"It is a luxury to be understood."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Catchin' up with Oscar
Sunday, August 31, 2003
11:34 a.m.
I've been making an effort to catch up on this year's Oscar nominees/winners. I've recently seen, "Adaptation", "Chicago", "Road to Perdition" and "Bowling for Columbine".

"Adaptation", directed by Spike Jonze received nominations for Leading Actor, Supporting Actor/Actress and (somewhat ironically, but that's what this movie is all about) adapted writing.

Chris Cooper won the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and I have to agree, this was an outstanding performance. But, I think the film itself was much better than any of the performances in it. It's a 'smart' movie that doesn't pander to the viewer.


"Chicago" was as much of a surprise & delight as was "Pirates..."

Chicago won Oscars for: Art Direction, Costume Design, Editing, Sound, Best Picture and Supporting Actress. it was also nominated in Cinematography, Directing, Music (Original Song), Supporting Actor, Leading Actress, Supporting Actress and adapted writing. I can't argue with any of these!


"Road to Perdition", took a posthumous Oscar for its Cinematographer, Conrad Hall. It was nominated for Art Direction, Original Score, Sound, Sound Editing and Supporting Actor.

I'm glad I first saw this picture on DVD where I was able to pick up the deleted scenes. For me, this film was overedited, removing necessary insights into motivations. It would have been a better film with much of the deleted material left in!


Finally, "Bowling for Columbine", which won the Oscar for Best Documentary, may well have been the best film (in any genre) I've seen in quite a while. I've not seen any of the other nominees in this catagory but have seen much of Michael Moore's work. This is, without a doubt, his best film to date. It's a 'must see' for anyone concerned with the level of violence in the USA. It offers no solutions, but asks good questions.


Other significant Oscar contenders/winners which are still on my list:
"Spirited Away", "The Hours" and "Gangs of New York".

Catchin' Some Movies
Sunday, August 24, 2003
10:48 p.m.
I've been making a conscious effort to catch up on my movie viewing, I want to comment on a couple of movies I've seen of late.

When I first heard Disney was making a film based on their theme park ride, "Pirates of the Caribbean" I thought it was a silly idea. I was kinda surprised though, that I found it thoroughly delightful. Johnny Depp, who I usually don't much care for was a perfect pirate, Captain, Jack Sparrow and the movie was full of wonderful action and mirth. I especially liked all of the homages to the ride and the sheer bravado of the CG artists with the fighting in and out of the moonlight! I'm still trying to figure out how Capt. Jack got his hand cuffs off of the rope he slid down near the beginning of the film.

Another recent (on DVD) surprise was, "One Hour Photo". The pleasant surprise was Robin Williams and what was surprising was that I was able to forget I was watching Robin Williams. I like the manic, free associating, ratchet jawed Robin but I also like when he is so completely not that Robin. This film is one of what he calls his 'tryptic of evil', "Insomnia" & "Death to Smoochy" being the other two. "One Hour Photo" is far and away the best of the three because Robin completly disappears in it - a real tour de force! I also liked the ambiguity of it. Was Williams' character just a disturbingly creepy "Walter Mitty" or something more sinister? This film lets you (and me) be the judge. "One Hour Photo" was a visually interesting piece as well. I don't think I'll ever feel quite comfortable in a Target store again!

Commercial Deception
Sunday, August 17, 2003
10:47 p.m.
I love to hear a classic rock song, even if it's in a TV commercial. This is especialy true of the more obscure titles like the Who's "Happy Jack". What concerns me is the message of the Hummer commercial that is currently using this song. The visuals seem to say Hummers are for those who want to get ahead by cheating! Maybe I shouldn't be so literal - I could also be led to believe that the new Apple G-5 will destroy my house and hurl me against a tree.

Have I mentioned recently how much I admire Aaron Sorkin's writing?
Saturday, August 16, 2003
12:35 a.m.
This comes up again because Bravo has begun to rebroadcast "The West Wing" and I just finished watching The American President. The American President is a thoroughly watchable political/romantic comedy in large part due to the colaboration of two competent members of the modern American film fraternity, Rob Reiner and Aaron Sorkin. "The West Wing" is without a doubt my favorite 1hr television drama ever! I'm afraid we are going to have to satisfy ourselves with these re-runs. Mr Sorkin will not be associated with the coming season. I predict it will not be anywhere near the same as it has been so far and will probably bow out during this season or will not be renewed again.

Why we elected him in the first place!
Thursday, August 7, 2003
09:45 p.m.

My favorite excerpts from President Elect Al Gore's Remarks to MoveOn.org at New York University, August 7, 2003

..the global capital markets have begun to recognize the unprecedented size of this emerging fiscal catastrophe...The 2001 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, George Akerlof, went even further last week in Germany when he told Der Spiegel, "This is the worst government the US has ever had in its more than 200 years of history...This is not normal government policy." In describing the impact of the Bush policies on America's future, Akerloff added, "What we have here is a form of looting."

I've just about concluded that the real problem may be the President himself and that next year we ought to fire him and get a new one.

But whether you agree with that conclusion or not, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican -- or an Independent, a Libertarian, a Green or a Mugwump -- you've got a big stake in making sure that Representative Democracy works the way it is supposed to. And today, it just isn't working very well. We all need to figure out how to fix it because we simply cannot keep on making such bad decisions on the basis of false impressions and mistaken assumptions.

Robust debate in a democracy will almost always involve occasional rhetorical excesses and leaps of faith, and we're all used to that. I've even been guilty of it myself on occasion. But there is a big difference between that and a systematic effort to manipulate facts in service to a totalistic ideology that is felt to be more important than the mandates of basic honesty.

Unfortunately, I think it is no longer possible to avoid the conclusion that what the country is dealing with in the Bush Presidency is the latter. That is really the nub of the problem -- the common source for most of the false impressions that have been frustrating the normal and healthy workings of our democracy.

Americans have always believed that we the people have a right to know the truth and that the truth will set us free. The very idea of self-government depends upon honest and open debate as the preferred method for pursuing the truth -- and a shared respect for the Rule of Reason as the best way to establish the truth.

The Bush Administration routinely shows disrespect for that whole basic process, and I think it's partly because they feel as if they already know the truth and aren't very curious to learn about any facts that might contradict it.

..the President seems to have been pursuing policies chosen in advance of the facts -- policies designed to benefit friends and supporters -- and has used tactics that deprived the American people of any opportunity to effectively subject his arguments to the kind of informed scrutiny that is essential in our system of checks and balances.

For the same reasons they push the impression that government is bad, they also promote the myth that there really is no such thing as the public interest. What's important to them is private interests.

After all, this President has claimed the right for his executive branch to send his assistants into every public library in America and secretly monitor what the rest of us are reading. That's been the law ever since the Patriot Act was enacted. If we have to put up with such a broad and extreme invasion of our privacy rights in the name of terrorism prevention, surely he can find a way to let this National Commission know how he and his staff handled a highly specific warning of terrorism just 36 days before 9/11.

The administration hastened from the beginning to persuade us that defending America against terror cannot be done without seriously abridging the protections of the Constitution for American citizens, up to and including an asserted right to place them in a form of limbo totally beyond the authority of our courts. And that view is both wrong and fundamentally un-American.

Ironically, the principal cause of global warming is our civilization's addiction to burning massive quantities carbon-based fuels, including principally oil -- the most important source of which is the Persian Gulf, where our soldiers have been sent for the second war in a dozen years -- at least partly to ensure our continued access to oil.

We need to face the fact that our dangerous and unsustainable consumption of oil from a highly unstable part of the world is similar in its consequences to all other addictions. As it becomes worse, the consequences get more severe and you have to pay the dealer more.

And by now, it is obvious to most Americans that we have had one too many wars in the Persian Gulf and that we need an urgent effort to develop environmentally sustainable substitutes for fossil fuels and a truly international effort to stabilize the Persian Gulf and rebuild Iraq.

Millions of Americans got the impression that George W. Bush wanted to be a "healer, not a divider", a president devoted first and foremost to "honor and integrity." Yet far from uniting the people, the president's ideologically narrow agenda has seriously divided America. His most partisan supporters have launched a kind of 'civil cold war' against those with whom they disagree.

I believe that we must stand for a future in which the United States will again be feared only by its enemies; in which our country will again lead the effort to create an international order based on the rule of law; a nation which upholds fundamental rights even for those it believes to be its captured enemies; a nation whose financial house is in order; a nation where the market place is kept healthy by effective government scrutiny; a country which does what is necessary to provide for the health, education, and welfare of our people; a society in which citizens of all faiths enjoy equal standing; a republic once again comfortable that its chief executive knows the limits as well as the powers of the presidency;

A riddle, shrowded in mystery, wrapped in an enigma!
Monday, July 21, 2003
12:49 p.m.

I work for the State of Texas. The Employees Retirement System allows us to retire when our age plus our years of service equal 80. The Texas Legislature recently passed a bill authorizing a bonus to those of us who retire during this next budget cycle. I am eligable for the bonus and would LOVE to receive it, but even with it, I cannot afford to live on just my retirement income. So, I'll need to continue to work until I can afford to retire.

Jobs in my field (electronic media) are few and far between in this rural area so you can imagine my glee over discovering an opening at the local University.

Upon learning of the job, I attempted to call the contact person listed in the posting with a couple of questions. He was unavailable so I left a voice mail message. Considering its importance to my retirement plans, I don't want to miss any opportunity to secure this position so, when my call was not returned I proceeded to update my vitae and write a letter of application. These drew no response either, but as I had been advised and promised in my letter, I attempted to follow up by phone. Again the contact person was unavailable and again I left a voice mail message.

A week later I tried e-mail and finally made a connection. The contact person responded...

About the time your application arrived, the university froze all vacant positions due to budget cuts. We are waiting to hear if we can get the position unfrozen.

I should have expected this, as my agency is under similar constraints, but it didn't cross my mind. I pointed this out to the gentleman and thanked him for his reply.

There is an interesting addendum to this post and I don't know what to make of it, if anything %|

The day I received the e-mail quoted above I drove to a nearby town to do some shopping. I was going to just two places. As I walked into the first, who should I see walking out? The contact person! Our eyes met but there was no recognition in his, so I didn't say anything. He was locked in conversation with a child, who I supposed was his. I thought, "OK, I probably shouldn't intrude on a private family moment just to further my career/retirement goals." and went on about my business. Later, as I walked out of the second store, I saw him walking in!

It probably goes without saying that if I attached enough significance to these 'chance encounters' to write about them, I had spent some time contemplating their meaning. Since the first encounter, I had been second guessing my failure to speak. I scolded myself for not being more forward and thought if I had it to do over, I should at least draw his attention to the 'coincidence' too.

So, then I got a chance to do it over. The gentleman was still in conversation with the child. I looked his way, awaiting an opening. This time he didn't look back. Again, I didn't speak. Now I'm left to wonder, just what (if anything) this was all about?

Were I, a more outgoing person, would I have struck up a conversation so we could both laugh at the coincidence? Would he have seen the cosmic significance and felt compelled to hire me? Or, would he have thought I was stalking him, never considered hiring me and perhaps considered a protective court order instead? Can I reasonably expect to change my reserved, unobtrusive personality just by talking to myself. Should I even want to change these aspects of myself? Will posting this experience have a positive effect?

And so it goes, question after question, like a wheel within a wheel, this shrouded riddle, wraped in mystery, cowering in its enigmatic cloak!