Friday, July 31, 2009

Thanks to Lynnie

A long time ago (in a state far away), Lynnie once gave me a great book to read. It was "The Time Traveler's Wife" and she gave it to me before it was a giant hit.
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I loved it, and now the movie is coming out and looks really really good.
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So thanks Lynn. I can't wait.
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I am not really much of an Eric Bana fan (too many bad memories of "The Hulk" and not enough skin in "Troy"), but he can be quiet and sulky and that is probably the right tone for this movie.

You Know It's Bad When.....


... Larry Flynt makes more sense then the President....

(from the Daily Beast)
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President Obama:

You have proven to be a great campaigner. You have yet to demonstrate your ability to govern. Who needs the Republicans? They don’t know what compromise is. They’re just out to derail your presidency. Bitch slap ’em at every opportunity and put them in their place. They lost; you didn’t.

As for disloyal Democrats, you need to yank the carpet out from under them. Remind them that their survival is dependent upon yours. Don’t pull punches, Mr. President. You need some gonads, and if you don’t have any, as Hillary would say, you’d better grow some.

You have failed to keep many campaign promises. You’ve ignored civil-liberty violations such as warrantless wiretapping. You passed a stimulus package that is obviously full of pork for Democrats. You handed over billions more in taxpayer dollars to crooked bankers. You listened to the very people who created our economic meltdown, the Mutt and Jeff team of Larry Summers and Tim Geithner. You’ve let the insurance lobbyists hijack health-care reform to the detriment of every man, woman, and child in America.

You must say what you mean and mean what you say. Closing Guantanamo means just that. You could do it right now, Mr. President. You don’t have to wait until January. You can place terrorist suspects in the federal correctional system without creating any risk to our citizens.

You’re a nice guy. Everybody likes nice guys. Sometimes they finish last. You don’t want that, and neither do those of us who voted you in.

The American people have placed their future in your hands. For heaven’s sake don’t let them down. Don’t let yourself down.

Larry Flynt Publisher, Hustler magazine

Sean and Faith from the Bar B Q

This picture of Sean and Faith is from before they came out here. It is from the family Bar B Q. Sean was a nice guy to wear the silly hat Eddie said he wouldn't wear.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Good Post from Walt...

I have repeated some things before that Stephen M. Walt has written over at Foreign Policy. This is great with his 10 things he doesn't understand... I will include the first 3. They aren't particularly humorous, but it is interesting that we all have a lot of the same ponderings...
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I've been studying politics a long time now, and there are still lots of things about it that at some level I just don't get. I'm not saying that I have no idea why these things occur or suggesting that they are totally inexplicable. I'm just saying that I still find them a bit baffling.

So I made a list, and thought I'd share a few of them. Maybe some of you will share my confusion.

1. I've never really understood why plenty of smart people think the United States still needs thousands of nuclear weapons (or ever did). I'm familiar with the abstract theology of nuclear weapons policy and I don't favor total nuclear disarmament, but the case for an arsenal of more than a few hundred weapons eludes me. See here or here for convincing arguments to this effect.

2. I'm still puzzled by why Americans are so willing to spend money on ambitious overseas adventures, and yet so reluctant to pay taxes for roads, bridges, better schools, and health care here in the United States. My fellow Americans, where's your sense of entitlement? And frankly, I’m also surprised that the U.S. armed forces haven't put up more resistance to the seemingly open-ended missions they keep getting handed by ambitious politicians. I can think of various reasons why they remain willing to make these sacrifices (it's a volunteer force, there’s a long tradition of civilian authority, our soldiers, sailors and airman are dedicated patriots, the top brass are often chosen for their political malleability, etc.), but it still surprises me.

3. I don't understand why many people think invoking God is a compelling justification for their particular policy preferences, and why they assume that this move is a trump card that ends all discussion. The idea that Jehovah, Jesus, Allah, Odin, or Whomever gave some people permanent title to some patch of land, dictated how men and women should relate to each other for all eternity, or provided the incontestable answer to ANY public policy question is simply beyond me. Yet it remains a common feature of political discourse at home and abroad. Weird.
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CamperVans have come a long way


These have come a long way.. They have toilets now!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Faith filmed the Trevor the Dancing Dog...

Faith took this....
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Unclear on the Concept: Hijab


Okay, as I understand it, the Hijab, when incorporating the face mask (as in the picture here) is to provide head to toe modesty.
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So far so good. But today I saw a woman walking down 8th Ave. with male companion wearing the Hijab with the face scarf.
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And yet she wore flip flops. Flip flops? I am not trying to be the Islamic police, but don't flip flops go against that whole "not going to show any part of my body to a man" thing?
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So, I don't understand.
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Also, her face scarf was brown and her Hijab was black which I thought was a fashion faux paus as well. And her flip flops were green. All in all - not the picture of modesty nor of taste.

Credit One To Patti


Patti wrote this and I think she is funny...
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Subject: foolproof

I had to look up the exact definition and I found it very amusing.

Foolproof = designed to be impervious to human incompetence.

However I have found over the years that human incompetence is often underestimated.

Patti Gomez


Tuesday, July 28, 2009

I Think We Know the Answer Now: UPDATED (see below)

Dan Rather used to have a CBS "minute" to discuss whatever he wanted. I remember this on KNX 1070 (traffic every 10 minutes).
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Once, in the early 1990s, his commentary was about those of us, who were a younger generation, losing their gay male friends left and right in rapid succession. (Lynn is correct, a lot of people had a ton of gay friends that were dying, it wasn't just gay men losing friends). He said, beyond being sad and horrible, it was also a unique moment. Rarely had an entire group of people, otherwise normal and in a advanced society, lost so many friends so early.
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His take was that usually you lost distant relatives, grandparents, and ultimately, parents before death became an everyday event. He wondered how we would react over the long term.
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So, here is the answer. It was like an emotional scab, that took a long time to heal. We grew hardened to death, but convinced we would live life more fully, not postpone things and be better people. And, I think, for a time we did. But scabs heal and people forget. It turns out that we grew to forget that time.
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And now, as we age, we are coming up to death and pain a second time. It hits us (okay me) differently. Sometimes I am understanding and okay with it. Sometimes - usually when I have had a chance to deal with it ahead of time) I can call up my scar tissue and be fine. Really... fine.
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But other times, when it hits me out of the blue, I crash. Unprepared, I (rarely, but occasionally) freak out. Anxiety overcomes me. Everything I strive to be okay with, overcomes me and comes rushing out at once.
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So there you have it. Dan Rather's answer. We learned to deal with pain. We learned to honor those who died by living as best we could. ... And then we forgot. And we will have to learn it all again
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And I think that is good. You can't live your life forever bitter and regretful. Embarrassed or ashamed that so many of your friends died for so little reason. You can't keep those things tamped down forever.
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I do wish I knew a little earlier when they were going to come flying out though :-)
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Updated: From Eddie Tonight
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Here is where I agree: Bad news delivered at warp speed really sucks. Having insight knowing something may be wrong helps give you a way to start to deal with it.

Here is where I disagree: Scott lost many friends when he was young. For different reasons, so did I. We learned.... and in my opinion it was not just a scab. We learned to live life like today was our last. We learned not to have meaningless quarrels with each other, because it just isn't worth it in the long run. We learned that we should work to live, not live to work. Be great at who you are and what you do.

We learned a lot, and (without having any evidence to the contrary) have had a better life than perhaps we would have had. Tough to prove, but so is the benefit of never having McCain/Palin take office in the White House.

Ed

Trevor's "hide-y" Spot

As noted previously, Trevor is a freak with a treat or a bone (see this post...). Well here is a picture that shows part of it....
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There on the bed are the Scooby Snacks which John, Sue and the kids brought. So immediately after I stripped the sheets and sat down to work, Trevor raced to get his 2 treats (one from the bedroom and 1 from the front room) and put them here.
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Here is where the smart dog is really smart... Sure, they are out in the open, but I am guarding them from predators. AND... although you cant' know this from the picture, Trevor is laying under the bed in the front right corner, sleeping - but watching the ONLY door into the room. If anyone comes in.. he is totally waking up.

All the time in this house....


You may wonder what a Geography Major does for fun. We watch TV, then pause with Tivo run over to the picture, point at the middle of the screen, and yell at Ed, "This right here. That's IRAQ! Where we have flushed HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS down the toilet! It is NOT Egypt."
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And this, by the by, is NOT a slam at FOX. I just happened to see this screen capture. I would love to say FOX screws up, but truthfully, we don't watch FOX. Normally I am yelling about a picture on NBC or local news.

Monday, July 27, 2009

I Never Got These Guys


So Merce Cunningham, a HUGE name in dance, has died.
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He was a very "new wave" dancer who explored movement, stutter and jerks after finishing with traditional training. He thought that the dancers, the audience and choreographer should be surprised.
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You, dear friend, will not be surprised to know that I did not like it.
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Look, I am all about the ART, but Merce - in his later years when I saw him - was about Merce. (Plus I don't think the choreographer should be surprised. I mean if they can learn a routine on So You Think You Can Dance, Merce's Troupe of happy harpies could learn it!)
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John Cage, his musical partner and life partner (I just found out - who knew?) was also very artsy fartsy - with music that was not lyrical.
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I spent one of the the longest afternoons EVER watching the Merce Cunningham group "dance" to Phillip Glass. I remember 2 (of the like 216) pieces.
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Oh come on, you know Philip Glass. The composer of Koyaanisqatsi, which starts as haunting, but wears out it's welcome long before the movie is finished. (KOY anna SCOTSKI... KOY anna SCOTSCKI.. over and over and over)
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Anyway, at this show I saw at UCLA, in the first piece, a group of Merce Cunningham "dancers" flung themselves willy nilly as the Phillip Glass "score" filled with the sound of breaking dishes. Bad enough. But after this and another few "dances", came the first act finale.
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The "finale" consisted of Philip Glass' score of sounds of the city (air-horns, helicopters, mumbling conversation and a car crash) and Merce - the Master himself - coming out and sitting in a chair, looking, with a half cocked head, offstage right. Twenty minutes he sat there, and we sat watching, and women behind me were marveling at the beauty of it and I just had to get out of there.
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Merce finally gave up before me, left to riotous applause, and the back of my head as I scurried out to pee and flee home. I was able to resist future requests to accompany friends to a Merce Cunningham show, master or no.

All of us (bar Sue) in Central Park


I like this picture of all of us in Central Park. We were crossing from the Natural History Museum to the Met.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Neppls in New York

So Ed's Brother (John, 2nd from the left) is here with his family. Above are (from left) Faith, John, Ed and Sean. Yes, they have grown a lot.

Here is everyone in Times Sqaure in the first night. I think the crowds might have ovewhelmed them on the very night.

Friday, July 24, 2009

May God Take You Under His Wing...


Dr. Joel D. Weisman died at 66 on Saturday. Here is the obituary in the Los Angeles Times.
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Here is a story the LA Times or anyone else didn't say.
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Dr. Weisman was one of the founders of Pacific Oaks, where Mark and I met Dr. Gary (still my and now Ed's Doctor). Dr. Weisman's team made life better and easier for many may many of my friends. And continues to make it better for some of them.
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After Mark died, and the hoopla died down and Dr Gary had me over to his house to sit around the pool and cry it out... Joel and his boyfriend Bill comforted me, held me, said it was okay and life would be better again some day.
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Dr. Gary, always ! but especially during those few moments, was just friend Gary. Joel was just a friend of Gary's and a great guy. Bill, his boyfriend, was (is) Bill Hutton - the original Joseph from J and the Technicolor Dreamcoat -- one of the first boys I ever had a crush on. And the four of them (including Gary's bf at the time) got me through some of the worst weeks of my life.
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His obituary, truthful, honest and respectful, doesn't do him justice. He wasn't just an amazing doctor who started the fight against aids. He was also the nice guy bringing margaritas to me by the pool and letting his boyfriend - someone I had a crush on 20 years earlier- joke and laugh and helping me live again.
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And so, the big agnostic, say a prayer for him. If ever anyone deserves heaven it is Joel.

The Man Behind the New Jersey Take Down!!!


So we now find out who some one person got all this dirt on the New Jersey Politicians, the Rabbis AND the Jewish Organ Transplant Brokers.
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Turn out it was.... Well I will let the New Jersey Paper tell it, they do a better job than I could (although I think calling him "portly" is just a cheap shot... but it is a New Jersey paper)....
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For years, Dwek was best known as the portly son of a prominent Jewish family who disgraced his community when he got caught allegedly trying to pull off a $50 million bank scam. Today, law enforcement sources confirmed Dwek has secretly been serving as "CW," a charismatic informant who was somehow able to span the incongruous worlds of Jewish rabbis and Hudson County politicians.

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The New York Times has a GREAT graphic which hopefully you can see below. Otherwise go to ...Graphic.


Thursday, July 23, 2009

Most AMAZING Corruption Case... Even for (wait for it)....New Jersey

So, if you have not heard about this case, you MUST see the video below. It was a New Jersey bust that got 3 1/2 Mayors (Hoboken, Secacus, Deal and the Assistant Mayor of Jersey City). It included Representatives in the New Jersey House and a ton of Rabbis.
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The Rabbis (from the "can't-push-a-button-on-the-Sabbath" group) were laundering money through charities in Israel and they took 10% off the top (my relatives, the Mormons, call that tithing).
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And, honest to god (little g), as well as this corruption, they stumbled on Rabbis who were buying kidneys from poor Israelis there for $10,000 and selling them here for $160,000. AND THAT ISN'T THE BIG STORY.
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Really, an FBI guy said this was really really corrupt. Even for New Jersey (like there is a totally different level of corruption).
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View more news videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video.

This is how long it has been since I listened to the radio

It has been a long time since I listened to the regualr radio.
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"How long has it been Scott?"
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So long I can barely remember the last one-hit, vaguly ethnic, vaguly lesbian female singer song-writer to hit the scene.
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Remember Jan Ian (At 17). Susan Vega (Luca).. Tracy Chapman (Fast Car)
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Just random thoughts.....

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Close Eyes... I don't know....

Okay, so I know this is a little obsessive, but is it me or do Ryan Reynolds and Channing Tatum have really close eyes. I don't mean close to one other, but set in their face. Aren't their eyes too close together?
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Ryan ... and Channing
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See it usually isn't noticeable because by the time you get to their face you already love or hate them. But I personally think it's a little distracting....
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And yet here.. not so distracting for some reason.
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Here, hardly noticeable (FROM GQ by the way, not just a gratuitous shot for Gavin).
Okay

How far we (Americans) have moved in my lifetime

So today is a day to be a little proud of my countrymen (and no, I haven't been drinking). And I speak of my countrymen because I don't know what it is like in other places.
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I say this because, well let's face it, I can occasionally tend to whine. And leaving Space (you know, with the Capital S - like the Moon) left me annoyed, and blah blah blah.
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But when I was little (in Los Angeles! in the 60s and 70s!) there was still a lot of very overt discrimination. One of the my first High School dances, I took a black girl (the Sophomore Class Homing Coming Queen - but that didn't matter) and my dad and stepmother sat me down to discuss how if I married or dated a colored girl this would be very hard on me AND the family for the rest of my life (and look how good I listened.... I didn't marry a African American OR a girl!).
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I use to dance to music in my head when I was younger and my dad and his friends from construction sites called me their little n****r.
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Fags, gooks, spics and beaners were common words (mainly from adults) as I grew up. Ugly words used by everyday people in dismissing whole groups.
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Think about that. These words weren't used to taunt, they were used in everyday conversation to dismiss a class of humans from people "regular people". Maybe thinks still aren't great or perfect - but they are a hell of a lot better.
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For all the shit we give being "politically correct" - underneath it we don't even question the basic premise - that some words are offensive to people as human beings and we need to think about that.
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I mean it might be dumb and we might complain about having to call someone "mentally challenged" instead of a retard. But beneath that annoyance is a GREAT thing. "Retard" use to be a word to describe a sub-human. A word to describe something (not someone) that was to be locked away and not seen again. People use the word today because "Retard" is a funnier / meanier / better word to them. But the achievement hereis that isn't used as a dagger against the group of "Mentally Challenged" people.
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When you say someone is a "retard", even if it is offensive - no one is really implying "this thing is not a person, should not be treated as a real person and should be locked away."
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We are arguing about hate speech now - (which is a great discussion and "good for us"... whatever). But "better for us", truly hooray for this country and her people, is the fact we are talking about hate speech BECAUSE truly hateful actions are already outside the boundaries of what we, as Americans, accept. It that wasn't laws, it was beliefs. And we have moved there in a relatively short time - culture wise.
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So... hat's off to our parents and our grandparents - who held beliefs that were wrong and they knew better. And, most often, taught us better than they had been taught - as we do for our families.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

An Odd Suggestion from Netflix

So I thought this was weird...
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I don't know if you have NetFlix, but I assume many of you do. If not, you understand how the whole "suggestion" thing works.
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You see a video, rate it, and based on that rating (and other previous ratings) NetFlix makes a suggestion for the next movie. Normally this works like this (for example) ...
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Gavin loves the Miley Cyrus movie, gives it 5 stars. NetFlix, based on their extensive knowledge of Gavin's taste and previous titles, recommends the Jonas Brothers Movie or Queer Eye for the Straight Guys Series 2.
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Well, Eddie and I watched "Charlie Wilson's War" the other night, and liked it more than we thought we would. In fact I gave it a 4 (a normalish score for a Philip Seymour Hoffman movie, but pretty high for that guy from Forrest Gump).
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I expected the other recommendations it made from this. Numbers 2 - 4 were "Micheal Clayton (which I loved), Good Night and Good Luck (which I loved) and The Good Shepard (which I will rent). But the top referral from my rating of Charlie Wilson's War....
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Moose and Squirrel?????

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Problem with our Government: Gerrymandering



I have said it before and I will say it now - Gerrymandering is ruining our country and will quite possibly cause our government to fail entirely unless we do something.
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Look at the pictures of districts above. They have been drawn specifically to provide a Republican or Democratic Representative (which state these are from are almost inconsequential... Texas or California - you pick if you can).
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Too get elected in this type of district you must be VERY true to the party and a narrowly defined voter pool. And so we get crazy ass Democrats and Republicans. Those who are so left or right that they can't think about compromise. To do so, in fact, is the only way to loss an election. If you are too soft on the opposition party, you MIGHT loss the primary.
This is a highlighted map of one district in Philadelphia, but the others aren't the banners of consistency either. And here is what is totally screwed up - while it isn't legal to Gerrymander just on race or ethnicity - it is totally legal to do so along party lines!!!
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Which gives us a dysfunctional government. There are two solutions.
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1. Do as in Iowa and let a non-partisan group draw districts every 10 years. Although in order to do this, the state assemblies have to pretty much remove their lock on power. As the Republicans in 1994 showed with their "promised self-imposed term limits" - that ain't gonna happen. No knock on Republicans, Democrats wouldn't even promise to get out!
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2. Go to some sort of proportional system - where you have maybe fewer districts and the top 2 vote getters each get office. This is often how city wide commissions are run and they are usually less partisan.
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(There is a 3rd option that is really our only hope. There are lawsuits working through the system that argue that computers, modeling and current tools make the opposition party in these districts powerless - thus removing the right to a meaningful vote. I hold little hope that this will work because, mainly because it reeks of judicial activism - and truthfully it is a stretch.)
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But I see little hope of either options working and so I see a Congress that is more concerned with scoring points, stealing money and cheating on their spouses than they are in doing any work for our country - and lobbyist happy to sell out their country for a buck. Why do I bring this up now?
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Well, now it is said and done and behind me. I refuse to worry about this horse-shit anymore. If we all want to sit and let our country go down the toilet with a happy face - fine. I won't agree with you - I think the country is worth saving - but I am done getting a headache about it. Let Sarah Palin and Obama drive the truck into the ditch. All bitchin about it has done for me is made my psoriasis worse and driven up my Efexor prescriptions.
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Done and Dun.

Why are we there and letting this happen?

Okay, stupid question, but why are we in Afghanistan?
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This is Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl Bergdahl from Idaho, and he is being held captive by the Taliban. So we should tell the Taliban to get out of a certain area and nuke it. Tell them to let him go or we will continue to nuke areas.
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Look, we are destroying their country little by little anyway - for no reason. We told the Taliban they could stay in power if they kicked out Al Qaeda. They didn't so we drove the Taliban out of power and Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan.
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So why are we still there?
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Granted, we are doing good in setting up schools and trying to put in democracy, but is that our job? Is it worth our lives? It is worth putting Pfc. Bergdahl through this? And I say this knowing that, in the past, they have NEVER LET ANYONE GO. They put a video out of his neck being cut. So nuke 'em.
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Nuke and get the F out. We didn't care what Afghanistan did until Al Qaeda and we shouldn't now. Tell the Afghans that if Terror Camps open, we will (small scale of course) nuke them as we find them. Maybe we give you warning, maybe we don't, but we are done screwing around.
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Let's go build schools and roads and water systems where people don't freaking hate us. There are plenty of really poor areas in Bangladesh, Laos, Bolivia, Botswana, Liberia where they would love to have US people bringing in schools and roads. So why the hell are we getting stuck in the sink hole of Afghanistan. We accomplished what we said we were going to. Declare victory and leave.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

(500) Days of Summer is a Love Letter.... to LA

Eddie and I went to see (500) Days of Summer. I spill nothing by saying that I loved it and Eddie did not.
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But for me, what was surprising was that, in addition to a story about love (as opposed to a Love Story - it says it right inthe beginning) is that the movie is a love letter to Los Angeles.
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And you know how much that means to Scooter. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an frustrated architect in love with Summer (the woman, Zooey Deschenel - not the season). It is, perhaps, an exercise in frustration, although I say it differently.
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But come on!!! LA looks amazing, the UCLA band is in it and I lerve Joseph Gordon-Levitt, all grown up from 3rd Rock from the Sun.
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Anyway, I liked it and it was fun and sad and made me cry....

Friday, July 17, 2009

Holland Taylor is GREAT in Person

Sometimes you see someone in a play who isn't as good as he or she is on TV.
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In the case of the cast below, Buck Henry comes to mind. He is a lot older and less funny than you want him to be.
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Holland Taylor.
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We sat 3rd row and watched "Mother" in a TINY theater for a very very limited run. It was a 75 minute show, that was very good, but very little story. More a New Year's Eve dinner shared with family.
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But Holland Taylor... Kids, Holland Taylor actually looks better in person than she does in Two and a Half Men. Impossible! And she was freakin' razor sharp in her delivery.
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It was a GREAT evening!!! (Albeit, kind of a not much of a show.).
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ps - We sat next to Anita Gillette and her friend and talked to her before the show. Anita Gillette was that "some piece of work.." Mona in Moonstruck!

PS - I am a bad giver-upper

ps - I thought about it, and I enjoy spouting off too much to stop Nincompoopery. Sometimes (like below) I find myself writing things I have no idea if anyone reads, gets or cares about... but I still like to do it and that is the point I suppose.

Art House Movies v. Video Tape

I love Turner Classic Movies.
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Which, I suppose is obvious. It is a little like saying that Gavin likes Channing Tatum*.
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But here is the thing I was thinking about recently (in my feeling like a bit of an anachronism)... I remember (and we are going way back here Sherman) before video tapes were widely available.
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Kids, in the olden days to see old movies you didn't turn on TCM. You went to an Art House theater to watch them. And there is a certain thrill to watching Mildred Pierce or Double Indemnity on the big screen that can't be repeated when you know you can get the movie from Netflix or off TCM.
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Not that I would ever trade Netflix or TCM, but you young'ens are really missing something.
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Take Vertigo.
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I am not looking this up on Wikipedia, because I don't want to spoil my memory - and it is hazy and quite possibly wrong. Here is how I remember it....Vertigo was one of 5 Jimmy Stewart movies that he did with Alfred Hitchcock in vivid color (I assume technicolor, but I might be wrong).
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They hadn't been released or shown FOREVER, due to some legal rights issue with Jimmy Stewart and Hitchcock, so I was in the Beverly Theater (across from El Coyote) with a packed house to see one of the first public screenings in 30 years.
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I can still remember Jimmy Stewart and the odd camera work to simulate Vertigo as he couldn't jump across a roof to catch a crook. I still see Kim Novak (a horrible actress in her only truly great role) and her bright blond hair and pale blue suit running up the tower to leap off, and Jimmy not being able to follow her. I can still hear the gasp of the audience as she lay on the ground, obviously dead so early in the picture).
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Hell, I actually WENT TO THAT MISSION to see the tower.
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To show someone Vertigo now is to show it at home, available to pause when you have to pee, available without a sense of wonder (CGI being so much more effective than Hitchcock's zoom-out and refocus) without the believing in Jimmy Stewart as THAT COP!
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Now, although more accessible, you think, "wow, Jimmy Stewart is kind of old and silly in this role..", "what's the big deal with this?", "we should go there someday, it's cool", "is the Art Museum in San Francisco still there?" You, in short, think instead of feel. You watch and multitask instead of being enthralled. If you miss something, you can back it up.
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At the Beverly Theater we KNEW that if we missed something it might be another 30 years before we saw it again. It wasn't, of course.
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Soon enough it came out on Video, then on DVD and then not a big deal at all.
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And I guess it is good that more people see this movie - which I thought was a masterpiece unseen in generations... and now I think is only a middling-ish Hitchcock (I like Stage Fright much better even with the false flash back). PS -the others (and I saw 4 of them at the Beverly that month) were Rope, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much (the remake with Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day!!!) and the one I didn't see and I can't remember
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We gain and we lose and (as Liza says in New York New York, which is better taken in short DVD bites than as a 205 minute whole) The World Goes Round.
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* (Gavin only likes Channing because he does Universal Pictures and Gavin works in the Marketing group - no other reason. AND this is not a gratuitous shot of Channing from GQ just for the horseflesh, but as a visual aid for those who are not aware of who Channing Tatum is.)

Thursday, July 16, 2009

A Throwback or An Old Crank?

At what point does being a throw-back become being an old crank?


For example, I used to enjoy sending and receiving post-cards. I still love and send them. I enjoy the give an take of "Here I am seeing something amazing" and sharing it. I used to love taking pictures of something special and sharing them. Do you remember getting mail that had the big bulky DO NOT BEND stickers on them? They promise unforeseen treasures inside.
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But the virtual world, the world of computers and cell phones and take your work with you has changed all that. One doesn't really "get away" anymore. One doesn't really get to share things anymore. Or rather one gets to share everything (below is a picture of my mother and I giving Eddie and annoying kiss in Washington DC).
So, is it news worthy? Gosh no. Is it shareable fun? Heck Yea. But now that I shared it, will I print it out and keep it - no (of course, I print out and keep all my nincompoopery - but that is bizarre and a bit creepy probably). At what point does sharing become so non-stop it isn't special?
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So I have resisted the instant fun of facebook or the constant touch of the cell phone. When I want to share, I want to share. And when I want to unplug I still can.
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You know, I wanted to share Ed and my time at Laura's Wedding, so I made a video for my mom and a friend. It was just the pictures of the wedding and just who was there, but I wanted her to see how special it was. Not just the "we were there" but "here is how it felt".
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I find virtual closeness little reprieve from actual distance. But perhaps I just haven't handled it right. I like the idea that people have to try to reach you. Maybe they even want to.
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Oh well... I think I might sign-off for a while here and try face book. Or I might just sign off altogether. I'm not happy about it - but I feel more and more an anachronism. I can't say I enjoy the feeling.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

How bad was coming back from MSP..

It was hellish. As in “like being in Hell”.
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First we were in the tiny ass tin can as shown.
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Then they we were 35 minutes late taking off... and by taking off I mean, of course, pulling away from the gate. So I am in the last seat on the right, and Eddie is too seats in front of me. 19A and 17A (it wasn’t a big plane) and right at my ear was the toilet. So.. away we pull and taxi out and out and into a parking lot.
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“Folks, as you can see…” by the by, whenever a pilot starts with “as you can see…” it’s gonna be bad. As bad goes this wasn’t “As you can see, we are going to hit the mountain.” Or “As you can see, we have this isn’t LAX.” But still it was “As you can see, we have to park here for a little while.” Probably about 45 minutes.
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Now I have to take you way back to boarding. In the MiniApple, 4 people had to board early. These were a very old couple (let’s call them Ma and Pa Kettle) “leading” a two middle aged “blind” people. I know that air-quotes around blind might be rude, but the blind guy pulled magazines out of his bag and they both never picked up their white canes again.
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So, here we are on the deck, waiting for take off. First, the "blind" guy won’t sit down and shut up. He is either in the row ahead of Ed, talking with Ma and Pa Kettle (fully looking at them) or taking one after another after another trip to the toiler (reminder – at my ear). And, in the toilet, blindy is LETTING LOOSE. It was so disgusting that the woman in 19B and I closed the door to the toilet, and marked it “Occupied” (you know as you raise the “toilet” sign and move it).
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Meanwhile, Ed is having his own smell issue as the family in 16 B and C had a little screaming baby. The baby does stop screaming long enough to regurgitate her breakfast. Projectile vomit. I had to move the sign from occupied to vacant so they could get all the paper towels in the plane.
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Then Ma and Pa Kettle start breaking open hard boiled eggs. Nice smell. Apparently Ma Kettle muched her way not only through the delay - but through the entire ride as well.
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45 minutes later we were informed it would be another 15 minutes and so Old Mr. Blindy had time to drop another load before we took off.And don’t even ask me about the traffic jam getting into New York from Newark because we came in at 5PM on Sunday rather than 3:00PM.

Welcome Back My Little CRX


Now my first "new" car was a Honda CRX. I had the HF, which meant that it has a 1.1 Liter Engine, but the car was really light and so it moved just fine. It also got 45+ miles a gallon (once over 53 a gallon with a tail wind to Vegas. (Note, they came in Red or Blue. That was it unless you got a CRX-SI - and then there was a Black option.)
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I loved that car and should NEVER had gotten rid of it (traded in for a Rodeo - phffft!).
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But they are bring it back. Well, back-ish. This time it is a CR-Z (Zero emissions). The press photos look great, but I still see my little CRX underneath them all....
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Kudos to Ronnie Roo for finding this on the web site.

And, of course, kudos to Honda for correct an age old wrong. That car should never have been discontinued.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Changed to allow Ron to get a feed

Okay Ronnie Roo. I changed it. can you get a feed now.

Rib-Fest 2 in Mankato

Well.. it was time for Rib-Fest 2 in Mankato.

So this is me and Carson & Ursula's baby Mejken (pronounced MIK-en) it means "baby girl" in Danish. We got along pretty darn well. we too.

This is Jo and Don's clan, with spouses. I am the moose in white on the end. I shall burn that shirt.

Here is Annette, Phil and Ed shucking corn. I was also shucking, but gave my gloves to Annette for the last 4 pieces to get a picture of her "helping".
And this is the full set of Rib Fest participants (bar me - we switched out to take pictures). It is Jo and Don's 4 boys - with spouses and 4 grand-kids, Jean (Don's sister) and Ronney's 4 girls with spouses / significant other and their total of 9 grandkids. Also are Jo's sisters Anna (front and center with her husband Robert) and Kathy (second row, second from the right).
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It was a lot of fun. And kudos to the bar-b-que cook (Don), his helper (Carson), and the inside cook Jo.
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I won't be able to eat for days.

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Mascot of the Month: Thelma Ritter

I confess I am late with a reason, but instead of the reasoning, I shall move right to Thelma Ritter - a gal with a quick wit and a great delivery. I am quoting from a site that says it better than I could....
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In the funniest of the segments in A Letter to Three Wives, Ritter is given lines by Mankiewicz that you instantly forget she didn’t write. Playing a maid named “Sadie Dugan” in the home of the upwardly mobile couple, English teacher Kirk Douglas and radio soap opera writer Ann Sothern, she is more at home in their house than they are. Sadie has known everyone she works for since they were children. Their airs cut no ice with her.
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Eyeing a maid’s frilly hat that the earnest yet ambitious Sothern asked her to wear while serving dinner to their important guests, Sadie announces, “The cap’s out. Makes me look like a lamb chop with pants on.”
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Commenting on Sothern’s ghastly radio show, she smiles and asks appreciatively, “”Do you know what I like about your program? Even when I’m running the vacuum, I can understand it.”
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Best of all are the silent moments of Ritter’s performance, as when she struggles laboriously with the screen separating the living room from the dining area during a dinner party. Almost overwhelmed by the unwieldy and heavy screen, it finally collapses, disrupting any pretense of polite chit chat among the guests as Sadie (Thelma Ritter) announces wanly “Soup’s on.”
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Later in the film, in a segment when Ritter and another masterful character actress, Connie Gilchrist pause while a train goes by outside the kitchen of the shanty Irish home where they are playing cards, you are able to see, (please click here ), two old friends used to fending off reality with a lifetime of wisecracks.
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In All About Eve (1950), Joseph Mankiewicz, (finally giving Ritter name recognition in the credits), fashioned her role as the ex-vaudevillian turned ladie’s maid for Ritter’s gift for wariness tempered by her ability to express gruff affection with a look and a few words.
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When, at the beginning of the film, Thelma responds to the waif-like Eve (Ann Baxter) and her tale of woe with the classic comment “What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin’ at her rear end!*” .
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Throughout the film, Birdie, like a wise-cracking sybil, drops several hints that the “kid” as Davis begins calling Eve, may not be quite what she appears to be, while the alleged sophisticates surrounding Ritter fall, one by one, at least for awhile, for Eve’s stratagems. Finally catching on, Margo finally asks Thelma: “Birdie, you don’t like Eve, do you? Birdie: “You looking for an answer or an argument?” Margo:”An answer.” Birdie: “No.” Margo:”Why not?” Birdie: “Now you want an argument.”
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* This is one of Ed and mine favorite lines, and can be used in a varietyof situations when someone tells a story of improbable woe!

A Little Miracle on this Morning's Dog Walk


I admit to being somewhat jaded and, perchance, more loquacious about female support than many of my contemporaries. I trace this all back to Zela (my Grandmother) who constantly wore the “Jane Russell Playtex 18 Hour Iron Maiden”. It was much like the picture to the left, only hers went down to her calves.
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Not only did Zela wear this 100% of the time, she put it on in the morning and took it off (I assume) as she went to bed. Which meant, whenever she was in a hurry and didn’t want to mess up her "dress-up" outfit (like corralling everyone to church or getting everyone ready for dinner at Elmo’s) she wore only that 1 piece around the house. Being a large woman for most of her life, I have became accustomed the sight of a huffing, puffing, sweating mother hen yelling at us - as Playtex tried valiantly to confine her.
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Anyone that has worn one, or unexpectedly come around the corner to face one, can attest to its utter lack of sexuality. It is a marvel of rubber, zippers and possibly whalebone (this was all before spandex) – but the one thing it was not was erotic.
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Among other important women in my life, my mother and Lynn come to mind, they both ensure proper support for the proper situation. Nothing as drastic as the Jane Russel 18 hour Tourture Chamber - but they don't need it.
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Which brings me to this morning.
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So I am walking Trevor to “Pets At Play” because the maid comes today (she, by the way, changes at our house into leggings and a t-shirt to clean in – but that is neither here nor there).
On our walk, we approach 2 women – I assume mid-20s woman and her mother, power walking towards us. Both power walk in a dizzying fashion; arms and legs akimbo and spastically reaching in random fashion which presupposes no understanding of velocity nor entropy. Trevor and I stand aside to let the moving sideshow passing.
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The younger woman has no discernible buubies (to quote the housewives of New Jersey). Mother, however, is rather endowed – and I think an unfortunate produce of the 1960s burn your bra movement. Her shirt looks as if it contains the entire cast of West Side Story doing the Jets and Sharks dance number. They circle each other back and forth, jabbing with knives at unexpected times. Trevor was, understandably, fascinated – it looked like she had a bag of cats in there.
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And here is the wonder of the morning. I bite my tongue BEFORE I yelled to the daughter, “For God’s sake, buy your mother a sports bra!”

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

The Problem in Leaving he Stimulus to the States

So, the economy is still in the shitter and unemployment is growing.
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I think one of the problems (and lessons forgotten from the 1930 depression) is that the Feds should have spent a lot of the stimulus money. It all went to the states - who haven't spent 1/3 of it yet. That means 2/3s of the money is just sitting there (well in California it is probably long gone).
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In the 1930s FDR created the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) to build dams, water projects and bring electricity to a a 10 state area. He created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to put rural men at work building roads, trails and rehabbing National Parks. He had works projects by the score.
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I know hindsight is 20/20, but if some of your goals are high speed rail (which actually makes sense) and national infrastructure - then do it. Don't ask the states pretty please to do it. The states (and Congress) are full of overfed, pompous local politicians and suck-ups who are hoarding the money until election time.
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My 2 cents.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Trevor Kills a Frog


Trevor loves to kill the Frogs for the squeaker. This frog last (honestly) less than 20 minutes ... and that included throw and fetch time.

Quoted!!!!

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So a review I wrote got quoted in the press!! Clearly not "Krapp, 39", but the Amish Project. Here is a link to my review, but here is a LINK to the quoted TEXT.
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Here is the quote they pulled:
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From MUSIC OMH
“Dickey’s research into the Amish community has clearly been thorough and she imparts much of what she has learnt to her audience, engendering a sense of understanding and empathy for these people…A powerful and truly thought-provoking piece of theatre.”

Monday, July 06, 2009

Miss Abby Enjoys the Desert


So, as you may or may not know, Ron and his dog, Miss Abby, have taken up residence in the desert. Miss Abby, as you can see, is enjoying it (in Lynn's old Bed).