esrosedotblog

Today's film is about a relationship between two young men who discover that they are gay.

Peyote (2013)

Not so unusual really. It is also a road trip movie. A good combination. All that time in the car together, stopping at night.

It is not an unfamiliar plot device particularly for gay romance but this one is especially pleasing.

The young men are charming and quite different. You know they will make a good couple.

The discoveries that they make together and apart take place in a desert not unlike our own.

It is a very well made film and quite enjoyable.

Since I plan to buy the disc, that would make it a 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films, gay films

Just when you think big band music is disappearing, along comes something like this film.

Whiplash (2014)

with Miles Teller as a young drummer and J.K. Simmons as his mentor.

First, the music. Superb. Even if it is in smaller snatches until the end, it carries the weight of the picture.

This is big band jazz. Not the twinkle of guitars and drums. The full gutted sound of big brass and heavy reeds. Big.

The story is a standard, up from behind, pitfalls, even bloody hands. Missed events. Lost music. A home where athletics are the main thing. The appearance of the Dad at the end is profound.

The people behind this love the music. They surround it as it encompasses them.

My only wish is that this could have lasted three or four hours so we could hear all the new pieces and standards on display.

This is a must see again film. A rare 5 out of Netflix5.

I am off to Amazon to buy the disc.

One more thing. Miles Teller is a John Cusack reborn! Wonderful.

Labels: best films, films

I missed blogging for two days.

And it didn't kill me!

I watched some old movies so nothing to report there.

Saturday was the usual laid back day and Sunday even more so. I didn't even join "the boys" for the morning dog walk on Sunday.

It was a nice break. The world got along quite well enough without me.

I may take a couple more days.

Labels: blog

Marcus and I got stalked by coyotes on our walk tonight.

I don't know about him but I didn't like it.

John came and picked us up and we got to ride home safely in the Volvo.

They have been around but now they are closer and it is still early in the season. They usually come down here from the mountain when there is scant food and water.

The City will come for them but that is not a lot of help after hours.

From now on, it will be up to civilization to the park and shopping center.

No more in the wild.

Meaning the big empty lots in our neighborhood. Hardly the wilderness.

Labels: animals, desert

John found a new table at the second hand shop and bought it.

It is a bit smaller than the older wood one, has grayish glass top and angle metal legs. Very little superstructure.

There is a grey glass leaf which will rise out of the one end that will increase seating from four to ten.

There are new chairs too. They match!

Nice black upholstery, also metal but shiny. They slide in and out easily.

We have had supper and breakfast off it and it is, so far, a success.

Things are "in between" here.

Tomorrow, a one on one in the morning, the arrival of the new dining room table, the departure of the old, the house cleaners after that.

I need to go to the lab for my followup to the physical exam the other day.

I am lagging. As though it is too much.

I think that is OK.

If it isn't, well, then.

I do feel a bit at loose ends in these between times. Unsettled.

One thing to do is to write about it and then let it go.

My experience is that these feelings will pass and something else will show up.

In the meantime, I am going to finish my tour of the internet for the evening and go to bed.

Marcus and I had a good walk so that helped. A little energy thrown off. Maybe situps.

Maybe not.

I will be fine.

Could it be that I have decided to give up my evening dessert? Oh. Could be. Sugar fix not coming up.

Labels: emotions

At the end, there is only one question.

Am I happy with how it turned out?

Tough to answer when the going is as tough as it has ever been.

But Philip Roth is a power of example and in this documentary tells us about his life and work and times and he seems a happy man. A little late to emulate but not too late to mirror the attitude.

Philip Roth: Unmasked (2013)

I can't say that I have read all his works. But most and many.

He is a man of my time, the same age, the same cultural ballpark. So he is more of a fellow traveler than he is a hero.

Still, I enjoyed this film very much and while I do not want to see it again I can act as though I do and give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

Some of our DVDs are getting a re-watch because the mail has lost three of my Netflix discs.

It has not happened for a very long time.

They do not question the loss at all but I suppose that they would get a bit cranky if it happened very often.

I do not know what happens. Does someone in the mail chain steal them? How could three discs get lost in the same batch.

Perhaps they will show up today.

In any case, Netflix has accepted the fact and is replacing them.

Otherwise, it has been a busy day.

Shopping in the morning after the gym. Then my thirdly visit to Doctor Jim for a review of my numbers. Actually, to talk about what is going on. Nothing. And to be set up for some lab tests which I will get later this week.

The film I saw today was My Beautiful Laundrette Stephen Frears film about a Paki boy who meets a white street tough. Daniel Day Lewis.

A perfect film with a gay theme that is sweet and naturally inlaid with a story about immigrants, free enterprise and assimilation.

A lot of stuff which Frears manages to carry with a flair and balance.

Labels: films, gay films

This is funny.

Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz Forgot to Procure TedCruz.com L.O.L.

LOL indeed.

Ted better tighten up his ship if he hopes to sail it into the GOP sunset.

Which it will be.

The setting of their sun.

Again.

Just sayin'.

It is still a little early to turn up the mockery machine but targets like this one are so delicious it is hard not to get it out of the closet.

The Repubs are going to have a lot of fun going into their primary and it has to gall some of the established icons of the party to put up with an upstart like Ted.

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.

Labels: Republican primary, republican whack jobs

All of Eric Rohmer's films are grouped in bunches.

"Six Moral Tales," "Comedies And Proverbs," and most recently "Tales Of The Four Seasons"

I don't pay a lot of attention to it. The bunches.

Someday, I will get them all organized and watch end to end.

They are dependably good to see.

Today's Season is

A Summer's Tale (1996)

A young couple meets and has a non-romantic relationship. It turns out to be unrequited love. She is just a good friend for him. A confidant about a sketchy relationship with another woman.

The setting is on the seashore. The air is beautiful as is all the scenery.

Very nice. Worth seeing again in the group of "Seasons" if I get the chance. A 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

I think today's film is about identity.

There are at least two of each character or at least two sides of the same story going on.

It is very clever but maybe just a little too much so.

The One I Love (2014)

Mark Duplass and Elizabeth Moss are ideal as two married people who have lost their way. They go to a therapist who sends them for a long weekend to an "ideal" house in the country.

There are actually two houses in which two separate scenarios proceed with "doubles" of the couple.

It is not hard to follow although at the end the anxiety of keeping track is rather high. It helps that one half of the guy pairs wears glasses.

I enjoy films that create mind games and this one is very skillful. A hall of mirrors in which I didn't always catch the mirrors as they occurred but recovered just in time.

DuPlass and Moss are very good. There is a cameo at the beginning for Ted Danson who is looking pretty good for a guy his age.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Sorry about the ad in the trailer. Couldn't find a clean one.

Labels: films

The Board of the condo association met today.

Its regular meeting. Every third Saturday.

I did my Treasurer's report without serious incident and we had a good two hour meeting.

There is not a lot going on right now. A troublesome owner who will be warned, a need to take some action on neighborhood issues (the area larger than hours where we are located) and so on.

I still like participating in this activity. It feels like I am needed and I get to handle a lot of money. None which I get to keep.

We are professionally managed yet we do need to be active as a Board to review issues of daily concern. The troublesome neighbor who runs naked from time to time. The landscape committee who gets criticized by someone for every bush. It is actually very nice and in every meeting someone thanks the Board for being even when we haven't really done any specific thing for them.

Labels: condo

Today's film came out of the void.

It is not reviewed nor on IMDb.

Which is OK since it is a shitty picture and except for Romain Duris who is great to look at has nothing to recommend it.

That makes it a 1 out of Netflix5 where, evidently, there is the only evidence of its existence.

No wait. There is a trailer in French. I guess it was a never distributed here.

Labels: films

Today's film is an extended commercial for Iceland.

Which isn't a bad thing. It is beautiful. Great scenery. And two interesting old guys who meet as each takes a vacation from the normal life to get their perspective and clear up some issues about what to do now that they are retired.

Land Ho (2014)

The two guys are good and so is the story but it is too long by half so that by the time I was an hour in I had enough. It felt as though they were pulling the taffy longer and longer to the point of breaking.

They guys were good but bore too much of the burden of the story. There are other characters who they meet along the way but it is not enough and feels like padding.

I have to admit that I skipped, hence making it a 2 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

Not much blogging when there are real people really visiting us here in town.

One of my daughters has been here for a week and will go back to colder Massachusetts tomorrow morning.

She has had great weather here and should be warmed up enough to last another month or whatever it takes until there is a New England Spring.

We have been having a good time and will take a little time to settle in to being normal.

Last week a grandson and his partner were here. Palm Springs has a way of attracting folks in the winter time.

That is how we found the desert in the first place.

Florida was fine but humid. The Virgin Islands were paradise but depended on living in a compound to avoid the crime and interracial issues.

Out here, there are sure enough problems to go around but the edges are rounded off by the great weather and the warmth. And that is to say nothing about the scenery, the climbing possibilities and all the rest of it.

It is a long distance for Easterners to travel but we try to make it worth their while.

After tomorrow, there will likely be a long "dry" period as far as visitors are concerned.

I am not planning a back east trip this year. I had a good time last July and I could repeat it but I don't feel moved in that direction. At least not now.

Labels: Palm Springs, visitors

After years of resistance the Southie veterans finally acknowledge their gay brothers and sisters.

Boston Celebrates End of Ban as Gays March in St. Patrick’s Parade

This annual snub was painful for many of my Irish-American friends who felt cut adrift from their heritage by the homophobes who controlled this parade.

It is good that the fight is over and that the battle has been won. Victory for kindness and inclusion. The old guard departs.

These old guys were right bastards about it too.

Now, that is all in the past.

Labels: gay rights, homophobia

It is has been a long time coming but today's film is a 5 out of Netflix5!

Chef (2014)

And I don't think that you really have to like or even appreciate cooking. You will like and appreciate after this film.

But that is not what it is about. It is about people. Working people. Who have a rough time of it and still strive for excellence.

That said, none of this came to mind watching it. It is so fun. Fascinating. The people are very good.

Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Amy Sedaris, Emjay Anthony and Robert Downey Jr..

Favreau wrote and directed. Auteur. It never stops being wonderful. And when the action flags, they throw something onto the grill or the stove or stick another thing into the oven.

I so enjoyed this film. Words cannot express the total fun of it.

The NYT review is kind of nasty but that should dim your interest. Fuck'em. I bet they never lifted a hot pan in their life.

I will give it a 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

There is no doubt that Maureen Dowd is a heartless bitch.

But she is a must-read especially as regards The Clintons.

With the Clintons, Only the Shadow Knows

I had never heard about the portrait with a shadow of the dress!

It is shown in living color.

Anyways, as they say in Arkansas, we have here a discussion of the "secret" emails.

Here is a neat quote."Certainly, Hillary wants a lot of control. She has spent a lifetime cleaning up messes sparked by her overweening desire for control and her often out-of-control mate."

Yep.

You have to admit that the Clintons are more interesting than the Bushes, the other royal family. The Bushes may have their drunk jock and their mother from hell but they don't touch the Clintons for drama or skullduggery. I mean there is certainly stuff that happens with the Bushies but they are so protestantly boring.

The Clintons lack the class of the Bushes and so their travails are a lot more fun.

Labels: Hillary Clinton, The Clintons

The Second World War is still raging on some fronts.

The release of the television miniseries

Unsere Mütter, Unsure Väter* / Generation War (2013)

proved to be controversial in almost all the countries it was shown. And yet it has an IMDb** rating of 8.5. Higher than high!

As a child of the War, safely in America, I found many familiar parts to the story but the side that had been missing for me was the German point of view.

But it would seem that it is still missing. People in Germany disagreed greatly about the film, its accuracy, its emphasis and just about every aspect of it.

Let's face it. It was a huge war. With many fronts and many sides.

For example, the extermination of the Jews is well known to us yet in this film it is just one part of what seems to be a crime against the German people. The Nazis pulled a fast one.

This is an old theme and I do not think that that is the idea in the film but it has been criticized on that basis. After all, one of the five principals is a closeted Jew. And so on. One a closeted Nazi. Another an "innocent" entertainer who played to all as long as the music went on.

A scholarly German and an idealistic young nurse fill in the rest of the five people who are featured throughout.

I liked the film a lot but would not be willing to see it again because it was so long. It takes about five hours to get through. Three viewings.

I was engaged for most of it. I cared about the characters, even the shits. I was never bored.

But it is a major commitment to watch it and now that I am informed and entertained, I would not want to have a second helping.

It is therefore a 3 out of Netflix5.

I suppose that I am also reminded that I have gotten too liberal in my ratings again and need to take myself more seriously. When once is enough it is a 3.

Just for the record, a 1 out of 5 is when I stopped in the middle. Rare. A 2 is when I watched the whole thing but didn't like the aftertaste. A 4 is a maybe on seeing it again, willing to do it. A 5 is that I will watch it again for sure.

There are not many 5's.

*Our Mothers Our Fathers

**The Internet Movie Data Base, the fundamental web site for every movie ever made, all the information and links you need to see reviews, credits and so on.

Labels: films

I am not a math guy.

I stuttered and fell throughout my MIT requirements.

So the idea of Pi is not as fascinating to me as to some people. But it is fascinating enough to bring it up today.

On Pi Day, Celebrate Math’s Enigmas: Don't expect math to make sense.

Somehow this headline is a balm and pleasure for my math addled soul.

"Don't expect it to make sense."

Wow.

I am glad I came on to this before I rattled off this worldly plane.

So much of my life has been spent on trying to make sense of things. And then, I realized, this was futile and so I quit.

I moved to day at a time living and expected life to happen. Life. In all its teeming variety.

I have been a lot happier ever since that day or week or whatever.

I see a lot of people still struggling with the "making sense" thing and I want to tell them to let it go.

But everyone has to find this out for themselves.

And now the last bastion has fallen. Math and Pi are just things like everything else. No sense at all. What a comfort!

Labels: life, mathematics

John is away and it seems quiet in the house.

But he is not noisy. I am sure it is me. No footfalls. No "presence".

Marcus is here and is doing very well. He is a very gentle presence. Not much bugs him.

We went to visit a friend on the other street and she wasn't there. It was hot. But he went along and when we came back just got down and did a snooze. The universal solution to any life problem. Naps simply disappear the problem.

This won't last long and if I enjoy it I won't get to savor it.

The HAC guy was supposed to come today for the summer service. Spring. But we rescheduled it. I am not up for anything like that after noon. He will come at 830 AM next Thursday.

I watched the first part of the miniseries Generation War today.

Germany in the thirties in a German production.

It is heart stopping and probably not good for me to watch. It is at a level of reality which I have not seen before. And, it is very good.

Labels: films, WW II

I am watching the news of the Tsarnaev trial very closely.

One, because it is in Boston, my adopted home town. Two because it is a fascinating case from the very start.

I do not understand murder per se. I do understand terrorism. It is an effective tool for people who wish to disrupt.

What I do not understand is the wish to disrupt.

It is just not in me.

The thing that makes this trial fascinating is that there is no question of guilt.

They have already pled guilty.

What is at hand is the question of punishment. And there lies the interest. From the beginning because as we can see, the penalty, the punishment was never enough to thwart the crime.

And never will be.

These people are driven by different motors.

They are not psychotic at least the way that lets them off. They are driven by ideology.

In this case, the defense hopes to show that young Tsarnaev was driven by allegiance to his older brother who already died for his sins. A good thing, I think. That he is dead. Gone. Finished. Punished forever. But then that was what he wanted so is that punishment?

It is all very twisted and like a mirror world.

I find myself looking at drawings of this boy, because he is very young, sitting and listening to them talk about his life.

There are no photographs. Only artists' renderings.

So there it is. I am stuck. Just what the fuck is going on here? How does this work? What do we do?

I suppose if he gets the death penalty, this fascination will last until he dies. Or I do.

Incidentally, I really have no position on the death penalty. It is pretty final. I know that.

Labels: Boston, terrorism

Here come the oddsmakers and the pollsters. The nerd patrol.z

And they say, today that

Jeb Bush Is Not a Lock To Be the GOP Nominee

There is a great chart which tells us a lot more about the GOP race than the news about Bush.

Jeb supports Common Core and a path to citizenship for immigrants. Issues that I would support him for but not a lot of his compatriots.

Some of this is pretty fierce.

It will be a hard slog for him. Lots of potshots. They will make it hard.

Too bad. Heh heh.

Oh yeah. There is that last one. "Not a Clinton or a Bush". Damn. Who thought of putting that in there?

Soon we will be featuring Nate Silver articles. But not yet. He is still flailing with shit about Hollywood and such.

He is the guy who foretold Obama before anyone else and caught a lot of shit for it.

Labels: GOoPers

Gail Collins writes about Hillary Clinton today and it is wonderful to have her back in the discussion.

Gail Collins. Not Hillary. Hillary never left!

A Clinton Email Defense That Turned Defensive

Clinton and her people have to do better than this.

It is not as though she is unused to the public stage.

Maybe that is the problem. Clinton fatigue.

All of us have it and we don't vote for another, keerist, year.

Or thereabouts. Eighteen months?

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Hillary except the whole Clinton machine. It is surprisingly inept and tone deaf to its own missteps.

I think it will be OK in the end. But I have to get over my latent antipathy to the Clintons. All leftover from the Democratic Primaries which occurred four years ago.

I can tell that I am dispassionate about the whole enterprise.

There will be plenty of Republicans to mock and malign but for now there is just Hillary.

And why are we still calling her by her first name. Diminutive. Lack of respect. We do not even say "Barack". But that is Clinton's way.

Bill was Bill.

Boy was he.

Labels: Hillary Clinton

Family for dinner tonight.

Busy cleaning the house, laundering the curtains and baking the lasagna.

First things first no blogging today.

Then John is away for the weekend and Marcus and I will be having parties and an open house. All the neighborhood dogs.

Nice to able to socialize that way. As you might have read between the lines, I am very socially oriented.

Sort of.

Actually, I will savor being alone alone for an extended period. And I will be glad to have the man back on Monday. All of it.

Labels: life

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal poll.

Labels: gay marriage, gay rights

Malcom Boyd died today.

He was a hero to the gay rights movement.

This only takes a few minutes to see his last thoughts.

A wonderful human being with a lot of wisdom for us all.

Labels: gay heroes, human rights

We expect to see one of our adult grandsons in awhile.

The plane should be in but then we are not sure of the plane details.

I guess we will wait and see.

I am not very good at waiting but I am getting better.

It is hot today and it is also the day that we are taking the dog walk after dinner. This will go on until the fall.

It is better in a way. After a meal. Seeing the day out. No sun.

Well a little sun but going down.

Otherwise, we are just trying to work our way through the unknowns of people's travel.

I am ready to serve dinner if it is needed. It is OK if it is not.

So a lot of changes to work with today. It is OK. I am OK.

Labels: family

This is an amazing photo.

A re-creation with a new cast including a black President.

That is a lot of progress.

But there is still a lot more to do.

We all know that.

There is no point in beating the drum here.

Those of us who have reached the top of the mountain still owe something to those still left behind.

My perspective is one of being a gay man. Not the same thing as being black. But totally the same, in respect to the bigotry and hatred that hides in the byways and bushes along the road.

Inequality is built into our system and it has to be retracted and refracted every day.

By system I mean the big system. Capitalism, society.

But also the little system, the heart, the mind of all humans who distrust difference.

All of us.

Labels: bigotry

Also the sights.

I have been alone with Marcus who is charming company.

They will be back this evening perhaps dinner time. I have a delay-able supper. Chicken salad.

It has been awhile since I have been home alone, just the pup and I.

It is not too weird. I will get a longer period next weekend when they go off to the Monterey Peninsula.

I have the use of the car rental but am not using it. I got a ride to the Meeting this morning.

It is not too complicated. All I have to do is get my name on the rental agreement and I will have wheels.

Monday or Tuesday for sure.

This is new for me. I am usually the one to go away. It is OK but I am happier with the family here.

Labels: dog, life

I have been watching three fine films with a story line, a trilogy.

Chinese Puzzle (2014) is the last installment.

Cédric Klapisch is the director and his consistent hand makes these a joy to be a part of. For that is what happens. We are right with these young people who are going through three decades, stages of their romantic lives.

Romain Duris is just wonderful. In real life and in these films. I cannot stop watching him. Tough on the other actors.

There is hardly a wrong note in the entire series.

There is nothing of consequence going on here. Simply well lived lives between some admirable young people. No angst, fuckups or hang ups. Well not too many!

The first two films were Russian Dolls and The Spanish Apartment. In both films the principals are away from home at school and their first jobs. Now, settled, they are back in Paris for the final tour.

I will almost certainly see these again which makes it a 5 out of Netflix 5.

Labels: films

I am so happy today!

You will notice the abundance of political news. The Presidential variety. All very good. Most or all of it about Hillary Clinton.

Now comes before the blog, this beautiful piece of work by Timothy Egan in the NYT.

Hillary’s Step

Some of it is hilarious. Some of it irreverent. Wonderful!

On Mount Everest, just shy of the summit, the final rock-and-ice obstacle that stands between a climber and the highest point on the planet is known as the Hillary Step. It was named for Sir Edmund Hillary, who made the first ascent of the mountain along with Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

The other Hillary — who is not named for the mountaineer from New Zealand, contrary to what she and her husband had long claimed — is at the crux of her life climb. But Hillary Clinton is stuck at her own Hillary Step.

The myth making, self aggrandizement and inevitable overstatement. Good ol' boy chatter box stuff. Remember, Bill is an old Arkansas Bubba and Hillary married him. Bubba redux. Bubbette?

Egan is more or less a liberal, a reliable Democrat-type voice. And he is right where I am. Turned off by the Clintons. Period.

It is all bubbling up again.

Great theater.

Maybe my last general election, but probably not. I plan on at least three more.

Labels: The Clintons

Just when it looks like the bigots have left the field, they emit a dying gasp.

A strong one.

States Weigh Legislation to Let Businesses Refuse to Serve Gay Couples

This means that John and I will not be able to have lunch on the road or stay at a motel or any of the other common every day privileges of living in the US.

We have been at this a long time and remember when in some areas it was illegal for a hotel to allow a single bedded room for two people of the same sex. Or, lacking a rule or regulation, they just acted on their own biases.

You would think that, with these people, business would trump morals but that is not the case.

I figure that the high resulting from exercising one's homophobia is a pretty potent one.

You know that moralists, even the ones who are not closet cases, get off on moralizing. It is their true religion. Their church is selected to reinforce the personal belief.

This effort will not stand, of course, but it is a part of the end game. The last skirmishes before putting down arms. Acquiescence. Surrender.

We know what to do. We go to these places and sit in their fucking booths or tables and hold hands. Sit ins.

Any black person or many women can tell you that passing the laws is prologue to the real battle, the actual fight. Same with us.

Labels: gay rights

When it comes to gay issues, I am always surprised at the anomalies.

The twists that happen when a real person steps out of a partisan role and tells truth about his own beliefs. The personal ones.

Such is the case of our frenemy David Koch.

David Koch Files Amicus Brief Asking SCOTUS To Strike Down Gay Marriage Bans.

At another level this is not a surprise. Koch, as many other people on the right, is a Libertarian. And this falls in line with the beliefs of this political breed.

It is a weird thing that there are some issues where Libertarians come around from the right to stand with people on the left. A circle.

Labels: conservatives, gay marriage, gay rights

Some writers are attracted to other writers and form a small galaxy around them.

Simone de Beauvoir was one of these. Today's film is not about her but she is a powerful presence as is Jean Genét. Both mentors of the very interesting and, finally successful, Violette Le Duc.

Violette (2013)

Le Duc is interesting because of her trials in writing and, in this film anyway, her desire for love which is never quenched. De Beauvoir is the focus of this but there are others. Not just women. Le Duc was on the hunt for anyone who could give her an affection fix.

We also see her mother and her early life. The film is a rich tapestry of psychosexual confusion and resolution. For Le Duc it was on the page.

Her timing was great because the world was just beginning to want to read her kind of stories.

The film is long. 2.5 hours. I watched in two parts. It is quite beautiful with many country scenes. Very little studio work I would guess. Old houses, fields, woods.

I enjoyed it a lot and did not suffer from the splitting into two sittings. It helped, in fact, to focus some on what I had seen and made my seeing of the second part more "successful".

I would give this a 5 out of Netflix 5 but I am sure that I will not be seeing this again. A 4 means that I would if given the opportunity but won't pursue it directly.

Labels: films

I am hoping that Joe Biden decides to run in 2016.

See the afore mentioned doubts about Hillary. (Why do we call her that? Is it demeaning to her? Probably. Is it because we like her? No. Is it that to say "Clinton" again just puts too much into the formula?)

I was for Joe Biden long before I was for Obama. I slowly came around and the fact that Joe got to be VP made a lot of the pain subside.

I am really OK with whatever he does.

I like him so much that I want him to be happy. The last of the "happy warriors".

There isn't a whole lot to say about it is there? Joe will have gaffes.

He will seem sort of out of touch at times. But he is a strong human being who is smart and has been a great Vice President. He is not a clone of a thousand advisers. He is who he is. The last of the real guys after Obama.

And there are many other considerations.

Read this: Why the White House Won't Help Joe Biden Be President.

Sad, if true. But it is the time of transition. Obama can not run again so all his "troops" are looking around. It would seem that they are not thinking about joining Joe.

Labels: Joe Biden

I was hoping that by this time I would be comfortable with Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate for President.

I am not.

Not even close.

It is the same old Clinton bullshit.

They do not seem to be able to be straight forward about anything. Including honesty about wanting to be the President.

I know all these things require campaign machinery. And perhaps it is not in gear yet. Maybe.

But she is letting this go way too long for me.

The other thing is that I still don't like her very much. Not anyway, the way I liked Bill in spite of himself.

I am not sure there is a genuine bone in her body. Everything seems to be calculated for "the next thing" which "cannot be named".

And what about the other Democrats who would like to run. Are they afraid of her.

Right now I could name five possible Republican nominees. I won't but I can.

This is as old as the Clintons have been around. Coy. Not genuine. The smell of something odorous hidden in the background.

I just had to say it. I despair for our country when there is not another one that steps forward.

Labels: Hillary Clinton

So our family was all together. Late planes and surprise layovers notwithstanding. Which basically cut a day off our daughter's visit.

Now John and Lisa (the daughter) are on their way to San Diego. They are staying at "my" hotel there. The Bay Club and Marina.

They will spend their time a bit different than I do when alone. They will be out on the town looking around. I sit on my balcony and look at the marina activity or go out along the Bay and walk and look and walk and look.

I suppose they will do some of that but anyone new to San Diego needs to visit more widely. More shore line, the city.

Here is the night view they will have.

Marcus and I are alone until Saturday night. This seemed to happen very suddenly this morning and I was struck with a case of "what will we do?"

But that passed. We do not have to do anything we do not normally do and what is more I so not have to cook dinner. I will have the morning walk duty but that will be instead of the gym. Nice change.

They have the Volvo and, while I could get my name on the rental, I have decided not to do that for now. I can get a few rides here and there and I am going to use this time to vegetate.

Read, sit, go to Meetings. Write, read. Be slow. Read. I have a considerable reading backlog.

I started to watch the longish film Violette with Emmanuelle Devos. A writer, Violette seeks a mentor in Simone de Beauvoir. They become friends, but Violette yearns for more.

It is pretty good so far and I will report tomorrow when I finish it.

Labels: family, visitors

That Netanyahu is a douche goes without saying.

For Netanyahu and Obama, Difference Over Iran Became a Chasm

Sadly, he is a fellow alumnus of MIT. Not all of us are nice guys.

I cannot say what about him personally pisses me off. The arrogance and willfulness. The desire to be a spokesperson for causes I do not align with.

The purpose here is not to analyze the Israeli situation. I gave up long ago on that. It is a losing situation. Fraught. A thorn in all sides.

They are all doomed if they follow their present course, Jews and Arabs alike. Sorry. Does that get capitalized? J and A?

I don't know. Nothing rational here today.

He is a detestable hand biter. The hand that fed him. But that is not right either. A snake in the grass.

I don't know. Maybe he is just one of those people that gets me the wrong way and that is all there is to it. But I doubt it. I am pretty sure that he is a shit.

His "label" today is "world class assholes".

A rant, huh? It did me good. Do we still allow comments here? I have no idea. I don't look for them anyway.

I love this image. Apparently I am not the only one who feels this way.

Labels: world class assholes.

So the daughter's plane missed its connection Monday and we had to wait until today for her to arrive.

But she is here a long time and we will more than make up for it.

Labels: family

We are waiting for our daughter to get here for two weeks or so.

Of course, she is experiencing the same kind of airline nonsense that we see all the time now.

I don't suppose it has ever been different but I can say that in all my years flying I never had much problem getting to every point in this country or the world. Now people seem to have trouble way more often.

Or is this just another version of "the good old days" thinking that geezers can get into?

I don't know.

I know she is safe and will get here eventually and that my stuff is more about my expectations than any reality. If I didn't have all the high tech information I would just let it be and be happy when I see her.

Maybe I will try that.

Labels: travel, visitors

I admit that I am a sucker for certain kinds of films.

Unreviewed or otherwise. Usually "special interest" meaning R rated gay films where the erotic is compromised by the poor acting and the fact that most of it gets blurred or the camera moves away at the most inopportune times. The rating system wrecks the soft porn industry. Or, rather, defines it.

If anything goes/went, then the ratings would not affect the output.

I do not need appendages sliding in and out or anything so explicit.

I suppose straight people have the same issues. But I digress.

Hot Guys With Guns (2013)

Well, the title is a tip off isn't it?

Silly and deeply guilty of not suspending belief in any of it, especially the sex, it has to have a 1 out of Netflix5 because I did not finish it.

When will I learn?

Labels: films, gay films