Friday, January 31, 2014

Bridges of Madison County Preview (Adultery: The Musical)

Goodness, I love Stephen Pasquale's voice.  He is Robert in Bridges of Madison County.  He is amazing.  (Kelli O'Hara is of course amazing).  But then, there is the topic.  It's kind of "Adultery, the Musical."
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And the topic is tough.  But the music is fantastic and the singing is stunning.  STUNNING.  To hear Stephen Pasquale sing is a treat.  And Kelli O'Hare is fantastic (although a little soprano goes a long way with me).
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My seats were AMAZING.  I don't know when or how I got the, but I was 2nd Row center.  This picture of the cast bows was taken from my seat without any zoom.  Hearing their voices was magical.  And the music was great.  Buy the album if there is one.
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I wanted it to end at halftime.  Everyone was still in a good mood.  The lovers love, the family is at the Indiana State Fair - winning ribbons.  All is good.  But it is the story of a woman cheating on her husband, you know, an affair - so this won't end well somewhere.
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It seems to be one of those stories where the implications are easy to ignore in the book, but seeing it onstage is a little creepy.  I don't know that for sure, I didn't read the book or see the movie.
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So maybe the ending isn't as crapy / creepy as it seemed.  (highlight only if you don't care about spoilers).  Francesca wants to go with the photographer; but stays with her family, even though she doesn't seem to love the husband.  Which isn't all that fair to him (the husband), is it? The kids, who were on a rocky path, turn out great because she stayed in the marriage.  Although they are 16 and 18 so there really isn't that much parenting left.  Hence, the moral of the story is woean only count in as much as their children turn out okay.  Which is creepy.  At the very least I wanted Francesca to kiss her husband when she decides to stay, but no - she just walks in the Soda Shoppe kind of sad.  And this is right after she imagines running into Robert's arms and being happy.  But now, she will stay with "Bud" and her two adult children.  I didn't get it.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

We all know I would LOVE to make fun of Atlanta

We all know I would love to make fun of Atlanta. One or Two inches of snow, and the traffic commutes can be measured in days not hours (honestly - it took 15 - 26 hours for people to get home).
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Now that wouldn't happen in LA.
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Why?
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Because the minute they mentioned there might be snow - we wouldn't leave our houses.  Los Angeles is the only city where you can show up 3 hours late to a meeting and say "rain on the 405" and people commiserate.  We had car-mageddon for goodness sake!
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I was in England once and a Hurricane was forecast as possible 3 days out, and people were already staying home (I found out from a Xerox Wide email blast to stay off the roads in case of rain).  (An aside, the hurricane missed us.)
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So yes, I would like to make fun. But an ice storm in Los Angeles would cause the sale of Xanex to go through the roof.

An aha moment, or two

California Car Duster (with free mini-duster)
So when Ed moved to LA in the beginning, one of the first things he laughed about was an infomercial for the "California Car Duster".
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He looked at me incredulously and said, "A car duster?  Are you kidding me?"
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After a little while in the City d'Angels, he realized it made perfect sense.  It goes without rain for months at a time and your car gets dusty and a simple wipe gets rid of it often (of course, if a Jacaranda Tree has crapped all over your car, you're going to need a real wash and scrub).
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In the 1977 / 78 drought, they wouldn't let the car washes run - so the duster made total sense (since then the Car Washes in Los Angeles County have all converted to water saving - which is the water is recycled. That was the only way they were allowed to stay open.
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Aha moment for Ed.
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Now me.
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This year, in our trip up to Mass MoCA, we ran  through a lot of snow, and Ed's car got filthy.  You know, that snow gunk filthy.  (Like the car pictured, only that is not Ed's car - but the gunk is the same).
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So I said, "You gotta get that washed."  I said this because I can't believe how lazy people are int he snow and let their cars look like that.
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And Ed says, wait for it, "I have to wait until it warms up or the water will freeze on the car."
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The water will freeze on the car!  Aha (moment for Scott).  I had never thought about such a thing!
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I always thought people in the snow just didn't care.  I thought that white gunk was like the auto equivalent of winter weight, or the freshman 15.  Turns out, no.  There is a reason they don't wash cars in the winter.
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Live and learn.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Why isn't this Jackanape in Prison

Why is James Clapper still on the job?  Why is he still allowed to report to Congress when he lied under oath?

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How can we have this bag-o-wind calling for Edwin Snowden's head, but not paying ANY price for lying to Congress and the People of the United States under oath?
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Why?
Rand Paul and I agree on this.
Daryl Issa and I agree on this.
Alan Grayson and I agree on this.

The Good (a lot), The Bad (a little), and the The Ugly - about Trevor's Booties

Yes, poor Trevor has booties.  They are a necessity right now with the "salt" they are using around here to keep the sidewalks clear.  It is a really rough Calcium Carbonate, which is killer on dog feet.  So almost all dogs are wearing temporary booties.
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Which brings us to Trevor.

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The Bad is simple, but (like Trevor) consistently painful.  Putting on his booties is a daily fight.  It is a 2 man job, but often there is only 1 of us to do it.  Trevor will put up with them, but doesn't help in the slightest.  It is like trying to get long johns on a limp child.  Passive resistance.  From Trevor's point of view, he dies of embarrassment, until he is outside and sees the other dogs.
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The Good - where to start.  First, his paws don't hurt.  He doesn't track in crap from the street.  He no longer gets a block away and need to be carried home (we actually both like that).  Before the booties, we would get 1/2 a block and then one foot goes up to be cleaned.  A house later a 2nd foot has to be wiped.  About 1 house later, the third foot comes up and then he just stops walking and gives me the most annoyed look.  And then I have to carry him home.  Embarrassing for both of us
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My other favorite is that he stays in place until I am ready to take him out.
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You see one way he fights any clothes (including said booties) is to stand perfectly still, like he is frozen.  Fine by me.  I can put his booties on, then get my jacket and the keys and his leash - and he doesn't move.  What is annoying with a sweater is dreamy with booties.
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The Ugly?  Well, he does look goofy in them.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

This Week-end With Joc

The SuperDuperBowl is coming!
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Jocelyn was here this week-end and we wandered up to Times Square to see the FOX SUPER BOWL SPECTACULAR!!!!!
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IT WAS SUPERLATIVE!
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IT WAS LOUD!!
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IT IS THE SUPERDUPERBOWL!!!
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Afterwards we went to the Time Square visitor center (we had some time to kill before Pippin).  And Eddie held up the Times Square Ball Drop Ball.  Because, you know, he could.

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We had a nice dinner with Joc, Jamie and Sam. And Sam and Jamie's respective (female) dates.  Apparently Sam and his new date are featured in US Weekly next week.  The perks of being TV people.
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Speaking of young Sam.  He is oh-so-creppy on The Following.  If you haven't seen it, you should.  He plays evil twins. Evil sociopathic twins.

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Thank goodness Trevor can't watch TV.  If he could, I am not sure he could sleep with Sam in the house.  (Sam still watches Trevor sometimes when Eddie and I travel - all that fame hasn't gone to his head.  Yet.)
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What I am saying.  He's a dog, he could sleep with Jack The Ripper in the house!
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ps -ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL (in the frigid cold?)!!!!  
- (See they are Exclamation marks because it isn't really a question as much as a catch phrase.  The answer - for those of you unfamiliar with our sports holidays is to loudly scream HELL YES and quaff your beer.)

David Brooks: Please Read Your Own Columns Occasionally

David Brooks - oh the love he brings.
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Today he has a nice little column that is supposedly about Christian love.  And, to his credit, buried deep within the column is some blather about how it is presented poorly.  He blames this on human nature, "There must be something legalistic in the human makeup, because cold, rigid, unambiguous, unparadoxical belief is common, especially considering how fervently the Scriptures oppose it."
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All well and good, right?  But, where is the big wrap-up to this?
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My friends (svh - you know who you are, aDy and others) say much the same thing, but then back it up with deeds.  Their churches - and hundreds or thousands of others - works to better mankind by spreading kindness, sharing generosity, building needed facilities in communities, etc.
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David Brooks instructs us to read texts from before 1835.
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Which would be fine for most anyone else. MOST anyone who did not make a career out of telling Muslims that they need to stand up to hate.  You know that "Every time a Muslim doesn't denounce a bombing or a message of hate, they are supporting it."
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So maybe next time a Christian preaches "cold, rigid, unambiguous, unparadoxical belief that the scriptures oppose", you could call them out.  Just once or twice.  And prove that you believe what you write.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Trouble with a Year on Stage

We saw Pippin with Jocelyn this week-end.  It is amazing, but the year has taken a toll on the voices of Matthew James Thomas and Patina Miller.
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Don't get me wrong - they are still AMAZING.  But you can tell that their voices need a nice, month long break.  They hit the big, money notes.  But they kind of skim on smaller notes or less important songs.
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Here is what they did sound like (and still do on the big lines!).  PS - Pippin is blond now, which apparently is his real hair color.
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Friday, January 24, 2014

We Prefer the Term "Gaggle"

Look, it is a Pride of Lions, a Murder of Crows, a Fabulous of Flamingos (we were too late on that one) and a Gaggle of Gays.  Not a Mafia of Gays, a Gaggle.
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And while I disagree with the premise that the Swiss Guard is a Gaggle of Gays - I would like to claim Luigi below as one of ours…
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PundaPalooza

One wants to request that the New York Times rename their Opinion Pages, the Funny Pages, since the level of discussion has never before reached some comic proportions (and the New York Times doesn't have a comics section).
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Yesterday there was the "fact" that University of Oxford, in giving it's Master of Phil in Middle Eastern Studies, never discussed climate issues.
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Today David Brooks, never the sharpest knife in the drawer, begins his column with a spurious argument - one might call it a "false premise".  This is a debate term that means you say something that is total bullshit to open, then argue any old point on your own terms.  Someone may dispute your opening, but since it is nothing but a gambit to talk - you can concede the point and not lose your arguement.
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An example would be to build a discussion about how make American Foreign Policy more hospital by saying something obviously untrue like "The last decade of drone attics shows that Americans don't value life…"  But here is the truth; drone attacks don't really say anything about how Americans look at life.  It might show how the American Military looks at war, but that's about it.
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Example 2..
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What?  Go back to the opening sentence.  Could someone remind me about the "rich debate on how to expand opportunity for underprivileged children"?!?
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Rich Debate?
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There was a lot of crap laid on teachers and the teacher's union - as I recall.  But that wasn't about underprivileged children.   There was a mild discussion of onerous interest rates on college loans.  Does that make a "rich debate".
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Arguing with the rest of his article is stupid.  I read it, and it consists of a lot of handwaving that Barak Obama isn't doing enough to follow his advice.   Which is made up on the fly and has no decade history - with or without rich debate.

All Hail The Plutocracy

Work at JP Morgan, do a good job for years - get laid off with 2 or 3 weeks severance.  Run JP Morgan, rack up billions in fines, get an $11.5 Million dollar wage + a raise.
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Because there is one rule for those with money (the "creators") and a complete different rule for those that work to implement their decisions ("the takers").

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Ice on the Hudson

No big post - just a cool post of some Ice not he Hudson.  I have only seen this once before, 5 years ago.

Scott

How To Deal with Climate Change #3: Stop Subsidizing Bad Choices

Part of an ongoing series on how to react to Climate Change (since we won't be able to stop it.)  One thing we can do (and are starting on baby steps towards) is to stop subsidizing bad location choices.
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There are a number of ways we do this, and most subsidies should be ended, or the costs carried by the beneficiaries.  
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Take people who live in fire areas.  They should be required to clear the brush around their homes or the price of their insurance should sky rocket.  Look at the picture below.
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This owner cleared the brush around his house and made it much easier for the fire department to do their work.  This type of clearing is now required in parts of Montana, Arizona and California.
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In Los Angeles if the brush is not cleared, the homeowner is issued a citation and a fine - and checked up on with fines that continue to multiple. (It may be the same in other locations, but I don't know.)
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In some ways, I understand the entire "it's my land and I will do what I want", which is fair, but then your insurance prices should go up And you shouldn't get disaster funds.  People are not here to subsidize bad choices.
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And with climate change, some of those bad choices of a homeowner may lead to deaths of first responders.
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Another example of subsidizing bad location choices are the beach houses along the East Coast.  Living right on the beach is great, but paying to rebuild them year after year shouldn't be the taxpayers issue.  The government sponsored insurance subsidy should be reduced over time.
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Oddly enough this is happening - and the outcry is massive.
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On the other hand, the government high risk pools for some insurance forms make perfect sense.  Not for the government to insure them, but for the government to pool those in an area, and find a single insurer for them (often having to backstop loses above some number).
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The cost to benefit can be weighed if climate change increases the occurrence of the disaster.  For example, Hurricane Insurance in Florida, Flood insurance in Louisiana or Earthquake insurance in California all may make sense or made sense at one time.   If sea levels rise, it might make sense to stop insuring people in Louisiana for floods.  Give them their last payout and say - you stay here or you can go, but we can no longer insure you at this location.
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Other disaster insurance pools may have to grow.  For example, it may be that climate change is increasing the occurrence and severity of tornadoes.  Instead of responding ad hock, we should probably plan for more disasters due to tornado activity with increased insurance and design standards (at least to be part of the insurance pool).
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I say this, because after a disaster, insurers often refuse to cover the same area for the same problem.  In that case, government pooling of at risk clients is probably nessecary.
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Finally there are disincentives that government bureaucracy does  impose on some intelligent choices - that should stop.
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For example, with regard to the sand dune issue, highlighted in the pictured to the right, on Cape Cod, the headline is that the Sand Dunes, after being built at government expense, have been wiped out.
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Reading the articles though, you find that one major reason they have been wiped out, is that the local governments didn't allow any planting on the sand dunes(!).  Which means it is less a sand dune and more a sand castle.
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Normally, this is a stupid choice that will lead to bad results.  Not just bad results as in the dune washes away, but actual costs as the government pays for sand dune rebuilding AND will probably cover any extra damage as part of Natural Disaster aid.  My response would be that it these towns and residents block preventative measures, the government shouldn't subsidize your choices.
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(Full disclosure, in follow up - a few actual beach property owners in this town are having to pay for replacement sand, but it is washing away faster than they can replace it.  I don't mean this as wrap on Massachusetts or Cape Cod - but as a general way we react to increased beach erosion due to climate change.)
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It's harsh after it happens, but our first response should not always be "We Will Rebuild".

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

PostCard from Mostar and musings on time...

So ….
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Ed just received a postcard I sent from Mostar on Dec 9th 2013.  He got it on his birthday, Jan 21, 2014.  Which is about 6 weeks.
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Now to be honest, I am not surprised.  I had read (from a guide book that loves Bosnia like I do) that the Postal System is the last refuge of the old Yugoslavian Communist Bureaucracy.   It took 4 weeks from Sarajevo and 6 weeks from Mostar.
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And this prompts me to three different thoughts about mail and time.
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First - mail is too slow for people now a days.  I mean I mail postcards and all, and I get a few.  Most people view my habit as a quirk in my nature and they indulge me.  Most send postcards or notes to me as an odd favor from another time (my Mother is great at that) and there is one friend who loves mail like I do (I am looking at you Patti G).
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But for most people, the instant and banal has replaced the delayed and banal.  But instant says "look at me" and the postcard says "I am thinking of you.  Enough of you to take the time to write this, go to a post office and send it to you."
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I still love the instant.  In Moster the day I sent this, I also "Faced Time"d with Ed and saw my pup, I posted to Nincompoopery.  I am not averse to instant, but I see it as an addition, not a substitute.
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I think I miss the I am thinking of you part of communication.
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Second, imagine the world just a few decades ago, where mails was super fast!
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In the 80's I was still using a teletype to hammer out details for the law firm I worked for, while working with our Australian partners.  Phones couldn't handle data.  Lawyers actually used to buy plane tickets for students to take documents or equipment to Europe (the cheapest way of going, FYI).  Air Mail used to be blindingly fast.
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Imagine… at the end of World War 1 and World War 2, the President of the Untied States had to travel (in the case of Wilson, for weeks) to attend peace conferences.  Decision were made right then and there.  If you sent Jefferson to Paris for a treaty, you delegated power.  When Citibank sent me to Singapore a few years ago, they delegated nothing.  They decided overnight or by video conference if they had to.  Only culpability of failure was delegated (success was a product of excellent work back in the office).
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Instantaneous is really really new.
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Third, before 1840, regular people (as opposed to governments or really really rich people with couriers) could NOT communicate directly via long distances.  There was no post or mail available to the average Joe.  And now mail is antiquated and inadequate.
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Wow!
260BC to 1840 AD - mail only for the governmental few (2100 years)
1840  to 1998 - mail for all (158 years)
1998 to 2013 - mail for junk / Fed EX for speed (15 years)
Mail is essentially obsolete now…  If you want to move documents quickly you can internet, FAX or (if you must) Fed Ex.
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Send a post card while you can.

Idiot or Crap School? Your Call

Thomas Friedman, in whom I observe less and less signs of intelligence, opens today's "article" with this observation….
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To which one must ask, what kind of piece of crap school did you go to?  You studied "Middle East Studies" and never talked environmental or climate issues.  Considering it is a desert and wars have been fought over access to water (the Jordan River) in the area that was once "the fertile crescent", it seems like your school kind of sucked.
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I went to USC in 1976 /77 and studied International Relations, and we studied mid-east environmental impacts on the middle eastern wars.  I went to UCLA from 1978 -81 and studied Geography and Economics and we were required to take "Eco-systems" which expressly felt with the impact of environment on economic development within a geographical context.  (FYI - we started discussing Climate Change in 1980).
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In 1972, 1972!, The Limits To Growth was published and discussed world wide.  It described the environmental impact on the world.  It was a big ass deal and the cause of academic discussions for years.  It was wrong in many instances, and right in many others - but it was a massive massive deal.
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If your school never discussed these - it was a pretty lousy school.  If it did, and you just "forgot" - then your an idiot.  If you remember and you are lying to make a point - you are a liar.  Which is it? Crap School, Idiot or Liar?  (Being you are a pundit, I will go with Liar.)
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If Mr. Friedman is correct, Brandeis University, University of Minnesota and Oxford University are some horrible schools.  (Since Oxford professors wrote parts of Limits to Growth, my guess is that Mr. Friedman exaggerates for effect.)

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Hard to Take Seriously (or to Get Worked Up About)

The latest "Bachelor" (looking like the Madam Tussaud's idea of the love child of Ricardo Montalban and Mia Hamm) on ABC's long running series thinks gay people are "more perverted in a sense" and "It would be too hard for TV" to have a gay "Bachelor". I have a hard time getting too upset or worked up about this.
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He thinks gays should not be able to participate in the heterosexual tradition of being paid money to find your true love on a televised contest that makes idiots of all involved.
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I'm okay with that.  (It's a crap excuse, but again - who gives a shit.)
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Mass MoCA

Randy and Eddie (as Scott makes them take ANOTHER picture)

Like I said the other day, Ed, Randy and I traveled up to "Mass MoCA" this week-end.  Full title is the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.  LINK.
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It is set in a Campus of about 20 old factory buildings; it has prompted an urban renascence and turned the area into something of an art capital.  Not all the buildings have been fully rehabbed yet, and some are rented out to businesses to offset the costs.  But the buildings make for great spaces.
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We saw "The Wandering Veil" series from Izhar Patkin.  It is made up of images printed or painted on huge panels of veiled material.   Set up in rooms it is a little like stepping into a dream.  One room would have been awkward, but after a couple you kind of give in to the experience.
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This was a fountain / water sculpture made of styrofoam chunks and cut outs.  Very cool.  It looks very "marble / stone"-ish in the flesh.


This is part of a retrospective of Sol LeWitt and his massive art walls.  I thought LeWitt's work was a little repetitive, but that is probably just my inability to appreciate it.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Sam in The New York Post - and At Our Place Last Night

So Sam (Underwood) and most of the cast and crew came to our event room last night to watch The Following premiere.
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Yes, he was totally creepy.  The New York Post liked it (LINK).  Here is their picture and then a picture of the same two with Trevor and I from last night.
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The camera focussed on Valerie.  I can't blame it.

Connecticut & Adams / North Adams Mass

We had an extra day in the week-end this week-end, so Ed and Randy and I went up to the Mass Museum of Contemporary Art.
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On the way we passed some totally picturesque covered bridges in Connecticut.  And for a day that was only suppose to get 1 inch of snow, they did a bad job of forecasting.
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Ed and Randy at Stop #1

The view upriver from Stop #2

Eddie at Spot #2.
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The Museum itself is in North Adams.  More later, but the towns os Adams and North Adams were huge textile factory towns.  They are both about 3/4s of the way through a full gentrification and are very cool.
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All the pics above re from Adams.  William McKinley stopped by
on his way to Buffalo where he was assassinated.


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Sunday, January 19, 2014

Me and James Purefoy

I love James Purefroy...
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From John Carter of Mars and From last night
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One Degree

Our friend Sam had a viewing party of the new "The Following" tonight.  Here is me, Eddie, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.
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Friday, January 17, 2014

Dagnabit

Or, as my mother once said, "Well Fuckity Do Dah"
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Wheat Doesn't Work For Me

So I read "Wheat Belly" and gave no-wheat a try.
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Not for weight reasons - although I hoped that was a good side effect (ps - no so much), but because the book made me think about how much wheat has been changed and manipulated over the years without any testing.  And I wanted to see if going off of it had any effect on me.
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For me, not eating wheat has had a huge ass effect.  I am not "gluten allergic", meaning I don't freeze up or anything.  However I am massively wheat intolerant.  Like lactose intolerance - it doesn't kill me, but I react badly.
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Stopping the intake of wheat has eliminated the need for naps (I KNOW!).  I mean I still like a nap and can take them, but I don't HAVE to anymore.  More than once, driving home from the desert, I had to pull over so Ed could drive or stop in a parking lot for a quick 30 minute nap.  I never really understood it, but Ed could see it happen and it was very real.
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Oddly enough, after a quick nap or a immediate drop into sleep at night, wheat then keeps me awake an hour or so later - and awake all freaking night.  I can't sleep all night after eating wheat.
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And recently I have realized it screws with my emotions.  I had pizza the other night (pizza I miss - everything else is no big deal but Pizza - I miss your cheesy goodness so...).  I couldn't sleep that night and then was horribly depressed the next day.
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So there you go - it doesn't effect Eddie at all.  Although he has been really good about putting up with some wheat-free foods for me
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And Patty-Melts.  I miss pizza and patty-metlts.

And We're Back

At Citi - What goes around and all….
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Start date still tbd.

Best Bad Review Phrase - EVER

(Okay, not EVER.  The best ever was the LA Weekly Review of Geraldine Page in A Trip To Bountiful - "Ms. Page's performances is filled with enough ticks, stutters and mannerisms for three movies.  You cannot wait for her trip to be over."  But that was a long time ago and kids today don't remember.)
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The New York Time's Review of "Nut Job" a new kid's movie is short and not sweet.  The reviewer (Miriam Bale) sums it up thusly "… "The Nut Job" features muddy-colored and often ugly animation, a plot that feels too stretched out and loaded with details to hold the attention of most children, and more flatuence jokes than anyone deserves."
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But that is NOT the funny part.  Here is the funny part - you might have to read it twice…
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Will Arnett and Katherine Heigl provide voices for characters that will be familiar to those who know the actors' live-action work.  Mr. Arnett plays Surly the squirrel, a self-serving loner banished from the park at the urging of an evil raccoon leader.  And Ms. Heigl is Surly's love interest, Andie, who has no remarkable characteristics of her own.
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Ouch.
Surly (center) and Andie (pretty in the background doing nothing on the right)

Thursday, January 16, 2014

And.. Scene

You can read the latest Bloomberg Reuters report, or you could have read Nincompoopery for the last year plus.
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Scooter
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Rico: Missed the best worst of New Zealand Air

Los Angeles was an Air New Zealand hub.  New York isn't even a Air NZ city (you fly United to LA or San Francisco).  I say this because Air New Zealand has very funny ads and I just learned of Rico - and he was "retired" in 2011 (apparently killed in a house fire during a mansion party in Los Angeles).
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He is rude and annoying - and you must see.
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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

So, this was Almost done when I was there - it's beautiful

This Library was almost done when I was there.  It is gorgeous.  I was about to take pictures, but then I thought, "No, it's stupid to take pictures of a Modern library."  Stupid me, today I saw this article:
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Turns out, they were smarter than your average bear.  The Serbs did firebomb the National Bosnian Library destroying a thousand years of history.
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This Islamic Library is very cool - and named after kind of the founder of Sarajevo (there were small settlements before, but he turned it into the Capital of Bosnia inside the Ottoman Empire).  Much of the city is due to him.
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The new Library is right next to the Gazi Husrev Bey old home now Museum

The House/Museum facade

The breezeway between the street /Library and Museum
To the left are "exhibition" manuscripts.  The Library is to the right.
Here are my associated photos.
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Gazu Husrev Mosque - the largest in Sarajevo (and one of the
most traditionally beautiful outside the Middle East) is across the street

This is Gazi Husrev's resting place in the Mosque's next door courtyard
FYI - Bey, Beg and Begova are all variations on spelling of the same word which roughly translates to "Leader" or "President" in today's vernacular.