After owning the minivan for less than a week, Regina and I packed the kids up and headed north to Springfield, Mass., the home of Regina's youngest nephew. He attends the New England College of Beer where he studies enginering and it was time to visit the lad and his girlfriend, the eternally-patient Theresa. We had a ball. We stayed at a Residence Inn which came with two bedrooms, a full kitchen and a pool down at the lobby. Matthew was in his glory.
We didn't do much, but play tourists. Springfield is a friendly if faded town with four nice, small museums, some shopping centers and it's the home of the Smith & Wesson shooting range. After a day at the museums -- where we saw some mangy stuffed animals and some sketches of Dr Seuss -- John, Ryan and I went to the S&W shooting range. There you can fire any weapon that the gun company manufactures. I was looking forward to shoting a 9mm, a .38 snub-nose hammerless pistol and a 1911 .45 remake. But it wasn't meant to be -- the range was hosting the final days of a shoot off and we couldn't shoot until 6PM that night.
But here is the best part: The shoot off was at the final moments so the target was pretty special. It was a piece of string suspended from the ceiling at about 20 yards. A piece of string.
Later, we went to the New England Air Museum. I was expecting a few old WWII planes and a jeep but we were surprised by a bevy of Vietnam era fighter jets, a WWII B-29 bomber, a retired F-14 Tomcat, a few huge helicopters and one old civilian airliner that looks like a Rolls Royce with wings. I was floored by the F-105 Thunderchief, which flew over the fields of Vietnam and I had always assumed that it was the size of, say, an F-16 Falcon or an F-4 Phantom. Nuh-uh. The Thunderchief is HUGE, about the size of a commuter jet that flies from New York to Boston. It was incredible to think that this was seen as a viable and nimble fighter-bomber. No wonder the Air Force couldn't wait to get rid of this pig. In the words of Tim -- oink oink.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Meet The Scarlet Avenger
This is the last day of our seven year-old beloved blue bomber. We rode our Toyota Sienna to Virginia Beach, Washington DC, North Carolina, South Carolina, Connecticut, Masachusetts, Cornell University and the Palisades Mall more times than we can count. It was clearly time for a new AlbinusMobile.
Behold ... The Scarlet Avenger. It's a new Toyota Sienna with plenty of neat features and it doesn't break the bank. It has such a strong new car smell that we thought something was burning when we turned on the heat. It handles great and is even quieter than the old minivan. Nora loves the car and Matthew, who isn't exactly Mr. New Experiences, settled right in. Tim was pleased, too.
This is a cruddy picture but we took it after sundown while the kids were snow-tubing in the back yard. The ice coveed snow is perfect for the snowtubes Santa gave the kids at Christmas. Even if Dad punctured one while driving over some sticks and twigs. Cowabunga!
Bandbox -- Reports from the 1920s magazine wars
I loved Thomas Mallon's Bandbox, his comic novel about rival magazines trying t define culture and high living during the Roaring Twenties. Mallon does the impossible: he makes a distant age immediate and recognizable while using ancent pop culture that I learned from old Bugs Bunny cartoons. He also spins his yarn with a cast of dozens or rather dozen. Most novels ahev five speaking characters or so -- Bandbox has at least 12 fleshed characters and supporting players. It was a tad tough following them but after a while it was easier going.
Bandbox is the name of the leading if strugling men's high style magazine that is underseige by rival Cutaway. The editor of Bandbox, Joe Harris has a typical magazine editor's plight: tight deadlines, a crazy, disgruntled staff, and owners fighting for more ads. He has to keep the magazine pure and yet pliant enough to make money in an age when money seems to be raining from heaven. Throw in gangsters, spies from rival mags, a botched fiction contest, and a reader kidnapping -- and you have a great tale.
With the great suits, the romance that shows our grandparents weren't the Puritans we thought they were, and the wonderful settings -- it's a shame Robert Altman couldn't have taken a stab at theis book. He can handle large casts and snappy dialogue. Just check out his respected if still under-rated Gosford Park.
With Altman dead, the movie version of Bandbox can only fall to one man. Altman's protege and filmmaker in his own right: Alan Rudolf. He did great work on The Secret Lives of Dentists and Trouble in Mind, he can definitely do this. What is he up to these days? Must check imdb.
Definitely check out Bandbox.
Bandbox is the name of the leading if strugling men's high style magazine that is underseige by rival Cutaway. The editor of Bandbox, Joe Harris has a typical magazine editor's plight: tight deadlines, a crazy, disgruntled staff, and owners fighting for more ads. He has to keep the magazine pure and yet pliant enough to make money in an age when money seems to be raining from heaven. Throw in gangsters, spies from rival mags, a botched fiction contest, and a reader kidnapping -- and you have a great tale.
With the great suits, the romance that shows our grandparents weren't the Puritans we thought they were, and the wonderful settings -- it's a shame Robert Altman couldn't have taken a stab at theis book. He can handle large casts and snappy dialogue. Just check out his respected if still under-rated Gosford Park.
With Altman dead, the movie version of Bandbox can only fall to one man. Altman's protege and filmmaker in his own right: Alan Rudolf. He did great work on The Secret Lives of Dentists and Trouble in Mind, he can definitely do this. What is he up to these days? Must check imdb.
Definitely check out Bandbox.
Surging ahead, via the NYTimes?
The NY Times reports that Iraqi President Maliki told President Bush that the initial push in Baghdad has been a success. Granted, Maliki may not be the most truthful player in the area, but it's hard to see if under-playing the truth would help him in his country. In fact, he was against the surge and a failure would help him hasten the exit of American troops. How, I am not so sure. Does he want chaos?
The Times reports:
I had my doubts about the surge because 21,500 additional troops didn't sound like very much in a region that may need an extra 100,000 troops. Where they would come from, I have no clue.
The Democrats in the House of Representatives have voted against the surge with 17 Republicans voting with them against the surge. Yet, many of the anti-surgers inside and outside of Congress want the US to restore order in wartorn Darfur. Perhaps the poor people there are more deserving of US intervention because they don't suffer while sitting atop a ton of oil. More purity there.
Of course, stopping the strife is important in Darfur, but restoring some semblance of order in Iraq is a greater priority for the region, The US and the rest of the World. Perhaps France and germany can send troops to wartorn Darfur. Oh, right...
The Times reports:
The two spoke via video link and, according the statement, Mr. Maliki said, “The security plan has been a dazzling success during its first days.”
Across Baghdad, there were signs of the heightened troop presence, as cars were searched at new checkpoints and raids resulted in the arrest of at least 35 people, according to Iraqi officials.
I had my doubts about the surge because 21,500 additional troops didn't sound like very much in a region that may need an extra 100,000 troops. Where they would come from, I have no clue.
The Democrats in the House of Representatives have voted against the surge with 17 Republicans voting with them against the surge. Yet, many of the anti-surgers inside and outside of Congress want the US to restore order in wartorn Darfur. Perhaps the poor people there are more deserving of US intervention because they don't suffer while sitting atop a ton of oil. More purity there.
Of course, stopping the strife is important in Darfur, but restoring some semblance of order in Iraq is a greater priority for the region, The US and the rest of the World. Perhaps France and germany can send troops to wartorn Darfur. Oh, right...
Conservatives of different stripes
It's the calendar, people. I haven't read Dinesh D'Souza's The Enemy at Home, the conservative's argument that the American Left was partly responsible for the attacks on 9/11 and the general animosity from radical Muslims across the globe. I have the reviews, though -- mostly negative and many of them from the Right. Even a few National Review columnists have come out and said that this book is a bit much. Good for them.
One thought does come up when you read the first fiery chapter on the author's web site. He claims that although he would rather go to a baseball game with Michael Moore than a radical Muslim cleric, he probably has more in common with the radical imam. What bunk. The radical Muslim wing that attacked us five years ago and that we drove out of Afghanistan and loathes us on the web today are not cultural conservatives like D'Souza. They may both hate bikinis, Britney Spears and MTV, but there is a big diffeences. Cultural conservatives like D'Souza want to turn the calendar back to 1950. Bin Laden and his crew want the calendar back to 950.
One must admit that a thousand years will make a difference in the way the two groups interact.
This almost echoes a thought I had in the days after 9/11 when American Talib John Walker Lindh was captured at al Al Queda training camp. Most conservative pundits claimed that Lindh was a product of his Marin County upbringing. Actually, he was resonding to his parents' divorce and the fact that his father reportedly left his wife for another man. The poor sap -- a confused teenager who drifted from hip hop to radical Islam -- clearly wanted a 1950s America where mother and father build a home to raise a family. Unfortunately, with that dream shattered, Lindh turned to a radicalism that offered destructive absolutes.
And those came from an even more fare away time than the time of Father Knows Best.
One thought does come up when you read the first fiery chapter on the author's web site. He claims that although he would rather go to a baseball game with Michael Moore than a radical Muslim cleric, he probably has more in common with the radical imam. What bunk. The radical Muslim wing that attacked us five years ago and that we drove out of Afghanistan and loathes us on the web today are not cultural conservatives like D'Souza. They may both hate bikinis, Britney Spears and MTV, but there is a big diffeences. Cultural conservatives like D'Souza want to turn the calendar back to 1950. Bin Laden and his crew want the calendar back to 950.
One must admit that a thousand years will make a difference in the way the two groups interact.
This almost echoes a thought I had in the days after 9/11 when American Talib John Walker Lindh was captured at al Al Queda training camp. Most conservative pundits claimed that Lindh was a product of his Marin County upbringing. Actually, he was resonding to his parents' divorce and the fact that his father reportedly left his wife for another man. The poor sap -- a confused teenager who drifted from hip hop to radical Islam -- clearly wanted a 1950s America where mother and father build a home to raise a family. Unfortunately, with that dream shattered, Lindh turned to a radicalism that offered destructive absolutes.
And those came from an even more fare away time than the time of Father Knows Best.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
The Week In Review - Sex and Death Edition
Let's see: a case of food poisoning, one day home with the kids because of school district meetings, a farewell drink for a co-worker, my daughter's first concert, my autistic son locks himself in the bathroom, I push up the window while on a ladder and help my daughter throught the window, freezing cold temps, gliding my way through a wonderfully funny novel that I don't want to end, added a string to my acoustic guitar after a few months of putting it off, watched a few episodes of The Office (US) and it'snot even Saturday night.
This week's news: Anna Nicle Smith collapsed and died in a Hard Rock Hotel in Florida. I guess we'd be lying if we said this came as a surprise, and I almost admire that the choice of hotel showed her glittery leanings. It was fascinating to watch the news try to cover the story and to make this a serious story. You could almost hear the relief in the producer's heads as they cut to footage of her body being brought to the hospital and interviewed her close friends. Finally-- some ratings, the newsies were telling themselves. Iraq is over as a compelling story even as the war and the deathtoll grinds on. The coverage of the presidential race is premature and sadly uninspiring except for Barak Obama. Do Rudy and Hillary think America wants them as president?
But The death of ANS has sex, drugs, fame, death, some mystery and just sheer car-wreck horror. The NY Post slammed Rosie O'Donell for making comments about ANS and her drugged curent state on the morning that she died. The Post slammed her for her bad timing. I would say ROD is pitch perfect. She is now the crazy truth telling aunt America needs. I am no fan but between her and Donald Trump, I'll take the no-hit lesbian anyday. Her mission is to speak her mind and for all of her dust-ups, I thought she made some sense.
Quite a week.
This week's news: Anna Nicle Smith collapsed and died in a Hard Rock Hotel in Florida. I guess we'd be lying if we said this came as a surprise, and I almost admire that the choice of hotel showed her glittery leanings. It was fascinating to watch the news try to cover the story and to make this a serious story. You could almost hear the relief in the producer's heads as they cut to footage of her body being brought to the hospital and interviewed her close friends. Finally-- some ratings, the newsies were telling themselves. Iraq is over as a compelling story even as the war and the deathtoll grinds on. The coverage of the presidential race is premature and sadly uninspiring except for Barak Obama. Do Rudy and Hillary think America wants them as president?
But The death of ANS has sex, drugs, fame, death, some mystery and just sheer car-wreck horror. The NY Post slammed Rosie O'Donell for making comments about ANS and her drugged curent state on the morning that she died. The Post slammed her for her bad timing. I would say ROD is pitch perfect. She is now the crazy truth telling aunt America needs. I am no fan but between her and Donald Trump, I'll take the no-hit lesbian anyday. Her mission is to speak her mind and for all of her dust-ups, I thought she made some sense.
Quite a week.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
More chins than a -- do I have to finish this sentence
Behold the ravages of time!
Taken by Amy Fletcher...
A whole new you
Look, a new Blogger design. Still can't decide if I like it. The font is a bit blotchy for my taste. Maybe it will grow on me.
Gotta find a pic I like that doesn't give me three chins. (Like that's going to happen!)
Gotta find a pic I like that doesn't give me three chins. (Like that's going to happen!)
Sunday, February 04, 2007
The day before that day
Last night while eating chicken quesedillas and enjoying a margarita, I took control of the remote and freed the TV from another round of cartoons. I landed on the Sundance Channel (I think) and found a documentary on They Might Be Giants, the eccentric pop duo who came to the scene in the mid-80s.
It was pretty charming, and for a bunch of guys who were on the cutting edge of college radio, they seemed smart without being pretenisous. Even their wordy, opaque lyrics and stacatto rhythms seemed friendly and warm and even inviting although their songs usually came at you at a breakneck speed. I haven't heard Anna Ng or Birdcage In Your Heart in two decades and they still sound fresh.
In the doc, they came across as really normal guys, granted that they record phone greetings for extra dough. One John, the accordian player, is a quiet and thoughtful father of an adorable little boy while the other John, the guitar player, seems to be the kind of boss everyone would want to work for.
One thing stuck out during the documentary. The band was about to launch a new album and some scenes showed their appearances they taped for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The date was September 10, 2001. Jesus, it was so odd to see that time on a five year-old tape. It was September but people were still in a summer frame of mind: the weather was mild and th people in all of the clips just seemed lighter. They appeared to be floating with not a care in the world. Silly pop songs seemed like the perfect thing to record, listen to and promote. You get no sense that a horrific act was about to happen 15 hours later that would change the world. (Yes, I am one of those people who have a 9/10 and 9/12 mindset).
It reminds me of that day, the days before the attacks. I remember the MTV Music Video awards, which seemed over the top and pointless. I remember Jack Black promoting the new Tenacious D record -- it might have been their first and it felt like they were going to just explode. Bob Dylan had just released Time Out of Mind, or was it his follow-up, Love and Theft? I am too tired to check.
We were obsessed with Britney (was she growing up too fast), Jennifer Lopez (will Hollywood destroy her music career), Gary Condit (did he kill that poor intern?), and Bush's stem cell speech from his beloved -- and isolating -- ranch in Crawford, Texas. It seems so long ago, when the day finally arrived and the skies were clear but they would soon be overcast for a very long time.
It was pretty charming, and for a bunch of guys who were on the cutting edge of college radio, they seemed smart without being pretenisous. Even their wordy, opaque lyrics and stacatto rhythms seemed friendly and warm and even inviting although their songs usually came at you at a breakneck speed. I haven't heard Anna Ng or Birdcage In Your Heart in two decades and they still sound fresh.
In the doc, they came across as really normal guys, granted that they record phone greetings for extra dough. One John, the accordian player, is a quiet and thoughtful father of an adorable little boy while the other John, the guitar player, seems to be the kind of boss everyone would want to work for.
One thing stuck out during the documentary. The band was about to launch a new album and some scenes showed their appearances they taped for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The date was September 10, 2001. Jesus, it was so odd to see that time on a five year-old tape. It was September but people were still in a summer frame of mind: the weather was mild and th people in all of the clips just seemed lighter. They appeared to be floating with not a care in the world. Silly pop songs seemed like the perfect thing to record, listen to and promote. You get no sense that a horrific act was about to happen 15 hours later that would change the world. (Yes, I am one of those people who have a 9/10 and 9/12 mindset).
It reminds me of that day, the days before the attacks. I remember the MTV Music Video awards, which seemed over the top and pointless. I remember Jack Black promoting the new Tenacious D record -- it might have been their first and it felt like they were going to just explode. Bob Dylan had just released Time Out of Mind, or was it his follow-up, Love and Theft? I am too tired to check.
We were obsessed with Britney (was she growing up too fast), Jennifer Lopez (will Hollywood destroy her music career), Gary Condit (did he kill that poor intern?), and Bush's stem cell speech from his beloved -- and isolating -- ranch in Crawford, Texas. It seems so long ago, when the day finally arrived and the skies were clear but they would soon be overcast for a very long time.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Old Man, look at my life
I turned 42 last week. It's not a momentous age but one of those subtle signposts on the way to 50. Sweet Jesus, fifty! For some reason I think 45 might be one of those birthdays you notice and do a mild double-take. Halfway to 90. I don't think anyone in my family has made it to that age and I guess I'll have to wait to find out.
Waters hired a new editor. I came up wih the idea for the new role I am taking, special prpjects editor, but I was a bit sad at the news. I am no longer the editor of a magazine I love and I am glad that the company has finally realized that they need to add to the staff in order to grow the damned magazine. It's been a true burnout year and I have some decisions to make. The economy is good and there are jobs out there. Also, have I written every financial IT story I ever want to write? Do I even care about this topic?
It's time to get cracking. Must write a novel and get it published. Must start exercising. Get creative with MacBok and parts of my brain that are killed by my job. More fresh air. More time with kids. Less scotch.
Do I have the guts for this change? That, my friend, is the question of the day.
Waters hired a new editor. I came up wih the idea for the new role I am taking, special prpjects editor, but I was a bit sad at the news. I am no longer the editor of a magazine I love and I am glad that the company has finally realized that they need to add to the staff in order to grow the damned magazine. It's been a true burnout year and I have some decisions to make. The economy is good and there are jobs out there. Also, have I written every financial IT story I ever want to write? Do I even care about this topic?
It's time to get cracking. Must write a novel and get it published. Must start exercising. Get creative with MacBok and parts of my brain that are killed by my job. More fresh air. More time with kids. Less scotch.
Do I have the guts for this change? That, my friend, is the question of the day.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
A Big Tim Week
The two year-old is now speaking more than the six year-old. Timmy is chatting away these days and is actually conversing. And it all happened this week, it seems. Tim walks around the house, picks up boks and toys and asks, "What is this?" Yesterday he said "Give me cracker." Nice.
Matthew is making nice progress and we see more and more from him each week. Matthew will still do anything not to speak one word so that he may get what he wants. Getting him to say "cookie, please" and "I want snack/milk/movie" is an uphill battle with a stubborn boy who has figured out his world and where he fits inside it. He is still a wonder to watch. The autistic mind is something to behold. Matthew gets things and yet in other ways it's almost as if he is refusing to engage with the world. It's not a mean-spirited refusal -- his brain simply works a touch differently than yours and mine.
Nora is having a good year and is coming into her own. She is doing nicely with her math and her script is better than her plain block letters. Unlike last year, she has a good teacher and we are seing results for the chattiest and sweetest thing in our lives. Go, Nora!
Matthew is making nice progress and we see more and more from him each week. Matthew will still do anything not to speak one word so that he may get what he wants. Getting him to say "cookie, please" and "I want snack/milk/movie" is an uphill battle with a stubborn boy who has figured out his world and where he fits inside it. He is still a wonder to watch. The autistic mind is something to behold. Matthew gets things and yet in other ways it's almost as if he is refusing to engage with the world. It's not a mean-spirited refusal -- his brain simply works a touch differently than yours and mine.
Nora is having a good year and is coming into her own. She is doing nicely with her math and her script is better than her plain block letters. Unlike last year, she has a good teacher and we are seing results for the chattiest and sweetest thing in our lives. Go, Nora!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The Barak Bandwagon
Borak Obama has hinted rather strongly that he will run in 2008 and the press have their first true superstar for the coming election. Hillary Clinton, Rudy Guiliani and John McCain are old hands these days and the media clearly wants to write about someone new, refreshing, (clearly) inspirational and more than a little unknown.
For all of his strengths, Obama has a damned light resume. The media sniffed at then-Gov. George W. Bush's light record but he looks like Winston Churchill next to Obama. The Illinois Congressman couldn't win his congressional seat and he won his senate seat thanks to an 'independent ' investigation into his opponent's bitter divorce. Fast forward and he found himself running against Alan Keyes. Come on, people.
But Obama, despite the funny name and the feather-lite resume, is damned attractive. He represents hope and unlike Bill Clinton, his sunny optimism doesn't have the very real and depressing taint of scumbagginess. Clinton was a rogue, and even if Obama has a mild bimbo problem, it won't be as destructuve as the days of Bubba.
Hillary, stay in the Senate. Trust me.
For all of his strengths, Obama has a damned light resume. The media sniffed at then-Gov. George W. Bush's light record but he looks like Winston Churchill next to Obama. The Illinois Congressman couldn't win his congressional seat and he won his senate seat thanks to an 'independent ' investigation into his opponent's bitter divorce. Fast forward and he found himself running against Alan Keyes. Come on, people.
But Obama, despite the funny name and the feather-lite resume, is damned attractive. He represents hope and unlike Bill Clinton, his sunny optimism doesn't have the very real and depressing taint of scumbagginess. Clinton was a rogue, and even if Obama has a mild bimbo problem, it won't be as destructuve as the days of Bubba.
Hillary, stay in the Senate. Trust me.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Torture, cinema style
If you need one hour and 47 minutes of sheer, unrelenting torture, then by all means move The Break-Up to the top of your Netflix queue. It is utter torture, a purely unpleasant cinematic experience with two of the most likeable stars from TV and films wasted in a bickering and senseless feud. Who wouldn't want to see the celluloid dating antics of Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, but for some reason, the filmmakers pit the duo against each other after 10 minutes into the film. We watch them break up and maintain a seething time-out as the couple sell their stellar Chicago condo. For such a large and roomy dwelling, this is a spectacularly clammy and claustrophobic experience.
Aniston looks terrific if Vaughn looks like he might need an intervention from his fratboy days as a binge-drinker and party regular. Some weeks at a spa might be good for the bloated character actor.
I did like one aspect of the movie: Aniston walks naked past Vaughn who was deep in the throes of a video game. Here is a king dork -- seen shouting smack at a 12 year-old over John Madden Football - who witnesses what he is stubbornly allowing to slip through his fingers. She glides back to her room -- no body double -- and we hope onto a better movie career.
Aniston looks terrific if Vaughn looks like he might need an intervention from his fratboy days as a binge-drinker and party regular. Some weeks at a spa might be good for the bloated character actor.
I did like one aspect of the movie: Aniston walks naked past Vaughn who was deep in the throes of a video game. Here is a king dork -- seen shouting smack at a 12 year-old over John Madden Football - who witnesses what he is stubbornly allowing to slip through his fingers. She glides back to her room -- no body double -- and we hope onto a better movie career.
Just enough to lose
Is it me or does 21,500 additional troops in Iraq sound like there will be any impact? Four or five brigades sounds impressive to a non-military guy like me but will those numbers mean anything to the insurgents? The proposal not only feels like the last ditch effort for the US's plan in Iraq, it feels like just enough to lose. Those are Mickey Kaus' formulation and he makes sense. Also, do any hard core Neocon truly believe that 21K soliders and Marines will make a dent in the chaos of Iraq?
John Derbyshire of National Review also thinks that with the latest speech, Syria and Iran have absolutely nothing to fear from us at all. Why are we now only securing the Iran and Syria border after a bloody three-year war. And that makes perfect and depressing sense.
Want more insight in how we got here? Check out Fiasco by Thomas Ricks. It seems like every bad decision we could made was pursued vigorously by the present administration. Their incompetence was truly stellar and prescient.
John Derbyshire of National Review also thinks that with the latest speech, Syria and Iran have absolutely nothing to fear from us at all. Why are we now only securing the Iran and Syria border after a bloody three-year war. And that makes perfect and depressing sense.
Want more insight in how we got here? Check out Fiasco by Thomas Ricks. It seems like every bad decision we could made was pursued vigorously by the present administration. Their incompetence was truly stellar and prescient.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
The Urge to Surge
President Bush is expected to propose a surge of US troops for the next 18 months in Iraq. The only question is the number of troops the President is finally willing to bring to the failed state. Will it be 20,000 troops, as most media reports hint at, or will it be the 100,000 troops that some extreme Neocons and anti-war critics have been saying? Tomorrow night will be a true numbers game.
So, if it is 20K or 100K, the question remains: will it work? Frankly, I have my doubts.
Iraq seems to be a hopeless cesspool and I doubt more bodies from the Army and Marines will make a dent in the ciivil war and insurgency. Who exactly are we supposed to surge against? The men who walk through the streets of Iraq and wave at our soldiers, and then at night they don masks and plant roadside bombs. How can 20K new troops make sense of this utter and confounding state of nonsense?
And there is one more question. Where do these troops come from? Our Army and Marine force are stretch thin and one must wonder where the Pentagon is hiding these troops. And one ultimate question remains: who do we shoot? Where do we point our rifiles? I doubt we will even find targets. But that's just me.
So, if it is 20K or 100K, the question remains: will it work? Frankly, I have my doubts.
Iraq seems to be a hopeless cesspool and I doubt more bodies from the Army and Marines will make a dent in the ciivil war and insurgency. Who exactly are we supposed to surge against? The men who walk through the streets of Iraq and wave at our soldiers, and then at night they don masks and plant roadside bombs. How can 20K new troops make sense of this utter and confounding state of nonsense?
And there is one more question. Where do these troops come from? Our Army and Marine force are stretch thin and one must wonder where the Pentagon is hiding these troops. And one ultimate question remains: who do we shoot? Where do we point our rifiles? I doubt we will even find targets. But that's just me.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Domino, in real time
It's the first day of the new year, the kids are inside after we took a walk around he pond across the street, I've poured a drink and fired up HBO On Demand. I am now live-blogging Tony Scott's Domino, the Kira Knightly bounty hunter pic. Ron Rosenbaum of the NY Observer loved this pic even though it hails from the brutalism school of cinema.
hey, I think I coined this term when I reviewd Man on Fire, Tony Scott's revenge epic starring denzel Washington. More on that later.
We're 10 minutes in and we see a bloody Kira Knightly holding a shotgun that is taller than she is and weighs just as much.
The edits are quick, the lighting is sickly flourescent, and the pacing feels like a caffeine jag. Kira looks sexy as hell and gives good jaw. She is paying the real-life bounty hunter who was the daughter of a famous British actor. Laurence Harvey? Wow, that's Jacqueline Bisset as her mother. Man, she was meant to be in movirs. Where has she been?
More later
hey, I think I coined this term when I reviewd Man on Fire, Tony Scott's revenge epic starring denzel Washington. More on that later.
We're 10 minutes in and we see a bloody Kira Knightly holding a shotgun that is taller than she is and weighs just as much.
The edits are quick, the lighting is sickly flourescent, and the pacing feels like a caffeine jag. Kira looks sexy as hell and gives good jaw. She is paying the real-life bounty hunter who was the daughter of a famous British actor. Laurence Harvey? Wow, that's Jacqueline Bisset as her mother. Man, she was meant to be in movirs. Where has she been?
More later
Saturday, December 30, 2006
On Saddam
Some thoughts on Saddam Hussein's execution and comments from various bloggers.
When I saw the news last night, I wondered who would show the video first, Al Jazeera or YouTube. Also, would YouTube show the clip or would it pass in order not to leave a bad taste in people's mouths. You can see people die in various war clips so why not the execution of a dictator? I saw one clip of a group of people huddled around a man lying on the ground. I thought he had had a heart attack until he exploded and sent body parts flying.
The reliable if wonky Josh Marshall asked this question:
Well, it all depends, Josh. If, lets say if, Iraq is a functioning democracy, then these last three bloody years will be forgotten in 50 years. If there is a truly Mulsim country with a functioning democracy and economy, then the current view of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld will be completely different than it it is now. Time will tell.
Marshall's compatriot David Kurtz noted that the executioners look like the terrorist goons from the Nick Berg beheading video. That was truly weird. Why not make it a more military affair with uniforms? Of course, anyone identified with Saddam's final moments will be a target but it does give a snuff film feel to the whole proceedings.
If you're in the mood for some disconnect frisson, go to the New York Times obituary of the dictator. For a newspaper that called the pending execution wrong, the obit is sober and clear-eyed and--yes--almost saber-rattling. If it had appeared in the National Review, no one would have blinked. Good for the Times to remember the brutality of this man.
Here are the first two graffs:
The Times should require Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman and Frank Rich to read this obit everyday when their Bush-bashing columns are due.
Let's play politics. Does this help Bush's numbers, as some must be wondering? No. If there is small spike it will be short-lived. Saddam is gone, a chapter is closed but Iraq roils and rages due to sectarian violence. Will a surge of troops work? No one knows, but the despots around the region are certain that one of their own has died with no small part of US involvement. If this gives them pause, then much has been accomplished.
When I saw the news last night, I wondered who would show the video first, Al Jazeera or YouTube. Also, would YouTube show the clip or would it pass in order not to leave a bad taste in people's mouths. You can see people die in various war clips so why not the execution of a dictator? I saw one clip of a group of people huddled around a man lying on the ground. I thought he had had a heart attack until he exploded and sent body parts flying.
The reliable if wonky Josh Marshall asked this question:
What do you figure this farce will look like 10, 30 or 50 years down the road? A signal of American power or weakness?
Well, it all depends, Josh. If, lets say if, Iraq is a functioning democracy, then these last three bloody years will be forgotten in 50 years. If there is a truly Mulsim country with a functioning democracy and economy, then the current view of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld will be completely different than it it is now. Time will tell.
Marshall's compatriot David Kurtz noted that the executioners look like the terrorist goons from the Nick Berg beheading video. That was truly weird. Why not make it a more military affair with uniforms? Of course, anyone identified with Saddam's final moments will be a target but it does give a snuff film feel to the whole proceedings.
If you're in the mood for some disconnect frisson, go to the New York Times obituary of the dictator. For a newspaper that called the pending execution wrong, the obit is sober and clear-eyed and--yes--almost saber-rattling. If it had appeared in the National Review, no one would have blinked. Good for the Times to remember the brutality of this man.
Here are the first two graffs:
The hanging of Saddam Hussein ended the life of one of the most brutal tyrants in recent history and negated the fiction that he himself maintained even as the gallows loomed — that he remained president of Iraq despite being toppled by the United States military and that his power and his palaces would be restored to him in time.
The despot, known as Saddam, had oppressed Iraq for more than 30 years, unleashing devastating regional wars and reducing his once promising, oil-rich nation to a claustrophobic police state.
The Times should require Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman and Frank Rich to read this obit everyday when their Bush-bashing columns are due.
Let's play politics. Does this help Bush's numbers, as some must be wondering? No. If there is small spike it will be short-lived. Saddam is gone, a chapter is closed but Iraq roils and rages due to sectarian violence. Will a surge of troops work? No one knows, but the despots around the region are certain that one of their own has died with no small part of US involvement. If this gives them pause, then much has been accomplished.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Aboard the yellow bus
One sign you've seen a good movie is how long it lingers in your mind after the DVD player is turned off. Regina and I saw Little Miss Sunshine and loved it. The performances were all terrific and the whole cast made it seem like they were a real family. Steve Carrell is wonderful as the Proust scholar who is recovering from a suicide attempt and Alan Arkin is a hoot as a grandfather who is thrown out of his nursing home for snorting heroin. I especially liked Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear as the parents of the little girl who wants to be in a beauty pageant in California.
Kinnear and Collette are desperately trying to keep their shit together and I can definitely relate. In fact, this was one reason I loved Edie Falco in the most recent episodes of The Sopranos. Her husband has been shot by his uncle and she doesn't know how she can cope. If she doesn't get an Emmy, there should be hearings.
Back to Little Miss Sunshine. I loved the small moments. Steve Carrell running like a true Proust scholar -- his strides are truly academic. The little girl Olive preparing her reaction when she wins her pageant. Alan Arkin's salty advice on love to his grandson, who has taken a vow of silence until he joins the Air Force Academy. The music is terrific and I've ordered the soundtrack from Amazon. Our neighbor has our Netflix copy and she told Regina she loved it and cannot wait to see it with her mother. No greater praise
Kinnear and Collette are desperately trying to keep their shit together and I can definitely relate. In fact, this was one reason I loved Edie Falco in the most recent episodes of The Sopranos. Her husband has been shot by his uncle and she doesn't know how she can cope. If she doesn't get an Emmy, there should be hearings.
Back to Little Miss Sunshine. I loved the small moments. Steve Carrell running like a true Proust scholar -- his strides are truly academic. The little girl Olive preparing her reaction when she wins her pageant. Alan Arkin's salty advice on love to his grandson, who has taken a vow of silence until he joins the Air Force Academy. The music is terrific and I've ordered the soundtrack from Amazon. Our neighbor has our Netflix copy and she told Regina she loved it and cannot wait to see it with her mother. No greater praise
Monday, December 25, 2006
This is your eight-year old on acid
Or playing with the photobooth camera on the new MacBook. She is one happy snowflake. Watch out, Dakota Fanning!
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