# 04 Nov 2002, 03:14PM GMT+5:30:
Very odd dreams recently. Sam Seaborn/George Stephanopolous in love with me, chopping kale (Pauline Kael?) on a picnic with Garrison Keillor, that sort of thing. In other news, I am trying rather hard to figure out what I can do to make my Keillor intro special (tomorrow night). I joked with Leonard about playing bits from Dar Williams's "Are You Out There," but he didn't realize it was a joke, and became alarmed. A joke, Leonard! Just kidding.
Reading: UnTechnical Writing: How to Write About Technical Subjects and Products So Anyone Can Understand by Michael Bremer. The publisher is UnTechnical Press, and the book is good so far: useful tips and (as you'd hope) great style.
One of my coworkers has been using, explicitly and implicitly, a logically rude argument (summary of the concept) whenever we disagree. The manifestation I encounter: "I am older and more experienced than you, and therefore wiser, and it is simply not possible for you to legitimately disagree with me because I inherently understand all problems and situations better than you do." I find myself annoyed, and have to learn to not let it get to me.
# 05 Nov 2002, 04:51PM:
A very transit-y day. I've taken BART, I've bought an AC Transit pass, and I biked to the polls to vote. I'm an ad for Carfree Living.
Tonight's The Keillor Poem-O-Rama, I guess, and I get to introduce it. Ack! How do I give this great writer a worthy buildup and not seem like I'm in love with the sound of my own voice?
# 06 Nov 2002, 03:43PM:
The Keillor intro: Leonard assures me that I didn't flop. But I think most of the audience didn't know or care that I spoke in abcb iambic pentameter. Well, no one booed me, at least, and I got a few moments with the master. This was the third time I'd met him, and he still didn't remember me, but he was gracious nonetheless, just like the last two times. He turned in a quite enjoyable performance, and I'm lucky to have gone at all.
Today I discovered that Parker and College (where I now live) is much closer to the Downtown Berkeley BART station than to the Rockridge BART station, despite its clear line-of-sight to Rockridge (which sits on College). On the upside, I also discovered the nearby Elmwood post office, with almost no lines! Compare to the depressing Durant Ave. and Allston Way post offices.
I love walking on College Avenue. It's a narrow, tree-lined street with a hundred little shops, and pedestrians abound. On the other hand, driving on College is a pain, since it's two lanes wide with lots of stop signs and stoplights. Contrast: Telegraph Avenue, for most of its length, feels inhospitable to pedestrians: wide, no marked crosswalks, shops large or far between. But I don't even notice traffic, most of the time, when I have to drive it.
Instructive exception: For four blocks, just south of the campus, Telegraph loses two of its four lanes and becomes a two-lane one-way street. All of a sudden it's nicer to pedest and much more frustrating for drivers. It's as though it briefly transforms into College!
But then I add one more transit option into the mix: biking. Sadly, the very narrowness of College makes it less hospitable to bikes as well. I fear getting trapped between an open car door and a huge car when I bike College. Soon I hope to learn the little side streets so I can bike those instead.
# 08 Nov 2002, 09:30PM:
I made a customer's day today when she heard me mutter, "I hereby rail against the universe."
While you await the next Harry Potter book (tentatively titled Sorry It's Late, I Got Married and Stood in a Copyright Suit), you may amuse yourself with "Harry Potter: Pampered jock, patsy, fraud".
Looks like I can indeed go to Zed's show tomorrow. I've enjoyed improv featuring Zed before, so maybe you would too.
# 08 Nov 2002, 10:11PM:
Oh yeah, I met Harlan Ellison today. He didn't insult me too badly, I think, and not on purpose. Details later.
# 10 Nov 2002, 12:11AM:
"We are all time travelers..."
Speaking of Zed, I got to see his Super Troupers of Improv tonight. Again, very funny. I only wish their set were longer! Ah, I'll have to get my next fix next month.
I enjoyed the bike ride to Cafe Eclectica (rent this venue for only $30 an hour!), and/but got lost a bit on the way back. Follow the BART tracks...where does this road go?...what a huge parking lot...and then a large, stately Barnes & Noble reared its head before me. Aaaah!
At work, I've discovered, I've become a good gift wrapper. Most recent innovation: after tying and curling a length of ribbon for the bow, make incisions in the end of the ribbon and pull it apart, creating two, three, four, or more thinner ribbon curls. I find that the mix of thin and thick ribbon creates a pleasing appearance. Of course, if I start talking about this sort of technique with my colleagues, then (to paraphrase Tamora Pierce) they edge away and start talking about soothing drinks.
I wonder whether the desired woman here is someone I know.
# 10 Nov 2002, 10:17PM:
Longtime associates know that I think Joseph Lieberman (A*-Connecticut) resembles the rock star Beck. (I mention this eerie similarity every time I sell someone a magazine featuring Beck on the cover. To date I have not sold In Praise of Public Life, but were I to do so, rest assured that I would continue the tradition. Also, if elected to a position on a tabloid newspaper, I would pursue an article entitled "Beck: Lieberman's Secret Love Child" as a pet project for my district.)
Only today did Leonard casually mention to me the analagous electrifying resemblance from the other side of the aisle: Trent Lott looks like David Letterman! As Leonard notes, an episode of Letterman's show featuring guest Beck would seem a model of bipartisan bonhomie.
* Accomodator
# 10 Nov 2002, 11:13PM:
Some days I consider how much I inhabit an imaginary universe that happily coincides with other people's imaginary universes. Reality is intersubjective, Mr. Hatch once told us. And so I actually know gobs about the Star Trek and West Wing fictions, and I vote, and I share rather complicated slang and in-jokes with friends.
To get down to business: as far as I know, this out-of-context bit gives you the only glimpse of Leonard's (and friends') Senator Radclyffe joke.
Senator or Congressman Radclyffe has somehow acquired the ultimate in gerrymandering: he is his own district. So it makes complete sense for the Senator to act selfishly; he's only serving his constituency.
Examples:
- The way to show that you are acting as Senator Radclyffe (I-North Virginia) is to softly and rhythmically thunk the back of one hand into the palm of the other while saying, in a fake-formal voice, "Me, me, me."
- "Senator, this bill is nothing but pork for your district!"
"Yes it is, Bill. One barrel of tasty, tasty pork. Mmm-mmm, how my constituency loves that grade-A hog!"
- "Before I begin my press conference, a few words about the bias of the not-me media..."
- "Senator, Christ said, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It says so in the Bible!"
"Maybe in your Bible..."
A more generally applicable joke: "Will the Senator please yield? I mean, come on, there's a sign there. I'm just trying to get on the freeway."
Leonard, what else we got?
# 10 Nov 2002, 11:29PM:
This weekend, ending tomorrow, Cody's Books holds a fundraiser. If
a neighborhood school participates, then you can buy stuff at Cody's and
give the receipt to the school, and the school will show the receipt
to Cody's, and Cody's will give a percentage of the revenues to the
school. People have been buying books and gift certificates for the holidays and for their
school classrooms and libraries. I'm glad we've been so busy.
One lovely moment: a customer bought several books that I had
highlighted with shelf recommendations.
Also this weekend, I saw two old classmates and a woman I used to work
for. At least two pieces of gossip of the form "Such and so got married" "Gasp!"
were exchanged. See, this is why E.B. White wrote about trumpeter swans,
which mate for life. He didn't want to have to deal with former loves
who go marry someone else. Or puns with "Will you take a gander at her."
Today's sing-along book title belongs to Giocanda Belli: The Country
Under My Skin. To be sung to the tune of the jazz standard "I've Got You Under My Skin".
The Country
Under My Skin
The Country
deep in the heart of me
# 12 Nov 2002, 04:52PM:
Best wishes to Kris, who's going through medical hardships right now.
Also, Andy, it is indeed feasible to lay down an ukase against swearing at your party. (I'd be interested to know your reasons. Is there a particular guest who finds profanity offensive? Is that guest you?) Your guests may not perfectly follow such a directive, but your guests, I'll predict, are cool enough to try. Or to not come in the first place, once they find out.
Sorry I can't make it to your party. Blow a kazoo for me, willya? And maybe next year.
Adam, I hope you're feeling better by the time of your flight back west.
In international news, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin blew up at a French reporter at a news conference when the reporter threw him some tough questions about Chechnya. I would cut Putin a little slack, since he just lost many citizens in that botched Moscow hostage rescue attempt, but certainly he scandalized the European community with his comments, which were dark and earthy, much like Russia's staple, black bread.
He went through various categories of person, such as resident of the USA or of a US ally, Christian, atheist, and moderate Muslim, and noted that radical Muslims (as he characterized the Chechen rebels) would freely kill any of these. He ended his tirade:
"If you want to go all the way and become a Muslim radical and are ready to get circumcised, I invite you to Moscow," Putin said. "We are a multi-confessional country, we have experts in this field, too. I will recommend that they carry out the operation in such a way that nothing grows back."
The gazeta.ru (literally, gazeta means "newspaper") story, to which most other stories refer, is in Russian and in English, but the Moscow Times story linked above explains the comments, background, and repercussions more clearly and at greater length. Good reading.
# 12 Nov 2002, 05:22PM:
New Cody's staff recommendations have arrived at the store and online. I have a few posts in there; most are books I've plugged before in this space. Hey, I'm influential!
In the "Singing in the Bookstore" realm, both Devin and Leonard feel like singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" when they see Wen Ho Lee's book, My Country vs. Me. This may not count; the writer may have intended the pun, which, according to a rule I just made up, makes the joke invalid.
[Update: Leonard notes that the writer probably did not intend the second line of the spontaneous filk, namely, "Written by Wen Ho Lee." The most plausible third line, as I discovered, is, "False suit I bring."]
Oh yeah, Harlan Ellison. He came by the store on Friday to sign the store's stock of his books; he edited Dangerous Visions, an extremely influential anthology which we now have (in bulk) in a 35th anniversary edition. I summoned up the gumption to introduce myself and ask him to sign my copy of Strange Wine. The interesting bits from our quite brief conversation, slightly paraphrased due to memory leaks:
SH: Hello, Mr. Ellison--
HE: Mr. Ellison is my dad. I'm Harlan. And what are you, seven? You look like you're seven!...And what's your name?
SH: Sumana.
HE: ...And your last name?
SH: Harihareswara.
HE: Harihareswara [perfectly repeated].
SH: [surprised] Very good!
HE: [fake Indian accent] What is very good? What are you talking about?....You have learned our language very well.
SH: [trying to get "conversation" back on track] I've enjoyed your work a great deal.
HE: [back to regular accent] And I've enjoyed your basmati rice.
SH: Er, it wouldn't be mine, actually, since I can't cook, well, anything.
HE: You know what I've been looking for for years, is a nice Indian woman who can cook. Sue [gestures to wife], she's British, she can cook maybe a potato.
SH: ...[still crawling towards the goal here] Would you please sign this for me?
HE: Sure. How do you spell your name?
Good thing I wasn't wearing my Electronic Frontier Foundation t-shirt; I woulda gotten earfuls about more than my appearance and ethnicity.
# 14 Nov 2002, 01:09PM:
You idiots!
Worse, since I'm a taxpayer, us idiots!
# 16 Nov 2002, 03:17PM:
The film has little dialogue and much action. It places its trust so firmly in action that it opens with a scene where the characters have one of those urban chase scenes where the car barely misses trailer trucks, squeals through 180-degree turns, etc., and they're not even being chased. It's kind of a warm-up, like a musician practicing the scales.
Do not read further if you think the plot may have the slightest importance to the movie....
From Roger Ebert's review of Half Past Dead.
# 17 Nov 2002, 12:54AM GMT+5:30:
I got to hang out with Sarah Peters, of old-classmate fame, this evening. We saw Michael Moore's new film, Bowling for Columbine, and I'll talk about that soon. That and The Interpreter by Suki Kim, and Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman.
Today Leonard told me the story of Joseph (he of the coat of many colors) and Sarah elucidated the story of Abraham and Isaac. Bible stories interest me as mythology; in return, I talked about the Mahabharata. Didja ever notice that the Pandavas are like the Spice Girls? Bheema is Scary Spice, Arjuna is Sporty Spice. I don't know that other Spice aspects correspond to Pandavas, but at least it is easy to distinguish the Pandavas with short adjectives, e.g., strong, dutiful, etc. Except the twins. Nakula and Sahadeva? Or Sakula and Nahadeva? As though it matters. They die first anyway.
As you can tell, I've been reading The Book of Ratings (Brunching!). Very good stuff, and I think Lore added some stuff for the book. Value!
# 19 Nov 2002, 08:02PM:
Tonight's writing group exercise: incorporate In Passing overheard quotes into a narrative. I got as far as using "A cute duck!" and the original In Passing quote.
# 20 Nov 2002, 06:56PM:
Supposedly, it's winter in Berkeley. Certainly I've been wearing sweaters and the like. How's it going, Andy? And New Yorkers, such as Camille (happy belated birthday!) and Sabrina?
Thanks be to Kevin for moving my bookcase to my new place and for driving Leonard to the airport today. By now he's on his way to Heathrow. As I explained to Kevin, I've never been to a non-U.S. first world country, just India and Russia, so I really don't know what to expect for Leonard. Bon voyage!
Yummy: butternut squash tofu soup stock, Asiago cheese, and basil. I can only imagine what it's like with actual vegetables!
So a hoped-for plan has come to fruition. Starting in the next week, I'm moving up (literally) from the floor at Cody's to School and Corporate Sales. I get to sit most of the time, and I get the standard weekend off. I'll miss some aspects of the floor, but overall I think the new challenges are worth it. Here goes!
# 20 Nov 2002, 07:44PM GMT+5:30:
So I've been reading and watching a lot. I recently bought several CDs, and I'll have to talk about those after listening to them each several times. But the books and movies I can review. In progress: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, which gets going after the first few chapters, so stick with it.
Finished:
The Interpreter by Suki Kim. The worst possible combination: bad, yet not so bad that I could excuse myself for quitting halfway through. Barely engaging plot and wholly unengaging main character. If I want to experience mopiness, indecision, past-stuckness, and first-generation immigrant rootlessness, I'll just think, thank you. But the mystery plot did interest me, and Kim made a few immigrant insights. Here are the best bits:
But a dream remains a dream always. Nothing alters the fact that she never got to see them again. She never held Mom's hands and asked why irises brought a smile to her face. She never let Dad explain what made him leave Korea, why he was so tortured by his old country. She never begged them for time, just a little more time to understand. She never told them that she had to run because she could not see ahead as long as they were there. She could not embrace this place called American while they never forgot to remind her what was not Korea. She could not make sense of her American college, American friends, American lovers, while her parents toiled away twelve hours a day, seven days a week at their Bronx store. She could not become American as long as she remained their daughter. She betrayed them, so she might live.
.....
"...I can heat up some water, or maybe boricha?" he says, putting a kettle on the stove.
..."Boricha," she answers. My favorite, she is about to add, and then realizes that it's been years since she had it last. Mom had used to keep it refrigerated and serve it instead of water....She seems to have forgotten about it one day. Odd how that happens. You swear by certain things -- that particular sundress he first saw you in, or that rose lipstick you wore every day, or that barley tea you once declared you couldn't live without. But then, one day, someone, perhaps a stranger, in a bare, bleak apartment far from home, asks, without a hint of history, "Water or boricha?" and you suddenly remember that it's been years since you've even thought of it. But how is that possible? How is it that you could go on fine without what had once been so essential, that you haven't even been aware of its absence? How is it then you could declare, without hesitation, that it is your favorite? Shouldn't love require more? Isn't love a responsibility?
There. Now you don't have to read The Interpreter, Suki Kim's first novel, tentatively scheduled for publication in January of 2002 from Farrar, Straus & Giroux. But if you like you can have my advance copy.
Son of the Mob, by Gordon Korman. Actually good, and different from much of his past fare. Very different from Son of Interflux, thank goodness! More booze, sex, and death. Also, our emphasis is on one main character, and not his relationship with a best male buddy, and it's told in the first person. Korman, if I guess correctly, tried his hand here in using skills and addressing more mature content that he cut his teeth on with throwaway series stuff; he recently wrote some teen paperbacks with the title "Escape" or "Everest" or "Survivor" or "Island" or something. I look forward to more explorations of these themes by Korman.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy. Ripped through its hundred pages in an hour or so. I wonder how fast I could read it in Russian? If you liked the psychological insights of Anna Karenina but hated spending the whole summer keeping a chart of the characters' names and relationships, this is the book for you. I find the ending patched-on and inauthentic, but maybe Tolstoy always did that to try and convince himself to be upbeat, and besides, I've never died. The whole thing is good. One of several funny bits:
The syllogism he [Ivan Ilyich] had learned from Kiesewsetter's logic -- "Caius is a man, men are mortal, therefore Caius is mortal" -- had always seemed to him correct as applied to Caius, but by no means to himself.
Hey, if I were quoting modern Russian poets, would I use "Blokquote"? [groan]
Off to see Enterprise and West Wing alone, sob.
Next time:
Punch-Drunk Love
(IMDB entry) and
Bowling for Columbine
(IMDB entry).
# 21 Nov 2002, 01:04AM:
My flatmates are great.
Me: [reads about Sexiest Man Alive pronouncement by People magazine] "Do you think Ben Affleck is sexier than Pierce Brosnan?"
Michael: [thinks for a fraction of a second, then opens a browser for Google Image Search] "I'm going to need some pictures."
# 21 Nov 2002, 10:22AM:
Off to my job soon. My promotion doesn't take effect immediately;
I get phased off the floor so's the bosses have a chance to replace
me. Evidently they'll miss my good work, which is good to know.
Yo, A. Holloway,
indeed I was asking about the weather. I only used that turn of phrase
to make
a really obscure reference that might someday please my Leonard, whom I miss.
Mike Popovic returned to
one of his more abandoned weblogs, which is nice of him.
I really need to hit Berkeley Bowl. The whiteboard grocery list contains
my note, "morningstar * (see coupon)", which I intended to mean "anything from Morningstar [makers of fine fake meat] and use the coupon",
but which my flatmates interpreted as "the same Morningstar patties we had in the freezer before,
and use the coupon."
# 22 Nov 2002, 01:04AM:
What is the first rule of phone messages?Give me a freaking phone number so I can call you back!
Update: This only applies if you've never given me your number before.
# 22 Nov 2002, 08:38AM:
Three different people/departments at the store want a piece of my time today! That would make me feel nice if only I weren't anxious to please them all.
Coupons are great. Even if I buy non-essential groceries, such as kasha or AmaZake (upstart (startup?) Odwalla competitor), I get away with feeling non-decadent, because my coupons save me $1.90.
# 22 Nov 2002, 08:40AM:
Hey, Brendan, you know that the pro-anorexia LiveJournal community is gonna come after you, right?
# 22 Nov 2002, 10:29PM:
Just saw some adapted Molière. Misanthrope. The eponymous character spoke on a cell phone, ergo, Leonard will never see it. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, and would like to read and/or see the original sometime.
# 23 Nov 2002, 11:50PM:
Today my alma mater, UC Berkeley, won its Big Football Game over its traditional rival, Stanford. Since "we" hadn't won for eight years or so, this caused much rejoicing. I rejoiced more earlier today, when I witnessed couples and buddy pairs comprising one person wearing red and another person wearing blue and gold. These people understood how to take the game lightly and playfully, and that makes me happy.
# 24 Nov 2002, 09:34AM:
Last night I got to hang out with Sarah again and rent Chris Rock. I always forget how funny he is. Then I dreamt about doing stand-up. I need to get back on the stage.
# 25 Nov 2002, 08:48AM:
What a great headline: US Navy full of pirates.
This morning I woke up to an interview with Orrin Hatch on NPR. Aiee? He mentioned his singer-songwriting, and I remembered that Leonard once found a song by Orrin Hatch in a Mormon songbook. Evidently it played fast and loose with the division of church and state, this hymn.
Speaking of Leonard, he hasn't updated his journal in a while, but I happen to know that he's visited the British Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the houses of Parliament, Camden Market, and many restaurants, and has used the Underground. He's had a lot of fun but some sort of minor illness has him indisposed at the moment; I hope he gets well soon.
Jon Carroll: "...I am only saying that love is a series of actions before it is a feeling..."
# 25 Nov 2002, 09:04AM:
A good evening last night: the flatmates and I made burritos and ate them. A feast! Sure, I usually use avocadoes, tomatoes, lettuce, Herdez salsa, cheese, and sour cream, but I never would have thought to use bell peppers or grilled onions. Also included: yummy Morningstar "Grillers" (fake ground beef) and homemade taco seasoning (cumin, oregano, paprika, salt, cayenne). Dessert: blocks of Ghirardelli chocolate and raspberries. Music: mix CDs, including the one Adam made for my birthday. Conversation topic and internet- and whiteboard-facilitated demonstrations included Kannada script and language, Cyrillic script and Russian language, Japanese script ad politeness, forbidden American English, "The Eye of Argon" vis-à-vis "The Good, The Bad, and Scarface", currencies, Cliff Stoll's sale of engraved portraits of Gauss, and the music and food. Of course, Michael and I watched "The Best of the Chris Rock Show Volume Two." Hey, movie rentals are expensive and I'm gonna get my $3.51's worth.
Today I really start my new job in School and Corporate Sales. In other bookstore news, I got to show a customer our books relating to The West Wing yesterday. He may have been unnerved by my enthusiasm; whoops.
# 25 Nov 2002, 03:30PM:
Overheard in the OCF:
"I'm a vegetarian, I just love killing animals."
# 25 Nov 2002, 10:46PM:
Hiya, there, sister. Yeah, it really stinks being the dry run, the teaching partner. At least one friend of mine was not comforted after a breakup by the consolation, "it was a learning experience"; sometimes you want to keep being in love, and not learn anything at all.
On the other hand, someday you may be that other girl!
# 25 Nov 2002, 11:17PM GMT+5:30:
Slang Serving Suggestions: If you've read Cryptonomicon, use "one-note flute" instead of "one-trick pony" or "one-hit wonder."
I got to share the bound kitsch that is Secrets of Loveliness (Scholastic, 1969) with Sarah and Anirvan this evening. Especially vexing: the quiz on distinguishing fun/harmless, sloppy, and objectionable/taboo fads. Pasting decals on one's legs is fine, but wearing longer skirts than everyone else is taboo? Aieee!
I'm flirting with the idea of doing stand-up at A Cuppa Tea tomorrow night, but I'm not sure. I'd have to write some material; I'll update you when I decide.
# 26 Nov 2002, 02:20PM:
What's fun? "Schnitzelbank", "Gunga Dot", and a few other nostalgia bits from this Animaniacs lyrics page. Another related fun thing, which will only make me want to watch Freakazoid! again: The Freakazoid Cultural Reference Guide. "Ricardo Montalban is the voice and physical inspiration for Armondo Guitierrez ... Guitierrez's big speech combines several of Khan's speeches from Star Trek II. ... 'He tasks me ... The moons of Snibia ... I chuckle at thee! ... Revenge is a dish best served with pinto beans and muffins'..."
In addition, this Japanese site is the only result for Googling "only broadcast on this station," a phrase from the opening scene of Ultimate Muscle. "Big bad boys from outer space, here to body slam the human race." Yes, it's a cartoon about aliens fighting humans (or other aliens) for galactic domination, in the wrestling ring, and it's oddly compelling (more).
Oh, and last night I ran across Mr. Rogers slash and Full House slash, and also last night Anirvan suggested Lincoln-Douglas slash. Maybe I should write some slash; as I witness in mystery and romance and pulp, the formula sometimes frees writers to experiment. I could use some structure for my fictional experimentation. The greatest danger is in feeling silly.
# 26 Nov 2002, 06:24PM:
I'm going to A Cuppa Tea, at College and Alcatraz, for this evening's open mic comedy night. I probably will not perform, as I have no material and it's an hour from now, but will rather watch and enjoy.
# 26 Nov 2002, 11:19PM:
Went to the A Cuppa Tea comedy night, somewhat spontaneously decided to perform, and had a great time - possibly the best place I've ever performed, in terms of space, atmosphere, and people. Several people performed and all made at least minimal funny. The crowd is quite supportive, a community that encourages newcomers instead of excluding them. At least one audience member really liked my work, and others also complimented and clapped and laughed. (Re: that link; his main site with cool photos, a poem that made an especial impact on me because earlier today I reskimmed Divorce Your Car!.) Thanks to Zed, Seth, and Devin for encouraging me to perform.
The aforementioned Joe also told me about this freaky & incomplete table of area comedy open mics and comedy shows, Zed.
Oh, and by the way, Joe, as Mark Twain said, I can last on a good compliment for three weeks; thanks.
# 27 Nov 2002, 03:56PM: :
Long ago and far away, Kris wrote about stand-up comediennes (May 7th, "Why isn't female stand-up comedy funny?"), and I must report that the mix of performers last night included at least two other females, who were about as funny as the median.
By the way, Devin was kind and surreptitious enough to take a nice photo during my performance.
# 27 Nov 2002, 07:15PM:
Punch-Drunk Love. Roger Ebert draws some really interesting conclusions from this film regarding Adam Sandler's entire oeuvre. (Also, I regularly read Ebert's Movie Answer Man column, where he and readers say hilarious and opinionated things.)
I myself enjoyed the film. I got to see it on a Tuesday matinee -- perhaps three people comprised the audience -- and I liked that I didn't know what would happen next, and the strange abstract color animations reminded me of Kieslowski's Blue, only less off-putting. Also, I will probably never see any other Sandler movie, just as I will never see a Jim Carrey film besides The Truman Show.
More coherently, I adored the protagonist, and rooted for him, and completely empathized with him, and the plot and dialogue and cinematography surprised me, and I felt very strange and alive when I exited the theater. I felt variants of this sensation after High Fidelity and Pleasantville, for purposes of comparison.
Immediately after watching it, I wasn't sure whether I had liked it -- that's how much it affected me emotionally!
# 27 Nov 2002, 07:28PM:
Bowling for Columbine elicited my lukewarm approval. Michael Moore preaches to my choir. I prefer Bill Maher's When You Ride Alone You Ride With bin Laden because it, in contrast, attempts answers and takes few or no cheap shots. But sure, I laughed and enjoyed bits, especially clever editing and soundtrack choices (who knew Joey Ramone did "Wonderful World" once?), and cheered when K-Mart promised to give up selling ammo.
In the last interview, Charlton Heston makes a vague stab at the root cause of America's unusually high gun violence rate. Moore shoots down a bunch of false comparisons between the US and other countries. Canada has a comparable rate of gun ownership, and other countries have similar histories of violence, Moore argues. Then Heston brings up one characteristic that does distinguish the US from many other countries: ethnic diversity.
Earlier in the film, Moore shoots this one down, too, pointing out that Canada is darn diverse. But it certainly does make for good film. Heston probably doesn't even want to acknowledge the problem, so he can't get a proper start on any analysis of it. Or maybe he has a real answer that he secretly believes but that would come off even worse on camera than implicit racism. I don't know.
Off to watch 2 hours and six minutes of TV.
# 29 Nov 2002, 09:28AM:
Buy Nothing Day but Sell Everything Day. I hear from NPR that this is "Black Friday" for us the retail workers and I sorta believe it.
# 29 Nov 2002, 09:35AM:
Yesterday the flatmates and a friend and I spent about six hours, on and off, making food. There was turkey and mashed potatoes and cranberry-sauce salad and pumpkin pie and gravy, and I made a pretty good spontaneous-ish soup; I'll post a recipe here when I have more time.
Tip: when you're slicing a carrot, and it occurs to you that you're doing it unsafely, and go ahead and do it that way anyway, you *will* cut your finger, as I did.
All the food was good and people said what they were thankful for and dug in and loved it. Also, I played Dance Dance Revolution, and it was fun. Whee!
# 29 Nov 2002, 10:57PM:
People who know me tell me that I resemble a Muppet, or possibly Dora the Explorer.
# 30 Nov 2002, 09:04AM:
John Rawls, author of A Theory of Justice, died recently. Vaguely, vaguely related, thanks to a conversation I had with the ex-vegan brother of my flatmate last night: Why Honey is not Vegan, and the Lincoln quote it contains.
# 30 Nov 2002, 09:27AM:
Yesterday, I met Michael Parenti when he bought something from my register. Neat! Also bought at my register by someone else: a copy of Adbusters. Why would you buy Adbusters on Buy Nothing Day? I didn't ask for fear of offense.
As an aural Anglophile (like so many of us), I found it disorienting to deal with a Brit who asked rather elementary questions in a plummy accent.
But the most important thing: the Muppet Christmas movie. Muppet! It was excellent. I found it very funny, if a little sappy (as required in Muppet movies, especially made-for-TV holiday ones). Lots of sight gags, including an alternate-universe Sam the American Eagle as a glowstick-wielding raver. Funny bits included:
[halfway through the show] Kermit: Gee, Miss Bitterman, I can't believe you'd do this to us on Christmas Eve.
Miss Bitterman: Hmm. By now, you'd think you'd have realized I'm the bad guy.
...
Person Valiantly Trying to Help Kermit: Listen! I know Miss Bitterman changed the contract!
Kermit: Hey, how did you know that? You're not from one of those Muppet Internet fan sites, are you?
...
Person Valiantly Trying to Help Kermit: Alert the media! Stop the presses! Start a frenzy!
Kermit: That wouldn't help. Bitterman Bank owns the paper, the TV stations, and three quarters of the Internet.
Person: How can that be?
Kermit: Corporate synergy, it's out of control. [crosses his legs; an NBC logo is visible on the sole of his foot; NBC three-note melody plays]
In the It's a Wonderful Life segment, we saw that Miss Piggy without Kermit isn't a harlot, as I'd feared, just pathetic -- probably a better choice.
As an aside -- I wish I'd thought of "It's a Wonderful Lie" first.
# 30 Nov 2002, 09:33AM:
From my referrer logs' search requests, I learn that one can unclog one's toilet with Coca-Cola. Also, some soul has searched for information on the Shroud of Turan, which all film critics covet.
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