NY transit strike

And so the screwage begins... Let's hope that the MTA, which has lied to us more than once about needing to raise fares due to budget deficits that turn out to be bullshit, deals with its own employees in better faith than it does with us, the customers.

btw...

Yeah, um, it's clear that I was disturbed by the overtly male chauvanistic attitude in The Sound of Music, right?

Strike quite, quite possible... totally screwed. Mom arrives at JFK on Wednesday... TOTALLY screwed.

a day at the movies

BebeMoche and I saw Pride and Prejudice today... what a disappointment. The sad thing is that had I not heard so much about it from before I might have enjoyed it more. Unfortunately, I heard such hype about the acting, the attractiveness of Mr. Darcy, the general splendor, from both reviews and people I know, that it ultimately was a let down. This has happened to me enough in the past that I generally avoid movies which more than two people recommend to me. At least the cinematography was amazing, there were scenes which were absolutely stunning to look at. Unfortunately the actors were several times placed in such obvious tableaux that it looked way too stagey. Other times the actors were actually upstaged by the paintings in the background. Sad, sad, sad. At least it provided us with a chance to laugh.

Tonight ABC is showing The Sound of Music which used to be one of my favorite Christmas time movies until I had a revelation about it. I was in Turkey, doing my archaeological work and was sorting pottery under the canvas shade with Laura and our conversation somehow ended up on the movie. Maybe it was because Larry and Naomi had been calling me Rolfe, after the little nazi in the movie, I don't know. Anyhow, I was wondering how anyone could sing a song like "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria" at her wedding when it hit me that the movie is answering the question for you. You solve a problem like Maria by marrying her off to a man. Before she gets married Maria is all "Oh! I.. uh... well... um..." and once she's married she's collected, composed and elegant, a pillar of wisdom and strength. Obviously, all Maria needs is dick. Anyhow, once I realized the movie's message I could never really enjoy it the same way again.

Sleepy the dwarf

Yesterday was one of the most pointless days at work ever. The threat of a transit strike had everyone staying up late to see what might happen so no one was at their best. Many kids didn't do their homework on the assumption that they wouldn't be able to make it to school the next day. The whole day seemed like a waste, made worse since the winter break starts next week. As we get closer to the holidays the kids start to vibrate with nearly uncontrollable excitement. (I'm just surprised that there have been no documented cases of spontaneous little-human combustion.) The end result of all this hoo-hah is that when I finally got home, worn out by the day, I dozed off within minutes. Then I woke up for a bit of pizza and watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, after which I went to the bedroom because I was still a bit sleepy. I fell asleep until 3am and by then just brushed my teeth and went to sleep. I woke up at 10am, finally having shaken off the sleep bug.

in praise of Alfredo

Just so the world knows, Alfredo is an artist. Despite all his protestations and claims to the contrary, I have met nor do I even know of anyone who is more accomplished an artist than he is. There is such a manifest grace and elegance in all he produces that, I must admit, there are times when I swear I've heard angels weeping. Of course, Alfredo's preferred medium is bullshit. Yes, Alfredo is a bullshit artist. It shows with just about every comment he has left on this blog. And I want the world to know that when I write back to him, it is with love and admiration, the sort of loving admiration existing in anyone who tries to emulate his or her idol. Sadly, I know that my artistry-- if I can so boldly refer to it as such-- pales in comparison to Alfredo's and that my comments have been misinterpreted as antagonistic. Thus, I am compelled to tell the world that my comments to Alfredo are sent in the same loving spirit as his have been left to me. Loving admiration and emulation... really... I mean it... anybody want a peanut?

By the way, if there's a transit strike tomorrow, I am TOTALLY screwed. I'll have to walk and walk and walk and it's going to rain like a mammajamma. Yuck.

ah, le France!

Alfredo's website has a link to an article (the same one I've linked to here) about France's move to create a nationally based news channel for the international market. It's a pet project of Chirac's and he hopes that it will be a rival to CNN and the BBC, broadcasting news from the French perspective and disseminating the French world view and values. The article is well written (but for one typo), though I'm not happy with where it ends up. The author, KA Dilday, acknowledges that it would be naive to think that any institution, public or private, could report the news without bias. However, D then assumes too much bias on the part of the French. D expects that the new station will be a quaint throwback to an antiquated idea of a national news source which broadcasts the government's view. But really, how antiquated is it when our own government has been broadcasting the Pentagon Channel throughtout the states since earlier this year? D links to the announcement posted on the London Times online as the primary source of information on the subject, which may be part of the problem. After all, the French never come off all that well in English media. In contrast, the story on Radio France's website quotes the minister of culture, Donnedieu de Vabres, as saying that the new station will in no way be the mouthpiece of the government. The French have voiced the awareness that bias cannot be avoided, hence their desire to put their own viewpoint out there, yet they are going to do what they can to minimize said bias. This is an important point which D misses. Also, D's assertion that the French can't criticize the US for Iraq when they have issues with the Muslims in their own country bugs. If such were the case then nobody anywhere would have the right to put forth a vision of a better world since we all have problems within our borders. Personally, I like the fact that the French want to put forth their own ideas about how the world should be. I think that diversity and discourse can only help in forming the future. (Cue swell of inspiring music)

Christmas Perils

Okay. So far, so good. I've done most of my Christmas shopping and things so far have been fine. I've been able to do it on the off hours so I've missed most of the crowds. However, there is the gnawing fear every time I enter into a store or turn on the radio at this time of year that I just might be aurally attacked by the ruinous Christmas carol catastrophe, We Wish You a Merry Christmas performed by dogs...it sends me into apoplectic shock. And yet, I'm sure that it could be worse... like screeched by howler monkeys or something.

Disappointed in Scientific American

You know, way back in August I wrote to Scientific American because they had a question on their daily trivia: How much does the Hubble Space Telescope weigh? The answer, according to them, was 11,110 kg and that it was the size of a school bus. When I first read the question I thought that it was a trick, a brain teaser, since things in space are weightless. I wrote in to the good people at Scientific American and have yet to hear back from them. Perhaps the question is just so much bigger than I understand and my ignorance is clearly so very, very vast--like the emptiness of space--that they can't bring themselves to answer what I think is a simple question. Ah well. I'll still read Scientific American. BTW, the site is sciam.com, and sciam is the subjunctive of "I know" in Latin, so one translation could be "Let me know!" Cool... so long as you're a mega-geek.

Brain-Deads 'R Us

This morning was taken up with a crack-of-dawn trip to a famous toy store in Times Square where it's nearly impossible to move around because people stop in the middle of the aisles to have lengthy conversations with their children about why they can't have the Bling Bling Booty Shaker Barbie. Or they stop at the top of the escalator to marvel at the life size, animated T Rex... and block the way for everyone coming off the escalator. Or they have HUGE arguments in front of the entire world about which lightsaber to buy which kid, full of tears, recriminations, and "You don't love him if you think he wants the blue one!" Ah, it's Christmas time in the city. It doesn't help that the store is staffed by the walking undead who could be outsmarted, outrun, and outcharmed by the zombies in Shaun of the Dead. Okay, maybe too much hyperbole... but only a bit. I thought I was being charged $40 for something marked $20, but it turned out that someone had put the wrong sign on the rack. The BF got charged twice for the most expensive item on his list as well as two other smaller items. In each case the reaction of the clerk was: big sigh... "Hey, Dan!" ..long pause... "Dan!" ..another long pause, bigger sigh... "Dan! Shawna! One of you!" at which point Dan looks over, does something (I don't know what) and finally comes over where the clerk explains "He got charged twice for this." which sounds like it's somehow my fault, not hers. Dan looks suitably annoyed at me, not Jannel, my clerk, sticks his key in the register, hits a button, and walks away with key. Then Jannel says, "$52.87" Whatever! I'm just glad I don't have kids of my own and so I don't have to go to this store all that often.