Went to Durham NC for the weekend. Much fun was had by all. This week is crazy, getting ready to head for Alabama. Can’t wait for the trip though…
And now, a dog with a leaf hanging from his mouth.
1. From Raising Kaine, quoting a New York Times editorial titled “On Torture and American Values”:
Only with justice will we once again prove that we are a nation of laws and morality, one where nobody can get away with what the Bush administration has (so far) gotten away with.
2. Congratulations to Vice President Gore. From the Boston Globe, Gore’s Nobel Prize marks severity of global warming:
If the Academy Award didn’t get the world to heed Al Gore on the threat of global warming, maybe the Nobel Prize will.
3. I have no idea if this is accurate or a pile of crap, but you can see if you’re right-brained or left-brained by whether you see the dancer spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise. I am Mister Right-Brain. Which, being an artist, is expected, but I’ve always thought I was more left-brained in some ways. But she’s totally spinning clockwise - I can’t make her go the other way even if I want to.
4. I updated some of the pics on the snapshots page.
5. Remind me again - why does Tim McCarver have to exist?
6. You can sense when the cannibals are getting hungry. Also from Raising Kaine, Robert Novak Accuses Republicans of Larry Craig Coverup:
That’s right, just as with Mark Foley, the Republicans knew about Larry Craig but covered it up. Again, bear in mind that this is the self-professed “family values” party. Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican.
7. Here in Charlottesville, there have been two women (one of whom is my friend Jen Tidwell) protesting Sacagawea’s depiction in a famous local statue. The protesters argue that, given her important role in the Lewis and Clark expedition, Sacagawea’s crouching in the back of the statue amounts to second-class treatment. Others have said that the depiction is one of her “tracking, not cowering”. My take on the arrangement of the figures is that it would be hard to track for your party when you’re essentially hiding in the back, behind the famous white guys. Of course, there are bigger things to worry about in this world and in this town, but I have to agree that it would have been nice to have given this brave woman a little better treatment.
An older pic I took of the Sac-Babe a couple of years ago:
Sometimes a person gets stuck. Stuck somewhere in the crack between happy and sad.
I am looking forward
Toward the shadows tracing bones
Our faces stitched and sewing
Our houses hemmed into homes
Trying to be thankful
Our stories fit into phones
And our voices lift so easily
A gift given accidentally
When we’re not sure
We’re not alone
-Wilco, “You Are My Face”
They say that money can’t buy happiness. It seems that it’s also not that useful for buying yourself a championship baseball team. I’d like to thank the Cleveland Indians, the city of Cleveland, the state of Ohio, all persons of Native American descent, bratwurst, anyone who has ever been to Cleveland, and Lake Erie. Baseball is safe for another year: The evil empire has been beaten back once more!
Make a wish…
1. Congrats to Dave’s Mosquito Farm for two hard-fought, come-from-behind victories last night, against the (formerly) first place team in the league. 14-12 in the completion of a rain-delayed game, and 16-10 in the other game. I was 4 for 5, and played a pretty good second base.
2. And now, a horny primate: From Boing Boing: Orangutan aroused by blonde and tattooed women
Sibu fancies his female keepers, especially blondes. That, the spokeswoman said, was common for orang-utans but Sibu has a fetish for tattoos, harking back to a heavily tattooed keeper who reared him.
3. It’s hard to believe this man is my congressman. From The Shad Plank, More on Virgil Goode’s America. Shame on us.
4. Photograph.
1. Some movies…
Bobby: Just a stunning movie. Filled with top-of-the-line performances. And a message for our time. I had no idea this movie would be this good. 5/5.
Crash: A very odd, sexy, surreal bit of filmmaking. Some very well-made elements (and, let’s face it, the sex-in-a-car-wash scene is about as hot as you’re gonna get), but in the end this reads more like David Cronenberg’s fetish-fest than a real story. 3/5.
Jeff Tweedy: Sunken Treasure: Live in the Pacific Northwest: I’m not so sure I can be objective about this - it’s kinda impossible to comment on the film as a film, outside of my overwhelming love of its Tweedyism. But yeah, it must be good to be JT: Smart, funny, thoughtful, fragile, talented, sweet. And having said that, Tweedy = God. ‘Nuff said. 5/5.
10 MPH: In Spetmeber 2004, I met a woman at a show in Kansas City who was telling me the story of how she, her brother and some friends were making a documentary about going across country on a Segway. This is that movie. I expected it to be sweet, funny, and fun to watch. It is all that and more. It’s a very touching little story about following your dreams, and the thoughtful and heart-warming encounters that inevitably cross your path along the journey. 4/5.
The Lion in Winter: Seen it a number of times before - it only gets better. The dialog is rich and smart, and there are few better films for sheer acting performances: Hepburn, O’Toole, Hopkins, and all the rest. Great! 5/5.
2. Some photo. Sunset, Blue Ridge Parkway.
1. Ran the Lynchburg Ten Miler this Saturday in 1:19:34, which is good for me - it’s a punishingly hilly course, and I hadn’t run it this fast since 1997.
2. Went walking with The Girl in downtown Lynchburg after the race and broke into some very cool old warehouse/factory type buildings. One thing that gives me hope about Lynchburg, and about the world in general: Falwell graffiti.
