BAD COMMERCIALISM.
There is this new Sony Handycam that records directly onto DVD’s, and on the commercial, they show a little girl and her family watching an embarrassing video she shot of her brother telling his girlfriend how much she means to him. And I’m sure we’ve all seen those commercials for those camera phones, where someone transmits an embarrassing picture of the recipient’s boyfriend making a mess of himself at a diner. And you’ve probably seen the one showing the recipient’s toothbrush being used for something disgusting before the recipient brushed his teeth with it.
So, what’s going on? Are there so few practical things that you can do with these devices, that all they can think of as a demonstration is to show people humiliating each other? And the truth is, I really can’t think of too many situations where I would need a camera on my phone, unless I was a spy. What do people do with these things?
LAST WEEKEND.
On Thursday, David D. came up from D.C. for the weekend to stay with me and run the NYC marathon. He got in late, so we just split a couple beers at my place.
Friday was Halloween. I dressed as an hasidic Jew. This outfit consisted of a white, button-down shirt, black slacks, black shoes, a black overcoat, a flat-brimmed black hat, and some long black curls attached to the hat. I watched the Village Halloween parade. Manny F. and his new girlfriend marched in the parade, and when they got up to where I was, I snuck under the barricade and marched with them to the end. Then we had dinner, and then hooked up with David D. and his girlfriend Stephanie T. and some friends of Stephanie’s for drinks.
Saturday, I met David D.‘s family. He went to U. Michigan, and so did my brother, so we had brunch at a place where we could watch the Michigan vs. Michigan State game. Then we saw the El Greco exhibit at the Met, and called it an early night, since the marathon was the next day.
Sunday, I walked the last twelve miles of the New York City marathon, from where it enters Manhattan until the end. This was the fourth time I’ve done that in five years (I was out of the country last year). It was much easier than it had been in the past. It’s the first time I’ve done it while I’ve been exercising regularly.
BOOK REVIEW: BUSHWHACKED (2003) * * (2 stars out of 4).
Look, I don’t like George Bush any better than you do, but this book is too one-sided to really inform anyone or change anybody’s mind. I don’t disagree with her, but even I have to admit that there’s another side of the story that she’s leaving out. And I think the case against Bush is strong enough that you don’t need to distort it like this in order to make that case.
MOVIE REVIEW: MYSTIC RIVER (2003) * * 1/2 (2 and a half stars out of 4).
I saw Mystic River at my brother’s birthday party in Florida. It was okay, but really dragged in the middle, and it was way too long.
FUN IN THE SUN.
I had a good time in Florida last week visiting my family. It was my brother’s birthday, and his fiance made him a great party at a private room at the movie theater. It was great seeing my family and my Florida friends. I also had some great Cuban food while I was down there, and I went to a fun art fair.
JUSTIFIABLE MASS HOMICIDE.
You want to know what my biggest problem is with the Bush administration is? It’s how no matter whatever the situation is, they’ll twist it around so that it is some kind of “proof” that they are right. It’s so transparently dishonest and self-serving that I feel very insulted each time that they think I’m going to fall for it.
For example, when George W. Bush took over the country, we had a budget surplus. So the Bush administration said that this surplus was proof that we needed to implement their tax plan, which would lower taxes on the wealthy. But when Bush talked down the economy and the surplus disappeared, the Bush administration said that this showed that we need to stimulate the economy– by implementing their tax plan, which would lower taxes on the wealthy.
When Bush wanted to invade Iraq, he gave all his “proof” that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. But when UN inspectors failed to find any “smoking gun” evidence of such weapons, Press Secretary Ari Fleischer repeatedly said smugly that the problem with guns that are hidden is that you can’t see the smoke, suggesting that the lack of evidence of WMD, was proof that the Iraqis were hiding them.
There are countless examples of this sort of doublespeak that makes listening to the Bush administration feel like talking to a wall. But the latest one takes the cake.
Today’s Washington Post fronts an article entitled, “Bush Says Attacks Are Reflection of U.S. Gains.”
Here’s the heart of it: “‘The more successful we are on the ground, the more these killers will react,’ Bush said as he sat in the Oval Office with L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq. He added: ‘The more progress we make on the ground, the more free the Iraqis become, the more electricity is available, the more jobs are available, the more kids that are going to school, the more desperate these killers become, because they can’t stand the thought of a free society.'”
This is the same Bush administration that assured us before the war that the Iraqi people would throw down their weapons and greet us with open arms. And now they expect you to buy this?
This hardly needs to be said, but I’m going to say it. In basically all wars, the other side fights back, and this is not an indication of the success of the attackers. Does the American Revolution vindicate the British? Does the Union victory in the Civil War vindicate the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter? According to Bush, an attack is not only justified when the other side welcomes you as a liberator, but also when they resist you. By this logic, all military attacks are always justified.
It’s really quite Orwellian.
I’M OFF.
I am in South Florida until Tuesday for my brother’s birthday.
MOVIE REVIEW: KILL BILL (2003) * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
This film was beautifully filmed, with an amazing musical score and a some very witty dialogue. It is incredibly, incredibly violent, and yet the violence never seemed gratuitous.
LAST WEEKEND
Thursday, Joclyn G. and I went to Restaurant Row for Italian Food, after I decided to go off the Atkins Diet after two and a half weeks. That always seems to be my limit before I get too crazy.
Friday, Rachel E. and I went to the Museum of Television and Radio in the afternoon, and watched some old episodes of Not Necessarily the News. Then I went to Chicago City Limits in the evening with Amy P..
Saturday, Joe F., Manny F., Helen Z. and I had dinner and then saw the movie, Raja at Lincoln Center.
Sunday, Debbie W. and I had brunch and then went to the Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum.
MOVIE REVIEW: RAJA (2003) * (1 star out of 4).
This movie starts out with a promising premise, of a wealthy French estate owner in Morocco , who falls for one of the women who work in his garden. She is beautiful, already involved with someone, and feels nothing for this man whom she finds to be very unattractive and who is married and who doesn’t speak the same language as she does. But the disparity between his fabulous wealth and her abject poverty places tremendous pressure on her to consider the relationship. But the movie rambles along very slowly and ultimately goes nowhere. There are some clever lines, here and there, but not nearly enough to carry the movie. The movie is in French and Arabic with English subtitles for both.
BOOK REVIEW: COMPLICATIONS (2003) * * * * (4 stars out of 4).
I was reluctant to give out 4 stars to a book twice in two months, when I think it should be given out only once or twice a year, but I couldn’t withhold it from this amazing book.
It captures the tension between the need to give each patient the best possible care, and the need to train inexperienced doctors on real patients. It carefully examines other sources of error, and what can be done about them. It’s a brilliant page-turner that is almost impossible to put down.
BOOK REVIEW: WHO’S LOOKING OUT FOR YOU (2003) * (1 star out of 4).
O’Reilly’s first two books were okay, but his “success” (his show reaches only a tiny fraction of the viewership of the network news and magazine shows) has convinced him that he speaks for all Americans. Anyone who refuses an invitation to appear on his right-wing show is “refusing to account to the American people.” Does he really not understand that there are reasons not to come on a show hosted by an arrogant jerk who interrupts his guests and makes up facts, other than not wanting to account to the American people? Does he really believe his own lies? Over and over, for example, he falsely accuses Clinton of refusing ever to explain his reasons for the Mark Rich pardon, even though Clinton wrote an extensive op-ed piece in the New York Times about it, which, in turn, received tremendous national attention. But unless you do it on “The Factor” you’re dodging the American people.
Aside from this annoying tendency, his “insights” are not so much “common sense” as “common knowledge”– at least when he’s not just making things up. One of the more dreadful bits of advice he dispenses is very early in the book: if you are a good person you don’t have to worry about who you associate with, because bad people won’t want to hang out with you. So, for example, he says that if you don’t drink, drunkards won’t want your tee-totaling company, and if you don’t do crystal meth, people who do won’t enjoy your presence at their parties. In the first place, in my experience, if you ever go to a bar and drink sodas all night, when you go home, everyone will ask you the same thing: “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” That’s because drunks are not very observant about what other people are drinking. Try it– it’s really uncanny. Second, and more importantly, bad people need good people to be with so they can take advantage of them. For example, by conning them. Or stealing from them. Or raping them. Just tell your pretty 16 year-old daughter not to worry about the fact that she’s hanging around with crack addicts, because they won’t want her around if she doesn’t smoke crack. Thanks for the swell advice, Bill!
Finally, he stubbornly clings to the many lies he’s told over the years that have already been repeatedly exposed. He insists that he grew up in the blue-color city of Levittown, even thought he actually grew up in the affluent neighborhood of Westbury. He insists that he’s a political independent, even though he has registered to vote as a Republican. This, even as he rips into Bill Clinton over and over, almost three years after Clinton left office, while continuing to heap praise on the Bush administration.
Bill O’Reilly is just too full of himself to be entertaining. Or, at least, he’s too full of something.
MOVIE REVIEW: DEMONLOVER (2002) 1/2 (half a star out of 4).
I’ll be honest– I just could not follow the plot of this movie. Maybe that’s because I’m stupid, but I think it’s because this movie made no sense. It had little else to offer– the dialogue was either uninteresting or lost something in translation (the movie is mostly in French, with English subtitles), the action scenes were unoriginal, and the sex scenes were extremely creepy.
LAST WEEKEND.
Friday night I went to a party at Manny F.‘s place, and a good time was had by all.
Saturday, I saw Andy Rocco’s Happy Life at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater with Joclyn G. It was excellent! It was double-billed with Dance With Bears which was okay, but not as good. Then we had dinner at Pad Thai which was very good.
Sunday, I want and took a look at a building I’m contemplating buying on the Lower East Side, and I had brunch in the East Village. Sunday night, I saw Demonlover with Andy M. and Sophie W., which was awful. Then we had dinner on Curry Row (sixth street between 1st and 2nd Avenues) at one of the dozen or so Indian Restaurants there.
DEMOCRACY IS SAVED.
I was hoping the California recall would fail, and I was hoping that, if it didn’t, then Lt. Gov Cruz Bustamante would win. But since that didn’t happen, I am glad that Arnold Schwarzenegger won with more votes than Davis received in his 2002 election. It would have been a terrible perversion of democracy if a candidate had won with, say, ten percent of the vote. I hope that California modifies this system so that recalls are not as easy to initiate, and so that it’s harder to get on the ballot, or so that there is a run-off election, or something like that.
I’ve been watching the news all day, and I keep hearing that when you combine the votes for Schwarzenegger and McClintock, together that is a solid majority voting for a Republican candidate, and a mandate for a conservative, Republican gubernatorial administration.
Well, that’s all fine, but then, of course, we should also combine Al Gore’s and Ralph Nader’s votes in the 2000 Presidential election giving a solid majority vote for a liberal Presidential administration.
See, e.g.,
Fox News Channel:
“A big majority for the two Republicans combined.”
The Weekly standard:
“And when you combine Schwarzenegger’s vote with Tom McClintock’s (13.3),
it adds up to a Republican landslide”
Opinion Journal from The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page:
“If Messrs. Schwarzenegger and McClintock combined capture more than 50%
of the vote, than [sic] even the liberal Democrats who control the state
Legislature will likely be spooked into allowing some conservative reforms
through.” (Published before the election).
Cybercast News Service:
“And, if you add Arnold’s 51% to McClintock’s 13%, the Republican side of
the ledger generated some 64% of the votes cast.”
AND THE MONDAY MISSION.
1. If you were to go on a diet (not that you should, babe, you look marvelous), which of the “fad diets” sounds the most appealing to you?
I go on the Atkins diet every now and then, and I’m on it now. I have been for about a week. It’s the first time I’ve done it since February.
2. I only ask, because with the holidays coming up, there will be a lot more food in our house than usual. It tempts me. Maybe if I exercise I can loose some now, and eat then and have it all balance out. Do you get much exercise?
I try to use the elliptical machine every day.
3. When I was walking the other night, I noticed a rent house was being cleaned out by the landlord. Apparently the owners just took the essentials and left a lot of junk in the house. The owner had stacked piles of junk on the lawn for the sanitation collectors. But I noticed several things in that mess that maybe I could use (like a gas powered hedge trimmer). I may still go back some dark evening. Have you ever raided someone’s junk pile that was left out for the garbage truck? Or gone dumpster diving? What did you find?
I saw a stack of videotapes on the street is SoHo. I never did watch them all, but the ones I saw were really boring.
4. Also in that same dumpster was the most awful shade of bright green carpet you’ve ever seen. Seriously, you wouldn’t believe it if I showed you (and I will try to get a photo). Do you have any memories of ugly carpeting in your home or someone else’s?
Not so much. But I do have a CD rack I got from Ikea, specifically because it was the most horrible, offensive shade of green I’d ever seen, and I just had to own it.
5. As summer draws to a close, it means fewer outside chores. One I won’t miss at all is mowing the lawn! What summertime chores will you be glad to see go away for the winter months?
I live in a box 250 feet up in the sky, so I don’t really have summertime chores. But the truth is, I’m much more apt to go outside in the winter than the summer, because I hate hot weather. That, more than anything else, is why I moved from Florida to the northeast. I would take 20 degrees over 90 degrees any day.
6. Of course, it is hard to mention fall without at least touching on football. Do you have a(ny) favorite football team(s)? Do you and your family root for the same teams to win?
I am not a sports fan. I guess if I could pick a team to win the Superbowl, I’d pick the Miami Dolphins, since that’s what my family roots for.
7. I will be heading to Anaheim next month to stay a few days for a convention. It would be great to meet up with some Bloggers, but I just don’t know many out there. If you were to visit California, are there any Bloggers you’d like to meet up with? (And if you are in California, then who would you like to come see you!)
The two people who introduced me to blogging are two of my best friends: Sean S. and Dav C.
BONUS: Where can you begin to make your dreams all come true on the land or on the sea?
According to “Gay Songs & Anthems,” it’s In the Navy (a la the Village People).
OH, WHAT THE HECK– THE FRIDAY FIVE.
The Friday Five for October 3, 2003.
1. What vehicle do you drive?
A pair of human feet.
2. How long have you had it?
Thirty-two and a half years.
3. What is the coolest feature on your vehicle?
They possess part of a human nervous system.
4. What is the most annoying thing about your vehicle?
They possess part of a human nervous system.
5. If money were no object, what vehicle would you be driving right now?
A helicopter.
ANOTHER FLASH MOB?
—– FORWARDED MESSAGE —–
Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2003 16:52:40 -0400
From: Jonathan G. Kowalski
Subject: Wizard Of Oz – In New York
please forward to prospective participants
“Wizard of OZ” Global Flash – Event Description
A flash mob where everyone enters different coffee houses around the nation in a Conga line chanting ding dong the wicked witch is dead for three minutes then disperse!
“Wizard of OZ” Global Flash – New York City Location Info
October 11th, 3pm @ Starbucks at 13-25 Astor Place, East Village. Close to the #6 Train.
The Beer social after the Mobbing of Oz will be at Swift’s Pub at 34 East 4th Street.
All will wear red as our identity as intended. Participants are encouraged to bring Munchkin friendship tokens in the form of Smileys and hearts.
Meet the woman with long reddish hair and wearing a black newsboy cap at 2:45 standing across the street from the Starbucks, by the big black cube.
The people who are participating should approach her with the password, “Follow the yellow brick road.”
“Wizard of OZ” Global Flash – New York City WebLink
www.prudenia.net/flash.htm
Thanks,
Jon Kowalski
www.prudenia.net
LAST WEEKEND.
The very first regular feature on my blog was a summary of what I’d done the last weekend. But lately, as more people I don’t know personally have been reading my blog, I’ve been less inclined to post personal stuff, I think. But I want to get back to that, because I really liked letting the people I care about know the details of what’s going on with me that I might not think to tell them in person, and because I liked having a record of what I’d been doing. Accordingly:
Friday night, I finally tried the new Red Lobster restaurant in Times Square with Jin K. There was a terrible wait that was considerably longer than they said it would be, and then the service was awful. But the food was great. Then we saw School of Rock, which I reviewed.
Saturday, Jessica D. and I went to see Deep Dish Cabaret, an alternative stand-up comedy show. It was really interesting and often very funny, and I recommend it very highly.
Sunday, I went to New Jersey and had brunch with Debbie W. It being New Jersey, we also went to the Mall. Then I saw Saturday Night Rewritten at Above Kleptomania with Ben Z. and I had a late dinner with Manny F. at Houstons.
WEAPONS OF MASS DISTORTION.
It’s hard for liberals and Democrats not to gloat about the fact that no evidence of any weapons of mass destruction (WMD) has been found in Iraq. But it’s also hard for any American not to hope that WMD will be found, since it will greatly enhance American credibility in the world. For example, even Al Franken, in his new book, says that he hopes WMD will be found in Iraq, in order to increase America’s standing in the world.
I don’t disagree with that, but I also have a very different take on it. Thank God that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Thank goodness that thousands or tens of thousands of American soldiers were not exposed to nerve gas or anthrax or nuclear explosions. I feel bad about this terrible mistake, but what a miracle that Iraq turned out not to have any WMD to use against Americans in the 2003 war on Iraq. There are things a lot more important than being right.
WAS THE WAR ON IRAQ WORTH IT? AMERICA SAYS NO.
A new New York Times / CBS poll finds that Americans think the War on Iraq was a mistake by a ratio of 53 to 41, with 6 percent undecided. The New York Times buries this in the 13th paragraph of their story about the poll. And here’s what they say about it, which I find misleading:
“Now there are growing doubts about whether the results were worth the loss of life and other costs involved. Only 41 percent said it was, while 53 percent said it was not. When the question was asked using Saddam Hussein’s name, the results were almost reversed, with about half those surveyed le saying it was worth removing him from power, and 41 percent saying it was not.”
But here are the two questions they ask, which do more than just put Saddam’s name in the question:
Half the people were asked, “Do you think removing Saddam Hussein from power is worth the potential loss of American life and the other costs of attacking Iraq, or not?” to which 51% said yes, 41% said no, and 8% were undecided.
The other half of the people were asked, “Do you think the result of the war with Iraq was worth the loss of American life and other costs of attacking Iraq or not?” to which 41% said yes, 53% said no, and 6% were undecided.
In other words, only a bare majority of Americans think that removing Saddam Hussein from power is worth the POTENTIAL (as opposed to past) loss of life that may result from that. But a majority greater than the margin of error of the poll say that, “the result of the Iraq war” wasn’t worth it. But the result of the Iraq war includes a lot of things besides the removal of Saddam from power. It includes hundreds of dead Americans, the serious weakening of American foreign relations, a serious quagmire with no exit strategy for our troops, and a Saddam Hussein still at large with a billion dollars and a serious grudge against America.
In other words, the first question can reasonably be interpreted as, “Would it be worth the cost and lives to remove Saddam Hussein, if it could be done without creating other serious problems.” But the second question can only be interpreted as “What do you think of the job we actually did in removing Saddam Hussein from power?” That is, main difference between the two questions is not that one names Saddam and one does not. The difference is that one names the disastrous Iraq war, and one does not.
Here’s another incredible finding, I think:
Do you think the war in Iraq is still going on or is the war over? 87% say it’s still going on. 10% say it’s Over. 1% volunteer that it “depends”. And 2% don’t know or don’t answer. So much for the campaign commercial featuring bush in his flight suit.
MOVIE REVIEW: SCHOOL OF ROCK (2003) * * * 1/2 (3 1/2 stars out of 4).
This was a really funny movie, with a star-making performance by Jack Black. It is most remarkable in that it is simultaneously a very dark comedy that will tickle sophisticated adults, yet it’s also a very family-friendly movie suitable for young children. My only complaint is that it’s a little formulaic, and yet there are a couple of loose ends left over at the end. But it’s really funny and definitely worth seeing.
TV REVIEW: THE NEW FALL SEASON (Part II)
I’ve been watching the new fall TV shows so you don’t have to. And you owe me big.
THE LYON’S DEN: The new Rob Lowe legal drama only barely brushes upon legal issues. Instead, they go for the soap-opera-style one dimensional villains and predictable 11th hour confessions. I was really looking forward to this show, but it was not great.
When? Sundays at 10PM on NBC.
Worth watching? Maybe, but probably not.
COLD CASE: The twist of this crime drama series is that the police are investigating extremely old cases. But upon inspection, that twist turns out to make no difference, and it’s just a regular cop detective show, and a slow, boring one at that.
When? Sundays at 8PM on CBS.
Worth watching? No.
EVE: Ugh! How is this supposed to be funny?
When? Mondays at 8:30PM on UPN.
Worth watching? No!
LAS VEGAS: Not funny or clever at all, and salacious in only the crudest way. And lacks the inside view of Vegas that could have made this really interesting.
When? Mondays at 9PM on NBC.
Worth watching? No.
TWO AND A HALF MEN: I really like Jon Cryer, but not in this. Everyone is so self-absorbed that it’s hard to watch.
When? Mondays at 9:30PM on CBS.
Worth watching? No.
ONE TREE HILL: Another one of those teen-serials, like Felicity or Smallville or Beverly Hills 90210. I’m not a huge fan of the genre, but this one seems particularly trite, with especially shallow characters and a totally cliche, come-from-behind-it’s-down-to-the-last-shot-the-good-guy-won sporting event at the end of the episode.
When? Tuesdays at 9PM on WB.
Worth watching? No.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF POLAND, NEW HAMPSHIRE: This show seems to think the height of sophistication is to shock an audience by saying the word “penis”. It isn’t.
When? Wednesdays at 10PM on CBS.
Worth watching? No.
COUPLING: I’m a big fan of the British version of this show, which is frequently shown on BBC America. One would hope they’d take those other, excellent scripts, and then get great American writers to make them even better, right? But, instead they decided to make the script a little less good. Also, I really don’t get some of the casting decisions, but maybe that’s just because I’m too familiar with the first version of it that I saw.
When? Thursdays at 9:30PM on NBC.
Worth watching? Yes, but preferably on BBCA.
JOAN OF ARCADIA: The story of a girl who hears the voice of God speaking to her is a little trite. Plus, God, we are meant to learn, is a an obnoxious jerk. The only way this show might be interesting is if it turns out that Joan really is crazy and imagining things, after all.
When? Fridays at 8PM on CBS.
Worth watching? Maybe, but probably not.
HOPE & FAITH: This utterly un-funny sitcom filled with totally unlikeable characters might be the worst show I’ve ever seen on TV in my life.
When? Fridays at 9PM on ABC.
Worth watching? God, no!
ALL ABOUT THE ANDERSONS: Another trite family sitcom.
When? Fridays at 9:30PM on WB.
Worth watching? I wouldn’t go out of my way to catch it, but it’s watchable.
THE HANDLER: This cop show is creepy and implausible, and way too self-consciously trying to be cool.
When? Fridays at 10PM on CBS.
Worth watching? No.
More to come. And see also Part I of these reviews.
MOVIE REVIEW: RUN RONNIE RUN (2002) * * (2 stars out of 4).
This straight-to-DVD movie by the makers of Mr. Show with Bob and David was very disappointing, even after the warning on Bob and David’s Web site. They insist that the problem was editing, and the deleted scenes on the DVD bear this out. Usually when you watch the deleted scenes in a movie, you can kind of get why they were deleted, but the deleted scenes in this movie are the funniest scenes on the DVD. It’s not horrible now, and it wouldn’t be the best movie you ever saw with those scenes in the movie. But it would have definitely made the difference between being a bad movie and a good movie.
MOVIE REVIEW: WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER (2001) * * * (3 stars out of 4).
This was a really funny movie, with a silly, over-the-top take on the cliche’s of all those summer camp movies. The cast includes Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, Ken Marino, and Joe Lo Truglio all from the old sketch show “The State;” Janeane Garofalo, and Amy Poehler, which, if you know them, should give you some sense of what kind of movie it is. It’s definitely worth seeing, and I understand they’re starting to show it on the big screen in the East Village on the weekends.
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