.
He meets Hutton and falls in love and convincingly proves that he has a heart. We sort of saw it all along. It helps that we only see him make love with her and not the face job harridans that he "escorts".
He does get his dick caught in the wringer however and gets framed for a murder in Palm Springs!!!
The movie turns into a thriller.
I liked it a lot and might even see it again sometime.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
FACTOID
Did you know that John McCain got more votes than Mitt Romney?
This must surely rankle.
Also, President Obama didn't just win, he became just the second of the last ten presidents to win a majority in two presidential elections (Reagan was the other).If there is any doubt about this being a landslide for Obama, let it disappear.
Did you ever see a landslide? Scary. This one is in Italia.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
WINTER
A world of extremes, the desert.
This morning down into the mid 40s and a high of 65 for the day. The week looks just as cool until the end. Up to the 80s.
I got out my fleece for the traditional Sunday walk. John, Booker and me doing the big circle over to the wash and up to the Foursquare church (in mourning, no doubt, all evangelicals there) and on through the parks to back home.
I notice that Booker kept his feet out of the puddles.
Autumn lasted about three weeks.
There is no snow on the mountain yet although I thought I saw some the other morning.
This will be the routine now. I like it. I like the heat. I like the variability. And the dryness. Ahhh. No damp cold for us.
ROSEY GLOW
This has been a grand week.
Fully informed, more than the Mitters, I really did not expect Romney to win. I assured friends. A long time follower of Nate Silver and Sam Wang, I had confidence in the numbers. And the turnout.
I was thinking of my Dad this morning.
He would be very happy.
He was a life long Democrat. He ran for office as a Democrat. He won elections as a Democrat.
Small local elections for the School Board but, nevertheless, as a Democrat.
We had a bust of FDR in the house. It was plaster painted a bronze color and had a little American flag attached.
My Dad grew up in the depression. He would not be surprised at the callousness of the Republicans today. Little has changed. In his time there were "Hoovervilles". Tent cities thrown up for those who fell way out of the safety net.
Dad was tough and was able top get a job with A&P which lasted a lifetime.
When I needed to rebel against my Dad, I spent a short time as a Republican. It never felt right. I switched back pretty fast. I don't think he ever knew that I had done that. Good.
The sixties radicalized me some but I never left the Party. I do not agree with the left wingers even today. I like a nice moderate liberal approach.
What about the man, Obama? Cautious at first, I saw in him the same basic values that my Dad lived by and that I try to follow.
The FDR image is not far fetched. Obama will not be able to be elected for a third time. But twice will do nicely. I am very happy.
Labels: Barack Obama, Democrats, family
Saturday, November 10, 2012
DDL DISSES CLINT
I adore Daniel Day-Lewis and will be looking forward to his Lincoln. Another tour de force, no doubt.
SWASH BUCKLE
Today's Daniel Autieul film was
This is the fifth film based on the novel so there is nothing new here except a modern take on costume dramas and swordplay.
Autieul plays two parts here. Both with great flair. He is not a young man. Yet, he rides the horse, fights with the sword, runs and jumps and plays a lover of a woman twenty years younger than he. And convincingly.
It is great fun to watch. I thought a little long and then it caught me with the sub, sub sub plot and carried to the victorious and romantic end. Exciting!
There are old fashioned villains and scenes and ideas but they all come off fresh and new somehow.
This is like the Errol Flynn films or the Burt Lancaster vehicles when I was a kid.
Autieul's range is amazing. And he is no matinee idol. That nose. They even make it bigger for his disguise as the hunchback (boss).
I liked it a lot and will rate it a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
Friday, November 09, 2012
KNIFE STORY
Today's Daniel Autieul film was the artsy
La fille sur le pont / Girl on a Bridge (1994)
Black and white homage to the 60s auteurs. Very nice.
It carries its own weight well. A man finds a girl, Vanessa Paradis, about to jump from a bridge and convinces her to work with him. He is a knife thrower.
There is a lot in here about luck and not luck.
They follow a circus and have good luck as well as perfect rapport until she falls, again, for another man. Not that she and the knife guy are lovers. But it breaks the concentration. To say the least.
Dr. Freud would have something to say about the image of knives being thrown by a man toward a woman. Eh?
What is admirable about this film is that it takes a hold on the viewer, me, and doesn't let go. I am not french let alone a scholar of the new wave but the film still appealed.
I will give it a high 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
Thursday, November 08, 2012
GOODBYE AND THANKS
In the Chicago campaign headquarters.
Labels: Barack Obama, Re-election of Barack Obama
DOOM
Today's Daniel Autieul film was
La veuve de Saint-Pierre / The Widow of St. Pierre
Another film from Quebec and filmed at the Louisburg restoration.
A captain and his wife take an interest in a man condemned to death for murder. He is waiting for a guillotine to arrive (French law) as well as an executioner.
As the convict gets to his good self, the social dynamics of the small colony become roiled.
This is a very old fashioned movie very well done.
The wife is Julliette Binoche. She and Autieul are wonderful together. He the sexy and supportive husband of a liberated woman.
The French will have their way with justice but as a social drama and character study, this film is superb.
Oh. "The widow" is the nickname for a guillotine.
I would not mind seeing it again. A 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
BODIES
There will be a lot of GOoPer casualties from this blow out.
It looks like the first to go is the infamous Karl Rove.
Remember the old photo of him being hustled out of the White House?
We should bring it back.
His Foxy performance on election night is enough to show he has lost his magic. Whatever there was. What is the difference between magic and evil intent?
The video is in the writeup.
He spent a lot of other people's money in dirty ads and underhanded shit. To no avail. We were all so worried.
Although I did read this morning that the extra superfund cash might have made it less of a slaughter for the Mitters.
I also read that not one of Sheldon Adelson's candidates got elected. And I bet Sheldon is going to get a good going over from the Justice Department. Not that we are vindictive. Just that the GOP would be lenient. It is part of their deal.
As for Karl Fucking Rove?
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Ha ha ha.
Labels: republican whack jobs, Republicans
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
GRINNIN'
QUOTE OF THE DAYupdated with Pierce' full article
From Bill in Exile. Quote from Charlie Pierce.“So it was their night tonight, the people’s night, and some of them started leaving as soon as he started speaking, and many of them began leaving in earnest when his family rejoined him on stage in the company of the family of Joe “The Happy Warrior” Biden, to forgotten ironies of Springsteen’s “We Take Care of Own.” But there was something he did, on his way out, and that was to come back, alone, when Michelle and Joe and everybody else had gone. He came back, one more time, waving that inevitable hand, and he would have looked like nothing more than a happy man extending his moment of triumph, if he had not stopped in his tracks, and then snapped his head, in time with the music, three successive times towards his chest, leading with his chin. It was a jock’s move, a competitor’s move, the kind of private moment you arrange for yourself on the field of play, and it was his moment, his time, on a night that belonged to everybody else. He had been diminished as a symbol until he had finally become a transformational politician; he had changed a people in the course of changing himself. He was still president of the United States, but he was also still Barack Obama, and right before he rushed himself offstage it was nice to see that he damned well knew it.”
Charlie Pierce
Labels: Barack Obama
THE MOST POPULAR TWEET OF "ALL TIME"
That is Tweet time of course. Something that I know nothing about.
I do know about my all time.
I said that I seem to feel more elated about this election than any before.
In any case, not to be boring about it. I will just show some evidence that I am not alone.
Labels: Barack Obama, MIchelle Obama, The Obamas
IT IS OFFICIAL
Raul Ruiz Defeats Mary Bono Mack
This has been a long time coming.
We have had at least two ex-mayors and other local politicos try to take her down but the overwhelming old Republican establishment was too strong to support the efforts.
The recent change of districts has some effect, they say one percent on registration.
There is also a big shift in the demo. Gay, young. But I think that the real reason is that people are just tired of Bono Mack's hackery.
She has not spent a lot of time in the District especially since she married the other Rep Connie Mack (who lost his bid for FL Senator last night).
It is a good thing.
Ruiz is a smart guy and has the money and energy to make this a good change for our District.
It also means that he will fill one of the Republican seats in the House. Our part in the winnowing.
He is a local guy. An up by the bootstraps story. Wonderful.
I think that he could be a real star.
Labels: elections
HIS BEST SPEECH EVER?
Let's listen to the whole thing.
"There are people in the world who are fighting to be able to argue with each other like we have".
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
This will likely be the last time I use the label "Re-election of Barack Obama".
Labels: Re-election of Barack Obama
GARNISH ON THE MAIN DISH
This is from the Political Animal.Out here in California, it appears Democrats have finally achieved the impossible dream of super-majorities in both Houses of the legislature, breaking the veto power of the GOP over any legislation involving taxes.
It is a big big deal.
The Republican Party is on the rocks here. They drank the tea and it has poisoned them with the electorate.
The GOP found in five senatorial contests that the tea guys lost them the opportunity to make any headway in the Senate. They all went down. As they should have.
I figure there will be some long agonizing reappraisal among centrist Republicans if there are any left. They need to regain control of their party.
Labels: Democrats, Republicans
THRILLING
As much as the first time.
I listened to his acceptance speech this morning. Tears.
I followed the blogs and the summaries last night from about 6 PM and couldn't believe that it was over so quickly. A rout.
I am also happy about a lot of other results.
Four, count them, four states will now have gay marriage available.
We are one of the Republican Congressional Districts to turn Democratic. The mostly absent Mary Bono Mack can go back to personal trainer hood where she came from. She has done nothing for the District. Not one piece of legislation has her name on it. She married Connie Mack who lost in Florida running for Senator. So she will not be alone.
We passed Jerry Browns tax law so that schools stop suffering from the terrible restrictions of California's tax code. We did not eliminate capital punishment.
The latter is the only loss on my sides.
Labels: Re-election of Barack Obama
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
WOW
At 8:16, I saw it happen.
His Twitter.
Obama Reelected President Of The United States @ BarackObama : We're all in this together. That's how we campaigned, and that's who we are. Thank you. -boI saw it happen on the map!!!
LESSONS
Today's film was another one of those wonderful Montreal pictures.
A teacher applies for a job running a class that has just lost their previous teacher to suicide. The new teacher brings some of his own baggage.
This gentle character driven movie rests most of its case on the relationship between the teacher and two kids in the class.
It turns out that all parties find who they need upon his arrival. Very touching.
First class performances and close up camera work.
Deeply felt.
This is a NewYorkTimes Critics' Pick.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5. I would not mind seeing it again at all.
MODERN MUSICAL HERO
Elliot Carter made it to 90 and way beyond.
Elliott Carter, Composer Who Decisively Snapped Tradition, Dies at 103
Never lacked for work, Carter won many prizes including the Pulitzer which is an achievement in itself for a modernist. Carter's work is the kind that you hear a lot and don't really know it is his. I have listened to him for decades of my own life and will continue to do so. Now to honor him as well as the work.
Monday, November 05, 2012
NEW TIME
Booker and I have had to reset our walk time to around 4PM. His afternoon walk.We tried the after dinner thing last night but it was too dark.He is a bit reluctant to embrace change, following the family pattern.But it went OK.He did not want to leave and then when we did he "fell down" in the first hundred yards.Once we crossed Hermosa he perked up but we did stay in the complex. He went all the way to the western edge where he usually does not go and laid a track.I had expected that he might choose to go outside the condos where we have spent the hot summer but not yet today.It was actually warmish. Hot.
A LITTLE TEARY
Here is one reason we should re-elect the President.
Obama Responds to 10 Year Old's Heartfelt Letter About Her Two Dads
All this is lost if Romney is elected.
SUSPENSE
I am ready for the election to be over.
I feel pretty confident that Obama will get his second term. I am not the only one.
If not, and there is always the faint "if", then I will be glad it is over anyway and I will start working on the next one.
I am close to the electoral vote calculators and feel that is how he is going to do it.
There has been a trend upwards since the beginning of last week. Some say, actually, since the Veep debate.
Did you know that this is where we were in 2008? Bush was, like Obama, ahead by about one point over Kerry and had some electoral advantages and that is how it went down.
The advantage of the incumbent.
I note that the GOPs are gathering their excuses together today. Hurricane Sandy. Some others.
OK. Let's have at it.
Labels: Re-election of Barack Obama
WAITING
We have been waiting for a new shipment of iMacs to arrive at the local Apple store so that I can get a replacement for the one that blew a gasket.
I found out today that there won't be a replacement. We bought the last two and the store cannot get any more.
I will have to wait for the new model to arrive "soon", the rumor is December.
That is not great but it is better than hanging in suspense over the replacement.
A slim possibility exists that we could get one from another store or through a friend who is an officer at Apple.
But I am betting on the 2012 model.
In the meantime, I have been able to reproduce almost all my bookmarks on John's machine (in my own folder) and can use it on a regular basis.
It is mildly inconvenient but not a serious problem. The new iCloud connection that I now have allows me to work the live parts of the email and the calendar, all day long.
So it is better to know than not. For me. I am not a guy who likes doubt very much.
See? It is skinny. So I will have to go back to an outboard optical scanner (DVD).
CO-DEPENDENT
Today's Daniel Autieul film was
a light meandering farce in which Mr. Autieul gets to play all his stuff in a good samaritan type of situation. He saves a guy from committing suicide and the guy begins to stick to him for protection.
There is a romance in here. A buddy movie. About 20 minutes too much of story and fill.
I liked it nonetheless just to see my man do his thing. Once is enough though. a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
Sunday, November 04, 2012
AWAY AND HOME
I am on my way to pick John up from the plane.
He was away for a conference since Friday. A main speaker.
Booker and I had a good time together and did the classic Sunday walk this morning.
And we will be glad to see John home.
HISTORIC
Today's Daniel Autieul film was the huge costume drama
La reine Margot / Queen Margot (1994)
where Autieul plays an entirely different kind of role. Henri of Navarre. Eventually Henry III of France.
This is big French history. Protestants, Catholics, the Medicis and even a lover for Margot.
Isabelle Adjani is Margot, Vincent Perez as the lover and Virna Lisi as the evil mother of the current king as well as his brothers who lust after the same throne.
It is adapted from a Dumas novel about the period. Actual history not withstanding. But who knows, it may be gospel.
Beautifully photographed and filled with lots of bodies, naked and otherwise, the film is long and sometimes difficult to follow at the start. But still. I liked it. Auteiul does his best in a tough part with a funny wig. I am glad I saw it but once is enough.
A 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
Saturday, November 03, 2012
REVENGE
Today's Daniel Autueil film was
36 Quai des Orfèvres / Precinct 36
Nothing could be farther than the farcical comedies of the last two days.
A thriller. A dirty cop film. A buddy film. A revenge film for the third act.
Gerard Depardieu is the dirty cop who gets ahead of our hero through deceit and corruption. We know that, in the end, he will get his but it is a painful process.
Autueil is not exactly a clean cop but he is virtuous inside and has a beautiful wife and child who get involved. The wife.
This got a high IMDb rating too.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5 because I would not mind seeing it again at all.
One virtue of this film is that the subtitles are rather complete. No shortcuts. So they are fast and furious and it is sometimes necessary (and worthwhile) to go back to see what was said.
Labels: films
ROUTINE
I am still without my own computer.
No one has called from the Apple Store to say that they have "my" new, old (2011) computer in stock.
I am beginning to believe that there may be none in stock and I will have to wait for the new 2012 iMac to appear in December.
But, he told me to call if I don't hear in a week. So, I am only on my third day. I am not a patient person.
I have pretty much gotten into a routine using John's computer and, as long as he doesn't mind, I can have pretty much the same experience.
The iCloud makes a big difference because I can see my calendar and my email as well as manage it. Very good.
Last night, as well as I could, I put all my bookmarks into a special ER file and can run down the list with ease.
The lack of my new machine has ceased being a problem for me. Disappointment, self pity and the like have gone away.
It helps that John is away this weekend on a speaking engagement in Sacramento. But even when he is here he has been more than accommodating for my computer lust.
Labels: computer
Friday, November 02, 2012
BESTIES
Today's Daniel Auteuil film was
Mon meilleur ami / My Best Friend (2006)
Also Dany Boon.
Totally conventional romantic comedy except the principals are two guys who have no friends, find each other and work their shit out. Learning to be a friend.
One is gregarious, an extrovert. The other reserved, an introvert. But neither knows how to get into the realm of friendship.
I am not sure about the art and science used here to show how to make a friend but we are more interested in the relationship between the two guys which is totally straight and not one homo hint. Just guys.
Auteuil is, as usual, perfect for the role. His charm is hidden but you know it is just lying in wait for the right situation.
I have seen this before so it is a 5 by definition but I will never see it again so that brings it down to a 3. It is not really a great film. Just wonderful acting and ensemble work.
Labels: films
Thursday, November 01, 2012
TRIPLE CROSS
Today's movie was the french NYTimes Critics' Pick
with Daniel Auteuil. A wonderful actor who I am going to watch in a bunch of upcoming films.
This is a farce directed by the adept Francis Veber whose specialty is this kind of modern comedy.
A mogul, Auteuil, tries to cover up his relationship with a mistress by hiring an auto valet to stand in for him as the paparazzi close in on the affair. Kristen Scott Thomas, another favorite, is the wife who knows everything because she has a private eye on the scene. Then there are the other shadows and the girlfriend of the valet and..........
You must get the picture.
The film moves very fast and surprises even as it hits common tropes.
A lot of LOL.
I will give this a 5 because I have seen this before and thoroughly enjoyed seeing it again.
WORKING IT OUT
So here is the rest of the story.
We took the computer in as directed by the phone service guy and they checked it out. The hard disc is dead. End of discussion. They will get me another computer. Credited me for the one I turned in and will order the other because they are currently out of stock.
I felt very relieved. A bad start leads to lack of confidence.
They say that they have only had two other computers turned back to the store like this since they opened. No reason to lie about it. While I am not too happy about being the third one, I am in good hands, I feel, and it will all turn out OK. At first I freaked out but John is going to be away and has graciously let me at his new iMac.
Thanks to the iCloud, I can use John's computer to see my calendar and my email which are on the Time Capsule backup.
That is a mouthful of Apple jargon but it is all the world to me.
For awhile, it looked like I would have to revert to paper. I had some in a stack and it felt like the old days.
I also remember my bookmarks and so have been able to check in all day with the world outside.
Off and on.
I watched a movie and did some other stuff on the computer, his. And so I am pretty well covered with the loss of my own machine.
I would like to have it back on line. They will call me when they have one in stock. I will go get it. I just hope that they are not all sold out.
And if they are, so much for worry. I will use an outboard DVD. I already have it.
I visited with someone this morning and took a long nap to make up for the slight sleep loss I had yesterday. The computer crash pretty much ate that nap up.
I have updated on various things such as paying our property taxes and the Amex bill.
I am in pretty good shape.
Life is good.
Labels: life
