(sigh)Disco balls are magic. Their obsolescence aside, I found myself slow-dancing with a date to a Norah Jones CD underneath a disco ball the other night. Forget the "Saturday Night Fever" stuff -- it really WAS magic. It helped, of course, that the person I was with had become a meaningful part of my life in recent weeks. But the elements of that relationship, the music and lyrics, the ambiance of the lighting all made the experience very special and one I won't forget any time soon. Soooo Eighties, huh? Who woulda' thunk?(sigh)
(sigh)Skepticism is a virtue.
(sigh, yay, sigh, yay)President Bush has made one of his best appointments to date by selecting Tony Snow as his new Press Secretary. I admire Snow's balanced, laid-back, articulate commentary and I believe he'll be an absolute asset to the Bush staff. It doesn't hurt either that Snow is right at home with all the media types who cover the White House and will most certainly bring a calm to the usual storm that is the WH press room. I'm ecstatic!
(sigh)Tell me something.Isn't this the United States of America? Isn't English the native language in this country (at least for the time being)? Why, then, do so many businesses which we call have voice menus directing us first and foremost to "For English, Press 1"? This sooooo pisses me off! Why don't they assume that most people contacting them will speak ENGLISH, and if they MUST have an alternate language, why isn't the message "For Spanish (or French or German or Chinese or Swahili), press 1"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!This is just one of life's little peeves that grates on my nerves, but it's indicative of how muddy our identity has become. I'm all for diversity, this but this is absurd. Damn.(frustrated sigh)
(sigh) Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, is an interesting book that I've recently read and one which held my attention throughout. The premise is that our conscious mind isn't equipped to formulate decisions in the "blink" of an eye but our subsconscious mind is. As a result, many of our snap decisions are intuitive yet perhaps tainted by our life experiences -- for example, our subsconscious may yield to racial prejudices "learned" in childhood but stifled in adulthood, and this "tainting" can affect decisions we must make quickly before a protracted thought process can be applied. His examples of first impressions and how they affect our decisions during speed dating, food tasting, military maneuvers, triage during a life-threatening event, etc., are intriguing and provocative. The case studies themselves are interesting from the standpoint of pointing out how marketing genius targets our supposed weaknesses and hones in on them to alter our thinking. The study on selling cars was fascinating. Gladwell also has another intriguing book from 2002 entitled The Tipping Point which illuminates how a relatively small but focused push for a product or idea can result in a tipping point of acceptance. Both these books are on audiotape and would perhaps make a lengthy automobile trip endurable. They're interesting reading (or listening), and I highly recommend them.(sigh)
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OK, I don't usually frequent super upscale restaurants, but from time to time I find myself in a white tablecloth place where dining is an art. In those places I love that the wait staff shields me from a coffee spill while pouring by placing a linen napkin between me and the cup, or by silently and swiftly using their tiny scraper to whisk crumbs from the tabletop. Recently I was dining at one of these places and made inquiry concerning the whereabouts of the powder room and was addressed as "Madame" in the reply. "Madame"?????? My, oh, my.
All this aside, I was reading an article in a magazine recently about author John Kenney's dining experience at Masa, which evidently is New York's answer to third-degree burns. After waiting months for a reservation, you will be looked upon with disdain if you are a minute late -- their "on time" policy gives one pause to reflect. Masa is a sushi restaurant with no menu -- the chef decides what you will be served and when, and you may or may not even be offered dessert. Their call. For all this snobbery you pay dearly -- lunch for two can run upwards of $800 while dinner can be in the $1,000 range. From the sounds of it, John Kenney and his wife between them were offered and consumed about four ounces of food, for which they paid $839 after being chastised for their minute-late arrival.After a meal like that, I would have had to be in Mickey D's drive-through for a quarter pounder value meal, which would have set me back about four bucks. (sigh)
(sigh)If you haven't experienced the magic of Cirque du Soleil, put it on your "to-do" list for sooner rather than later. This live show is amazing and is taped and shown on various TV stations throughout the year. It is mastery at its best in acrobatics, dance, and skill in using music to enhance the featured players' performances. The stage is frequently stark so that nothing detracts from the stylists, or at most the props are few and innovative in creating a mood. I never cease to be amazed at the athleticism and timing of these professionals, and I'm riveted every time I see them. The creativeness in their approach to a particular show's theme is like nothing I've ever seen, and the performances are always flawless. There's no dialogue, just the prowess of some of the most talented people around. Watch.
(sigh)It SOOOO pains me about what's transpired at Duke the past couple of weeks with the lacrosse team. The fact that two players today have been charged with the rape of a stripper hired to "perform" at a party sickens me. Hopefully this is a forensic error, although if it's not, both Seligmann and Finnerty deserve whatever the courts throw at them. There are sad sides to this story, the least of which is the sullying of Duke's prestigious reputation. The fact that this is wrecking racial havoc in Durham is sad commentary of where we are today in race relations, and the fact that the two players charged are from wealthy white families makes it even worse. The stripper has a questionable background as well -- this doesn't advance justice either. Hopefully the truth will really be told and we can all get on with supporting Duke in all its sports and academic endeavors.(sigh)
(sigh, sigh, sigh)OK, enough already. To date I've gotten 37 emails from you blog readers concerning my post on country music. I find that extremely interesting since the post on immigration only seduced 19 of you to email. And why are you too shy to post an ONLINE comment? I find THAT interesting as well. What does this all mean?The emails on the country music post were pretty much chastising me for my snobbiness in my choice of music. I am nonplussed. Give me Beethoven any day of the week. You can bet HE didn't cry in HIS beer!(sigh)
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A friend and I recently were jawing about country music and decided it might be an interesting blog topic -- especially considering my disdain for the genre. I'm old enough to remember when country music was sung by women with big hair and crooked teeth and with a twang they wouldn't even recognize in the Kentucky hollers. The fact that the likes of Shania Twain and Faith Hill now belt out those lyrics in skimpy, tight-fitting duds and made up and coifed to the nines doesn't change the silliness of those words. Country songs from the past just make me crazy -- "There's a Tear in My Beer 'Cause I'm Cryin' for You, Dear" and "Achy Breaky Heart" make my stomach turn. And that ain't all, guys and gals. Here's sum mo' of them all-time favs:"Too Much Month (at the End of the Money)"Love is Always Worth the Ache"""If You Wanna Keep Your Beer Cold, Put It Next to My Ex-wife's Heart." "Down in the Ditch""Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox""Did I Shave My Legs for This?""Jesus and Mama""I'd Rather Have a Bottle in Front of Me Than a Frontal Lobotomy."
"Get Your Tongue Outta My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissin' You Goodbye." But the most stupid is the following lyric from one of country's "best..."
"I wanna whip your cow . . . I fell on a pile of you and got love all over me . . . "Tell me AGAIN why I should like this crap?(sigh)
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I have watched three really nifty videos this weekend: Brokeback Mountain, Capote and Ray. All three were worth my time, effort and dollars.
Brokeback Mountain is terrific. I didn't think I'd like it, but it was a really good story about love and relationships -- the homosexual issue was just an interesting facet. I highly recommend it.
Capote is slow-moving but worth it just to see the performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman. His portrayal of Truman Capote is amazing. If you're not old enough to have seen Capote himself (he was a regular on Johnny Carson's Tonight show), you probably won't have enough of a frame of reference for the brilliance of this performance. The storyline, however, is interesting from another standpoint, and that's the relationship Capote forged with Perry Smith while he was imprisoned for his part in the murder of the Clutter family in Kansas -- and about which Capote wrote his non-fiction best seller, In Cold Blood.
Ray is a wonderful film about Ray Charles and his life and music. You won't think of Jamie Foxx as just a comedian after seeing this movie.
Time well spent.
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Funny.
I was reading Fred Reed's column yesterday about hornets and their brains (don't ask me why), and I was struck by the fact that there are folks out there who can get a column out of just about anything. Reed waxes eloquently about the size of hornets' brains ("a few milligrams or some depressing amount"); the aerodynamics of their flight ("can fly with precisely controlled speed and angle to the ground"); their eyesight ("integrating the output of the multitudinous ommatidia that constitute its compund eyes into a useful image"); their knowledge of how to build nests ("what to chew, how to find it, when to chew it, and how to paste it together to make a smooth hanging gray gourd full of elaborate cells"); and their mating instincts ("both have to want to do it, recognize each other, know how to align various body parts and produce the needed psysiological responses at the right moment.")
This is actually much more than I ever wanted to know about hornets, but I must say I was intrigued by Reed's ability to take the absurd and keep my attention for the 90 seconds it took me to scan the article. Even more intriguing is the fact that Fred Reed is an expatriate living in Mexico. Even HE admits it...his Haldol is missing.
There are folks out there who can get a column out of just about anything.(LOL)
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What happens to old people? Is it a rite of passage for everyone eligible for AARP membership to become cranky, crotchety demons of dour? My 85-year-old father is one of these, and it gets worse as time progresses. A recent rant was precipitated by the Hershey bars he requested I bring him did not have ALMONDS! And since he LIKES almonds, and since Hershey bars with ALMONDS are his only reason to open his eyes every day, the fact that the ones I took him didn't have ALMONDS was cause for a tongue-lashing of major proportions! Didn't I OMG KNOW that he only liked Hershey bars with ALMONDS?!!! (No.) Didn't I know that ALMONDS were a major source of protein for him? (How ridiculous.) Didn't I know that he had been waiting weeks for Hershey bars with ALMONDS and now he would have to wait even longer? (Even more ridiculous.)
For some reason his food preferences have gone awry, and the fact that I don't (and couldn't possibly!) keep up with them is cause for even more discontent. A recent exchange:
85-year-old Dad: Don't you know I don't like shrimp?
Young-beautiful daughter: I thought you did.I thought you did.
85-year-old Dad: Well, I used to, but I don't any more.
Young-beautiful daughter: Well, I'll fix you something else.I'm sorry, Daddy. I'll fix you 85-year-old Dad: No, it's too late now. I'm not hungry any more..
78-year-old Uncle: Well, if he doesn't want the shrimp, I'll eat his.
85-year-old Dad: The hell you will. They're mine. You have your own.
78-year-old Uncle: I just thought if you weren't gonna eat them, it'd be a waste to throw them away.
85-year-old Dad: Who's throwing them away?
He then proceeded to clean his plate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
O. M. G.
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Florida, 73, UCLA 57 Joakim Noah >
As much of a basketball fan as I am, I have to admit that I was ambivalent about who won last night's championship game. Neither Florida nor UCLA are teams that are high on my list of watchables, but it was amazing to see a scrappy team from Florida shut down powerhouse UCLA. And the most amazing of all was watching the Gators' Joakim Noah tighten his pony tail and have had it. Once in a long while a player will come along who rivets one's attention -- Noah is one of those. He's so pretty you don't expect him to be the powerhouse player his height suggests, but those chiseled features shouldn't fool you. This guy can jump, block, dunk, run and do it all with ease. So even though my beloved Duke wasn't playing for the brass ring, Joakim Noah has made me a fan of his and of Florida's as well. This is truly why I love college basketball......there are so many terrific jams and alley-oops but just as many wonderful personal stories. Florida sold me.
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You know, I doubt seriously whether the issues surrounding immigration will be settled any time soon, but in the meantime it will be hacked to death by every politician, by would-be stalwarts for both sides of the coin and by folks like me who care deeply but are too lazy to pound the pavement for one side or the other. All I'm willing to do at this juncture is blog on about it. So here goes.
Right now the bill up for Senate debate rallies around the guest-worker proposal, which to me is a cop-out but probably necessary to quell the liberals. This program would provide legal status to millions of illegals and expand it for more illegals every year. This cannot be a positive in border security when giving a U.S. wannabe status once he makes it across the border. All we're saying is, "We'll look the other way until you crawl over the line." Ahhh, call me naive, call me shallow, even call me stupid; but I just don't get why we wouldn't encourage those to cross legally, obtain citizenship and be able to stop looking over their shoulder and reap all the benefits of the liberal programs in place in this country! Could it possibly be because states like California want to and in some cases WILL provide those things whether they're legal or not? Of course it is. Why should anyone looking to cross into this country go through the lengthy bureaucratic mess to obtain citizenship when he can enter California illegally, possibly have free medical care, possibly obtain public housing and food stamps, possibly obtain free public school education and even witness a movement to have his language become the language taught in those public schools? Why, indeed.
The outcome of Texas' 1982 decision in Plyler v. Doe entitled public school education for all illegals, and the arguments for that are specious at best, but who am I to second-guess a Supreme Court Justice? California's Proposition 187 sought to limit an umbrella of benefits and services to illegals, but this was overturned by a federal court. I'm really not insensitive to these humanitarian issues...I just think we're wrong-headed once again in our approach to them.
Victor David Hanson's book, Mexifornia, is a significant read if you're interested. It's contemporaneous and offers up a slew of options for dealing with immigration issues in California. The sheer numbers of illegals in that state have and will continue to exacerbate the economy there and put great stress on social programs which struggle already to provide legitimate needs of legal residents. This book, and others like it, should be required reading for all of us so that we can reasonably debate immigration issues. It's not just the economy or humane issues any more which are pertinent. Issues of national security are also on the lam and need to be re-captured.
I'm not sure the Statue of Liberty's "Give me your tired, your poor..." had quite this outcome as its import. Pun intended.
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