THURSDAY WHATEVER

Brokeback Mountain

I was going to wait till next Wednesday to digest this film but I just saw it this afternoon and I need to kind of process my way through it now and get it off my mind. Everybody already knows the sensational buzz about it and has seen the standard photos and has probably either already seen it or decided they’re too squeamish to see it or too homophobic or whatever. Whoever The Critics are, they seem to have approved and Joe Public and the Mrs. are just going to have to get over it (whether they see it or not). Hopefully, they will. Here’s what I expected from the hype – outdoor scenes of mountain grandeur (check), tastefully done sexual encounters between two very not gay Hollywood hunks (check), an Award performance by Heath Ledger (check), an engaging performance by Jake Gyllenhall (check), and a deep and enduring and in the end unfulfilled love story between two humans (check). What I got on top of that was something like this… The delicate discovery between these two men of how injured their early lives had been and the compassion that they found in each other that was unique among all their other relationships, the sense of yearning that builds between lovers of any age or sex when they are kept apart too much and too long, and in this case the absolutely undeniable reality that this particular union invited death. We all know what can happen to gay men in Wyoming, the setting of most of the film. Or pretty much anywhere for that matter. And in the end, the conclusion of Ennis Del Mar that a life alone in a tiny trailer in the middle of nowhere with the jacket of his dear friend hanging inside his closet door is better than any other. That’s the best I can do to explain it. If there was ever a time when You Had to Be There fits, it’s when you see this film. It deserves every award it gets.

Deep Thought: “Frank knew that no man had ever crossed the desert on foot and lived to tell about it. So, he decided to get back in his car and keep driving.”
Today I am grateful for: This being the first minute of the rest of my life.
Guess the Movie: “You’re the only one small enough to get in and out of that thing. All you have to do swim inside, jam a pebble in the fan, and swim out. Once you do that, this tank is going to get filthier and filthier, and the dentist will have no choice but to clean the tank himself. He’ll put us in individual baggies, then we roll out the window, down to the ground, across the street, and into the ocean. It’s foolproof!” Answer: Finding Nemo, 2003. Winner: Eliminate_the_Impossible.
The Impeachment of George W. Bush
by Elizabeth Holtzman
Finally, it has started. People have begun to speak of impeaching President George W. Bush – not in hushed whispers but openly, in newspapers, on the Internet, in ordinary conversations and even in Congress. As a former member of Congress who sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon, I believe they are right to do so. (Rest of story here).

WEDNESDAY MOVIE

RED EYE

Fast like a bunny I scampered to the video store after work to grab a copy. It seems like weeks since there was a decent thriller to watch. Not disappointed. 1 hour 25 minutes (a perfect length) of rat-a-tat fast-moving nailbiting. Both the lead actors are kind of new on the scene. Rachel McAdams (30) is Canadian and started out on TV only 4 years ago. Gorgeous and a capable actress. Cillian Murphy is even more interesting. Also 30, Irish, first movie in 1997 when he was 21. First name is pronounced Kill-ian. Married, one child, vegetarian, lives in London. Looks like he’s going to go the Johnny Depp route. In the film he made after this one, he plays a transvestite cabaret singer. Red Eye has your basic foiled assassination attempt plot, but the real steam is between the two actors, as she tries to outfox him as he tries to use her to reach his goal. Not Academy Award stuff – just basic straight down the middle edifying terror. Yep.

Deep Thought: “It’s funny how two simple words, “I promise,” will stall people for a while.”
Today I am grateful for: Coincidence
Guess the Movie: “There’s a big lobster behind the refrigerator. I can’t get it out. This thing’s heavy. Maybe if I put a little dish of butter sauce here with a nutcracker, it will run out the other side.” Answer: Annie Hall, 1977.
Impeach Blair on Iraq, Says General
· PM misled public, says UN Bosnia commander
· Invasion ‘a blunder of enormous significance’
by Richard Norton-Taylor
A former general has called for impeachment proceedings against Tony Blair, accusing the prime minister of misleading parliament and the public over the invasion of Iraq. (Rest of article here.)

TUESDAY POLITICS

Here’s the current Deer-in-the-Headlights posterboy for this week’s grillfest. I tried to find a photo of him with his “I have to shut up now and listen to all this garbage” extremely calm look that I saw on C-span yesterday, but no luck. It was the initial little introductory speeches part of the upcoming Supreme Court nominee hearings. There was Ted Kennedy with that massive head topped by thick white hair, Joe Biden who will attack him on aspects of executive power, and Patrick Leahy who plans to zero in on presidential powers during wartime. They all looked perfectly groomed and adrenaline ready. It’s super likely that the guy is going to survive running this gauntlet, but it should be interesting to hear some of the issues raked over the coals one more time on national television. To wit, Alito: (1) sought to uphold abortion restrictions that would have treated a grown married woman no differently from a child, forcing her to notify her husband in all circumstances, including abuse and rape, before obtaining an abortion; (2) has repeatedly sought to limit women’s right to fight employment discrimination in the courts, even in the most extreme cases, intervening where juries had already found in favor of a woman and has opposed the affirmative action initiatives; and (3) helped the Reagan administration chip away at protections against government eavesdropping. There probably won’t even be a filibuster, because god knows Bush must be feeling Extra Cranky about now and might just decide his presidential powers include putting whoever he damn pleases in there no matter what any Senate or Congress person has to say. He gets to do that, doesn’t he? Isn’t there a precedent?

Deep Thought: “We like to praise birds for flying. But how much of it is actually flying, and how much of it is just sort of coasting from the previous flap?”
Today I am grateful for: Coffee in spite of myself
Guess the Movie: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Answer: Jaws, 1975. Winner: Eliminate_the_Impossible.
Alito and the Point of No Return
by Nat Parry
With Alito’s confirmation to fill the swing-vote seat of Sandra Day O’Connor, George W. Bush could well consolidate a majority on the high court to endorse his expansive interpretation of presidential authority, including his insistence that his commander-in-chief powers are virtually unlimited throughout the indefinite “war on terror.” (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 7:45 pm
+ = Power hasn’t gone out yet.
- = How wet can it get??!!

SUNDAY GOOD NEWS

This week the organization CODEPINK, on board against the war in Iraq since 2002, has launched a campaign aimed at ending it and all attacks on Iraqi civilians in 2006. First step: the Women Say No to War Campaign will gather some 100,000 signatures by March 8, International Women’s Day, when US and Iraqi women will deliver the signatures to leaders in Washington, DC and women around the world will deliver them to US embassies. And here is where you can go to sign the petition (men too). They say:

“We, the women of the United States, Iraq and women worldwide, have had enough of the senseless war in Iraq and the cruel attacks on civilians around the world. We’ve buried too many of our loved ones. We’ve seen too many lives crippled forever by physical and mental wounds. We’ve watched in horror as our precious resources are poured into war while our families’ basic needs of food, shelter, education and healthcare go unmet. …

“This is not the world we want for ourselves or for our children. With fire in our bellies and love in our hearts, we women are rising up – across borders – to unite and demand an end to the bloodshed and the destruction.”

If you have nothing better to do in the next five minutes on this Sunday morning and you still give a darn, use that finger or thumb to click on the link and type in your name. Maybe it will help bring Good News. (Oh, and you can buy those shoes here).

Deep Thought: “It’s funny that pirates were always going around searching for treasure, and they never realized that the real treasure was the fond memories they were creating.”
Today I am grateful for: Cinnamon
Guess the Movie: “I came home to raise crops, and God willing, a family. If I can live in peace, I will.” Answer: Braveheart, 1995. Winner: butterflyxlife.
Iraq War Could Cost US Over $2 Trillion, says Nobel Prize-Winning Economist
· Economists say official estimates are far too low;· New calculation takes in dead and injured soldiers
by Jamie Wilson in Washington
The real cost to the US of the Iraq war is likely to be between $1 trillion and $2 trillion (£1.1 trillion), up to 10 times more than previously thought, according to a report written by a Nobel prize-winning economist and a Harvard budget expert. (Rest of article here.)

SATURDAY PHOTO

Audrey Hepburn
by Philippe Halsman (1906-1979)
Gelatin silver print, 1954
National Portrait Gallery

In 1958, a poll conducted by Popular Photography named Halsman one of the “World’s Ten Greatest Photographers” along with Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Ernst Haas, Yousuf Karsh, Gjon Mili, and Eugene Smith. He was born in Latvia and when he was 15 years old he found his father’s old view camera and started photographing family and friends. He was super bright (not unlike these young xangan photographers Im_Moses and katgirl_09 – check them out and subscribe, you won’t regret it) and graduated at the top of his high school class. He studied electrical engineering at college in Germany. When he was 24 he moved to Paris and started to work as a portrait photographer. By his late 20’s his portraits of famous people began to appear in European magazines. He had his first major exhibition, in Paris, when he was 30. In 1940, when the war began, he and his family got out of Europe with the help of Albert Einstein who knew a family member. He arrived in New York with one suitcase, a camera, and 12 prints. The next year he met Salvador Dali and they began a lifelong collaboration. In 1942, when he was 36, his first cover of Life magazine was published. He became an American citizen in 1948 when he was 42 and over the rest of his life produced many famous photographs and books, including the famous Jump Book (see here). He died at 73 in New York City. See more of his famous photos here.)

Deep Thought: “When my cousin Billy came and stayed at our house for a week, at first everything seemed okay. But then I started noticing things were missing. The first thing was a bag of garbage we kept under the kitchen sink. Then the piles of ashes and butts in the ashtrays. Then all the weeds in the yard. I never said anything to him, but we never invited him back.”
Today I am grateful for: Not having been named Cindy Lou
Guess the Movie: “I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I’ve still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.” Answer: 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968. WInner: lowflyingsquab.
The Opposite of Good Is Apathy
By Cindy Sheehan
If I hear one more rendition of “We Shall Overcome” and then watch the vigilers or marchers go home and turn on their TVs and crack open a brewsky, content in the fact that they have done something for peace that day, I am going to scream! We can’t overcome unless we take the proverbial bull by the horns and overcome!
Hold your vigils and marches in relevant places: such as warmongering local Congressional offices. So many Senators and Congresspeople come to mind. Or in front of a recruiting station. Or federal buildings. Or military bases. Then instead of going home and cracking open a beer, or uncorking a bottle of wine, sit down and say “we aren’t leaving until you call for an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq.” Put your butt on the line for humanity.
Change will not happen until we make it happen. We can’t make change happen by wishing or praying that it will happen.
We actually have to do something. (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 7:47 pm
+ = Got my new Canon Pixma multifunction printer.
- = Having trouble setting it up.

FRIDAY FIVE

(But first, the photo is the hand of a 4,000 pound bronze statue of Christ installed at the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary. It’s called Christ of the Deep. Read about it here.)

Appetizer – Have you ever seen a ghost or an angel?
Once when I lived in a two-story house in the Haight-Ashbury in the ‘60’s I came hurrying to the top of the stairs to come down to the first floor, looked down and saw a ghost at the bottom of the stairs. All I can say is it looked like what I thought Rasputin looked like. The lights were dim but I bravely dashed down past it. I never saw it again. Of course, I was stoned a lot in those days too.
Soup – What is your favorite board game?
Actually, I don’t have that much patience for board games, truth be told. I play them with the children in my family and of those I prefer the Cranium games and chess. I think the Cranium folks are starting to go hog wild though. The recent little variations I’ve bought weren’t very good. The original idea was great.
Salad – What was the last movie you saw that made you cry?
I watch tons of movies and I’m having to struggle to think of the last time I cried. What comes to mind though is the trailer for Brokeback Mountain. There’s something about the music and the sweeping spaces and beautiful land and the idea of two people who love deeply but cannot be together makes me figure I’ll probably cry when I see it.
Main Course – What would you do if you had 3 months off from your job?
Look for another job closer to home for one thing. Make some big decisions about where I live. Either renovate or move. I want the last place I live in my life to be nothing short of perfect.
Dessert – What kind of shoes are you wearing today?
I guess you call them yard shoes or garden shoes. You buy them in the garden section of the store and they’re great. They slip on like little boats and they’re sturdy and warm and I wear them everywhere. They’re blue.

Deep Thought: “Maybe it’s my imagination, but food seemed to taste better when I was a kid. Also, food would sing and dance and play musical instruments. But that could also have been my imagination.”
Today I am grateful for: Chromosomes
Guess the Movie: “My mommy always said there were no monsters – no real ones – but there are, aren’t there?” “Yes, there are.” “Why do they tell little kids that?” “Most of the time it’s true.” Answer: Aliens, 1986. Winner: tikhead.
Global Women Launch Campaign to End Iraq War
Alice Walker, Cindy Sheehan, Susan Sarandon, Margaret Cho, Barbara Lee and Others Join Iraqi Women to Urge the Withdrawal of Foreign Troops and Foreign Fighters from Iraq
VENICE, California – January 5 – On Thursday, January 5, women from around the world—from the US to Iraq to Britain to Japan—launched a campaign aimed at ending the Iraq war and all attacks on Iraqi civilians in 2006. As a first step, the Women Say No to War Campaign will gather some 100,000 signatures by March 8, International Women’s Day, when US and Iraqi women will deliver the signatures to leaders in Washington, DC and women around the world will deliver them to US embassies. (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 7:54 pm
+ = Went to a positive first therapy session today.
- = Felt gloomed out by the weather for awhile this morning.

THURSDAY WHATEVER

Okay, I just couldn’t resist posting a picture of this guy in his Weird Hat. I wonder if the dress code emails were flowing on this like they were in the case of Michael Brown. Oh lordy, I do so hope there’s some sweating going on while we all wait to see just how much this particular lobbyist will spill. Cripes, even GWB is giving away $8000 in political contributions from Abramoff to the American Heart Association (but keeping $100,000 given to his re-election campaign). Others dumping the bucks they received as fast as they can include: Tom DeLay, Roy Blunt, and Bill Frist (with many more to come). Abramoff pleaded guilty yesterday in Miami to federal fraud charges arising from his purchase of SunCruz, a Florida gambling boat fleet. On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty in Washington to three federal felonies stemming from his lobbying activities. He’s cooperating in a corruption investigation focused on whether at least six members of Congress and several aides traded legislative action in return for lavish trips, gifts and campaign contributions he orchestrated. I have to say this is like so many kinds of political crime that goes on in this country. The guy just happened to get caught, but it’s been going on for way longer than he’s been around and will probably continue way into the future. It’s the nature of power, wealth and greed. I just hope he can contribute to bringing down this evil administration in some tiny way. If so, I don’t care what kind of hat he wears.

Deep Thought: “Some folks say it was a miracle. Saint Francis suddenly appeared and knocked the next pitch clean over the fence. But I think it was just a lucky swing.”
Today I am grateful for: The early dawn chirping going on outside my window
Guess the Movie: “Why, anybody can have a brain. That’s a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven’t got: a diploma.” Answer: The Wizard of Oz, 1939. Winner: swawg.
GOP Politicians Dump Abramoff Donations
by Michael J. Sniffin
As politicians led by President Bush scrambled to ditch campaign contributions from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich cautioned Republicans they risk losing control of congressional majorities if they try to put all the blame on lobbyists. (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 7:40 pm
+ = Got some great new books to read from a Xmas Borders card.
– = My grandson who had pneumonia twice in 3 months now has asthma.