While we drove back from Petsmart with Nora's birthday present -- a new hamster named Popcorn -- Regina told me about two memos that Nora brought home last week. First, an Ossining school bus driver was arrested for drug possession and fired from his job. The note assured us that he was not a dealer and the amount found was for his own personal use. Also, he had not applied any of the narcotics to the unruly passengers.
Second, the principal of Nora's school asked that parents refrain from providing cell phones to their children. If you need to contact your child, the memo read, you can simply contact the principal's office and they will contact your child. Apparently some cutting edge parents have been callling their kids during the school day for a little family chat.
Incredible. I can only imagine what a conversation would be like with my daughter, who likes an exchange that wanders.
Me: Hi, Nora. How's school going?
Nora: Fine.
Me: Are you having a good day?
Nora: Yes.
Me: What are you learning?
Nora: Nothing.
Me: Well what are you working on now?
Nora: I dunno. Social Studies?
Me: Well, does it have numbers or presidents?
Nora. Presidents. Hey, Dad. Can we see Nacho Libre again tnight? It's so funny!
(She pronounces this 'faw-nee.' My Long Island DNA is beating out over her Lower Hudson upbringing.)
Me: We'll see. So, you're having a good day then?
Nora: Well, actually, I ...
Me: Mmm-hmmm
Nora: I was crying during snack time because Clyde said I couldn't be her friend anymore.
Me: You were crying?
Nora. Yeah, I was. She said I couldn't look at her anymore.
Me: Couldn't look at you anymore?! Well, you tell Clyde she is a little bitch.
Nora (Hand over phone): My Dad says you're a little bitch.
Me: Nora, is she right there next to you?!
Nora: Yeah, we are making a Teddy Roosevelt Panama Canal poster. He is digging the canal with a teddy bear.
Me: Wait, so your friends now?
Nora: No, she says we can work together but I cannot look at her or sit next to her during lunch.
Me: Jesus. What kind of freaks name their daughter Clyde?
Nora (Hand over phone): My Dad wants to know what --
Me: Nora!
Nora: -- kind of freaks --
Me: NORA!
Nora: -- would name their daughter Clyde?
Me: You're mother will call at 1:15. Keep the ringer on.
Click.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
An Arts and Leisure Update
It's been a busy month so blogging has been light. The weather finally turned sping-like after a stubborn late winter. My magazine is thisclose to putting its June issue to bed -- all 92 pages, which is huge for us. (I edited half of it -- all grid and high performance computing panel sessions!) The kids can smell their summer vacation and camp-vacation and frankly so can I. I even polished the cobwebs off my bike. It's time to tackle the spare tire -- the one hovering over my jeans.
So, what have I been reading, viewing and thinking? Let's take a look:
Children of Men: No more babies means plenty of chaos for England of the near future. The not so green and unpleasant land is tearing itself apart because the planet is infertile and human life has become truly cheap. I haven't read the novel but the dystopia film version is riveting. I usually avoid movies with a strong political agenda but the horror here feels real. The production designer includes stacked nude bodies and a hooded figure on a crate -- Abu Ghraib chic. It's thoroughly depressing but envigorating. And it has one of the best chase scenes ever -- James Cameron and Steven Speilberg couldn't have done better.
Definitely check out the 'bonus' feature -- a documentary against globalization that would make the editorials of The Nation read like The National Review. All I wanted was a featurette on the making of the film, not an interview with Naomi Klein. Ugh.
Little Children: I meant to sneak off to the movies to see the film version of the novel I rather liked but I never got around to it. The movie is a smart and faithful adaptation of Tom Perotta's book about two parents who have an affair after meeting on the playground. I love the story because it shows adults who seem to have found themselves in lives that are quite different from what they expected. How did I end up here, they seem to ask themselves. The suburban setting is at the height of summer with deep green grass, lush trees and air that holds the hint of a major cleansing thunderstorm. Kate Winslet is luminous as the outsider mother trying to connect with her lover, a failed law student and night-time athelete. The fact that he is maried to the gorgeous Jennifer Connelly makes his afair all the more poignent. He is tired of his perfect wife.
Then We Came To the End. It's so odd that the shelf of serious novels about Americans at work is so bare. Really, can you name any serious fiction where a person is shown working for an extended persiod? Maybe American Pastoral, where the hero shows a young woman through his glove factory and makes her a fresh pair of women's gloves. Updike's Rabbit selling Toyotas to a young girl who just might be is daughter? This debut novel covers a year of layoffs at a Chicago advertising firm where people bet who will be the next to get the ax, whose chair and stapler can be stolen, and the petty tricks and seething animosity workers share with one another. A novel about work -- why bother? Definitely check it out.
Live from Austin TX: A Guided By Voices concert disk -- and it's good. Considering how drunk singer Robert Pollard is at the beginning of the show and his steady trek to out and out soused-ness at the end, this is a very sober record. The musicians are at the top of their form especially guitarist Doug Gillard and drummer Kevin March. Adding to the sobriety is the CD design -- no cut out collage work from Pollard -- just a tsraght forward triptych of concert stills. Peter Frampton or Rush would be proud. Bonus points: If you can listen to Glad Girls without laughing, you're a better GBV fan than me.
So, what have I been reading, viewing and thinking? Let's take a look:
Children of Men: No more babies means plenty of chaos for England of the near future. The not so green and unpleasant land is tearing itself apart because the planet is infertile and human life has become truly cheap. I haven't read the novel but the dystopia film version is riveting. I usually avoid movies with a strong political agenda but the horror here feels real. The production designer includes stacked nude bodies and a hooded figure on a crate -- Abu Ghraib chic. It's thoroughly depressing but envigorating. And it has one of the best chase scenes ever -- James Cameron and Steven Speilberg couldn't have done better.
Definitely check out the 'bonus' feature -- a documentary against globalization that would make the editorials of The Nation read like The National Review. All I wanted was a featurette on the making of the film, not an interview with Naomi Klein. Ugh.
Little Children: I meant to sneak off to the movies to see the film version of the novel I rather liked but I never got around to it. The movie is a smart and faithful adaptation of Tom Perotta's book about two parents who have an affair after meeting on the playground. I love the story because it shows adults who seem to have found themselves in lives that are quite different from what they expected. How did I end up here, they seem to ask themselves. The suburban setting is at the height of summer with deep green grass, lush trees and air that holds the hint of a major cleansing thunderstorm. Kate Winslet is luminous as the outsider mother trying to connect with her lover, a failed law student and night-time athelete. The fact that he is maried to the gorgeous Jennifer Connelly makes his afair all the more poignent. He is tired of his perfect wife.
Then We Came To the End. It's so odd that the shelf of serious novels about Americans at work is so bare. Really, can you name any serious fiction where a person is shown working for an extended persiod? Maybe American Pastoral, where the hero shows a young woman through his glove factory and makes her a fresh pair of women's gloves. Updike's Rabbit selling Toyotas to a young girl who just might be is daughter? This debut novel covers a year of layoffs at a Chicago advertising firm where people bet who will be the next to get the ax, whose chair and stapler can be stolen, and the petty tricks and seething animosity workers share with one another. A novel about work -- why bother? Definitely check it out.
Live from Austin TX: A Guided By Voices concert disk -- and it's good. Considering how drunk singer Robert Pollard is at the beginning of the show and his steady trek to out and out soused-ness at the end, this is a very sober record. The musicians are at the top of their form especially guitarist Doug Gillard and drummer Kevin March. Adding to the sobriety is the CD design -- no cut out collage work from Pollard -- just a tsraght forward triptych of concert stills. Peter Frampton or Rush would be proud. Bonus points: If you can listen to Glad Girls without laughing, you're a better GBV fan than me.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
A Season of Student Victims
It's been an amazing two weeks for campus life and the new definitions of victim-hood.
First, the Rutgers women's basketball team were called 'nappy-headed hos' by Don Imus, talk radio's fragile and unfunny dinosaur. He said something stupid -- actually agreed to a statement made by an on-air colleague -- and paid the price. The coach and the basketball team could have lashed back and said he was a racist old coot -- which he is -- but there was a mantle of victimhood to embrace. Instead of saying Imus's words were pathetic and did him more harm than to themselves, the coach and her team failed to display any of the strength and resiliance that got them to the finals.
Second, the Duke lacrosse team were declared innocent when the charges were dropped from their rape case last week. The happy faces of the accused were filled with relief from the false accusations, but their names are ruined. There are plenty of those who were so sure that the rich white athletes were guilty that I am sure they still believe the charges from the alleged victim, whose story has changed at least three times, are still true. Unlike the Rutgers team, the athletes declared their innocence and didn't play the race card when clearly many wanted to belive the story of a black victim at the hands of several white men.
And finally, a campus saw some true victims. A deranged shooter shot something more powerful than mean words or bogus accusations. Unlike the grinding, week-long Rutgers/Imus trainwreck, there was true physical pain and loss of life. We saw bravery and grace among people who fought back at the shooter or protected the students around them -- a lesson for us all. Mickey Kaus is right when he says that the Imus incident is diminished after the masacre at Virginia Tech. Of course, racially insensitive remarks shouldn't be tolerated and Imus' two-week suspension was just. But unlike the Duke accuser and the shooter in Blacksburgh, Imus apologized several times. Sadly, apologies are not enough in Victimville.
First, the Rutgers women's basketball team were called 'nappy-headed hos' by Don Imus, talk radio's fragile and unfunny dinosaur. He said something stupid -- actually agreed to a statement made by an on-air colleague -- and paid the price. The coach and the basketball team could have lashed back and said he was a racist old coot -- which he is -- but there was a mantle of victimhood to embrace. Instead of saying Imus's words were pathetic and did him more harm than to themselves, the coach and her team failed to display any of the strength and resiliance that got them to the finals.
Second, the Duke lacrosse team were declared innocent when the charges were dropped from their rape case last week. The happy faces of the accused were filled with relief from the false accusations, but their names are ruined. There are plenty of those who were so sure that the rich white athletes were guilty that I am sure they still believe the charges from the alleged victim, whose story has changed at least three times, are still true. Unlike the Rutgers team, the athletes declared their innocence and didn't play the race card when clearly many wanted to belive the story of a black victim at the hands of several white men.
And finally, a campus saw some true victims. A deranged shooter shot something more powerful than mean words or bogus accusations. Unlike the grinding, week-long Rutgers/Imus trainwreck, there was true physical pain and loss of life. We saw bravery and grace among people who fought back at the shooter or protected the students around them -- a lesson for us all. Mickey Kaus is right when he says that the Imus incident is diminished after the masacre at Virginia Tech. Of course, racially insensitive remarks shouldn't be tolerated and Imus' two-week suspension was just. But unlike the Duke accuser and the shooter in Blacksburgh, Imus apologized several times. Sadly, apologies are not enough in Victimville.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Abstinence classes -- failure or too early to tell?
It's not working and the abstinence critics will be happy to tell you all about it. In a new congressional report, students who took abstinence lasses were just as likely to engage in sex as those students who hadn't taken the course. And those who attended 25 percent of the classes had the same number of sex partners as those who did not attend.
I would hope even the critics of these classes would agree that this is depressing news. Not just the futility of the classes themselves but the stubbornness of today's teens. I went to high school during the days of raunchy teen comedies like Porky's and various slasher flicks when some girls throat was cut when she lost her virginity in a car, but being a teen today has to be head-spinning. Girls Gone Wild, lowcut jeans, rap videos, Internet smut, and celebrities who are more famous for falling out of their dresses than for the possession of any real talent all have a collateral effect. Trust me, I don't want to turn the calendar back to 1952 but my days in 1983 seem almost wholesome.
My daughter is eight and she has a classmates who have boyfriends. What that means in today's third grade, I have no clue but it doesn't bode well for the fifth grade.
I would hope even the critics of these classes would agree that this is depressing news. Not just the futility of the classes themselves but the stubbornness of today's teens. I went to high school during the days of raunchy teen comedies like Porky's and various slasher flicks when some girls throat was cut when she lost her virginity in a car, but being a teen today has to be head-spinning. Girls Gone Wild, lowcut jeans, rap videos, Internet smut, and celebrities who are more famous for falling out of their dresses than for the possession of any real talent all have a collateral effect. Trust me, I don't want to turn the calendar back to 1952 but my days in 1983 seem almost wholesome.
My daughter is eight and she has a classmates who have boyfriends. What that means in today's third grade, I have no clue but it doesn't bode well for the fifth grade.
Rain, rain, go away
Okay, I have had it. I want sun. I want mild temps. I want the smell of warming Earth. I saw some buds on a few shrubs yesterday but they have probably froze or drowned thanks to today's nor'easter.
Enough.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Garbage can blogging --- Advertisers welcome
We bought an $89 brushed steel garbage can for the kitchen. Yep, nearly ninety bucks for a place to store the dirty diapers, soda cans we are too lazy to recycle, and dead Chinese food. It's very cool -- the lid actually closes and we doubt that Rex will be able to open it for stray scraps. It looks so futuristic that you want to start looking for the USB port.
Now, we have to get a smaller model for Rex's dog food. I'm thinking a $60 unit for kibble. What have I become?
Mergers & Acquisitions -- a review exclusive
You know that you've read a terrific novel if you're searching for a new book to read and nothing excites except the memory of the last book you've just put down. I haven't felt this floaty since I closed The Emperor's Children but Mergers & Acquisitions is the main cause of my current book blues.
And it kills me that M&A is so well done, so smart and funny and with a strong voice -- and the guy who wrote it is barely 26. Ugh, that age! Hemingway and Updike were that old when they wrote their first books. I think it's the same for a bunch of other writers -- Salinger? Joyce? Fitzgerald? -- and this kid has talent. He has a sharp ear for dialogue and a keen eye for detail. I haven't devoured a book this fast in ages.
I loved the scene where the hero is an utter failure at his job but he keeps surviving by the seat of his chinos. His brother is making a small fortune reselling his ritalin and his father joins country clubs like I add on chins. Tommy Quinn is a smart guy who regrets that the only medical school that accepted him is in central America and this realization makes him enter high finance at JS Spencer. That firm is based on JPMorgan where the author, Dana Vachon, worked and barely suceeded. Thank God, he failed because we're all winners with the winning book.
Mergers & Acquisitions. Read it. Hate the author. Hate yourself for not being as talented. Read the book again. Repeat.
Oh, and I love the JS Spencer web site. 'You're going to need a bigger wallet.'
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Gun, Apology and the Lash
While we can be grateful that the British sailors and marines were released safe and sound for the most part, one has to admit that Iranian President Amhadinejad is a master of propaganda and taking the lead in a potential crisis. Mickey Kaus is arguing -- counter to conventional wisdom, of course -- that the Iranians blinked when they released the 15 servicemen thanks to the USS Nimitz making its way to the Gulf. That would have meant three US aircraft carriers in the waters, including the supporting heavy cruisers and submarines carrying cruise missiles.
But what happens next? Surely this incident will repeat itself in the coming weeks and months. In fact, as the National Review recommends, the British Navy should continue patrolling Iraqi waters right away but with extra fire power. Next time, perhaps the Iranian Coast Guard won't be so eager to swoop in and kidnap sailors.
What is Dick Cheney thinking now? Imaging what he would have recommended if the detainees had been Americans brings a chill to the spine.
And the fact that we are guilty of torturing detainees ourselves gives us no opportunity to take the moral high ground when others torture our allies' servicemen. We had clearly and sadly forfeited the moral high ground.
Read this passage from the Times and ask if we have any right to be outraged:
"We had a blindfold and plastic cuffs, hands behind our backs, heads against the wall," Royal Marine Tindell said in an interview with the BBC. "Someone, I'm not sure who, someone said, I quote, 'Lads, lads, I think we're going to get executed.'
"After that comment someone was sick, and as far as I was concerned he had just had his throat cut..."
But what happens next? Surely this incident will repeat itself in the coming weeks and months. In fact, as the National Review recommends, the British Navy should continue patrolling Iraqi waters right away but with extra fire power. Next time, perhaps the Iranian Coast Guard won't be so eager to swoop in and kidnap sailors.
What is Dick Cheney thinking now? Imaging what he would have recommended if the detainees had been Americans brings a chill to the spine.
And the fact that we are guilty of torturing detainees ourselves gives us no opportunity to take the moral high ground when others torture our allies' servicemen. We had clearly and sadly forfeited the moral high ground.
Read this passage from the Times and ask if we have any right to be outraged:
"We had a blindfold and plastic cuffs, hands behind our backs, heads against the wall," Royal Marine Tindell said in an interview with the BBC. "Someone, I'm not sure who, someone said, I quote, 'Lads, lads, I think we're going to get executed.'
"After that comment someone was sick, and as far as I was concerned he had just had his throat cut..."
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Re-entering the tube
I've become a Web zombie to the point that I stopped watching televsiion. But I've been won back. This time last year, I only watched The Sopranos, Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Still terrific shows even if The Sopranos is a shadow of itself. Maybe, they should have stopped after Nancy Marchand died.
But I've been pulled back into network television. I am loving NBC again. Thanks to NetFlix, I have been sucked into the US version of The Office. I am also catching back episodes of 30 Rock online. Sometimes the connection is slow and I have to wait for the Interweb to catch up, but it's ben fun. I cannot seem to make the time to watch the episodes as they air, but viewing them when I want is what TV is all about.
Has Alec Baldwin won an Emmy for 30 Rock? He def should.
But I've been pulled back into network television. I am loving NBC again. Thanks to NetFlix, I have been sucked into the US version of The Office. I am also catching back episodes of 30 Rock online. Sometimes the connection is slow and I have to wait for the Interweb to catch up, but it's ben fun. I cannot seem to make the time to watch the episodes as they air, but viewing them when I want is what TV is all about.
Has Alec Baldwin won an Emmy for 30 Rock? He def should.
Friday, March 30, 2007
In passing ...
We lost a neat woman the other day, just a special person. My wife's second cousin Marie O'Neill passed away at the age of 85. Her health had been failing lately and she passed on earlier this month. We couldn't attend the funeral service in Connecticut because of the bad weather. We will make time for a memorial service later on, however.
She was a great lady and I loved her laugh and her smile. She never married and I knew that she taught English in New Canaan, a leafy, well to do suburb in Connecticut. One of her students was Rick Moody, the short tory writer and novelist who wrote The Ice Storm. At the premiere of the movie, he was asked about his influences. Instead of saying the usual suspects like John Cheever or Updike, he mentioned his eighth grade English teacher and how she made an impact on him.
Here is Mari'e obituary. I knew she was a WAV in WWII but not that she was a Lieutenant Commander or that she had taught in Europe. I did know tht she loved to ride around the country to visit family and friends. She hated Republicans with a passion and once wanted to know what the hell a refrigerator magnet of Richard Nixon was doing on my fridge. (It was a gift from a friend -- a close-up of Dick at his sweatiest).
I loved how she once brought her Carolla into a Toyota dealership for an oil change and walked into the showroom. After talking to the salesman, she decided it was time to buy a new car. She had more miles to travel.
Here is her obit. We miss you, Marie.
Marie Helen O'Neill, age 85, passed away Friday, March 9, 2007, at the Villas of St. Therese, in Columbus , Oh. She was born in New Haven , Conn. on July 14, 1921. Marie received her B.A. Degree in English from Albertus Magnus College in 1942, and earned her M.A. Degree in Education from Columbia University in 1955.
She served in the U.S. Navy as a Lt. Commander in the Communications Office of the Eastern Sea Frontier during WWII, which included the mapping of ship movements in the Atlantic during the war. After retiring from active service, she began and enjoyed a long fulfilling career as an elementary school teacher in Europe, and New Canaan, Conn., where she helped to shape the lives of countless children.
Marie's many travels throughout the world helped to enrich her love of nature, and the protection of the environment, which led to long associations with the National Audubon Society, and other Preservation groups. Her other favorite hobbies included attending museums, musical concerts, and other cultural and social events of all kinds. As an avid reader, she was versed in a variety of subjects, and loved to discuss and debate the current issues across the Political landscape. She was also an active volunteer to causes that helped the less fortunate. Marie will always be remembered for her unique sense of humor, and her adventuresome spirit will be greatly missed by her immediate family, and all who knew her and loved her.
Marie was preceded in death by her parents John and Mary O'Neill of New Haven , Conn. , her brother John J. O'Neill, Jr. and her brother-in-law John S. Bird. Marie is survived by her sister, Eileen Bird of Ohio (John); sister-in-law, Jessie O'Neill of Washington , D.C. (John). Marie is also survived by nieces and nephews, Mary Diamond (Bruce), John O'Neill Jr. (Martha), John Bird Jr., David Bird (Jeanette), Barbara Douglas (Brad), Kathy Cox (Michael) and Stephen O'Neill (Karen). She is also survived by great-nieces and nephews, Martha, Jessie and John Diamond, Carleigh, Madeline and John Douglas, Jack and Sam O'Neill, Benjamin O'Neill, Morgan Vickers, David Bird, Michael, Katie, Rachel, Matthew and Sean Cox and Anna Bird. Funeral from SISK BROTHERS FUNERAL HOME, 3105 Whitney Ave., Hamden, Conn., Saturday at 9 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial at 9:30 a.m. in St. Aedan Church, Fountain St., New Haven. Burial will follow in St. Lawrence Cemetery. Visitation will be Saturday from 8:15-9 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to the National Audubon Society or the Villas at St. Therese, 25 Noe-Bixby Dr., Columbus, Oh. 43213.
She was a great lady and I loved her laugh and her smile. She never married and I knew that she taught English in New Canaan, a leafy, well to do suburb in Connecticut. One of her students was Rick Moody, the short tory writer and novelist who wrote The Ice Storm. At the premiere of the movie, he was asked about his influences. Instead of saying the usual suspects like John Cheever or Updike, he mentioned his eighth grade English teacher and how she made an impact on him.
Here is Mari'e obituary. I knew she was a WAV in WWII but not that she was a Lieutenant Commander or that she had taught in Europe. I did know tht she loved to ride around the country to visit family and friends. She hated Republicans with a passion and once wanted to know what the hell a refrigerator magnet of Richard Nixon was doing on my fridge. (It was a gift from a friend -- a close-up of Dick at his sweatiest).
I loved how she once brought her Carolla into a Toyota dealership for an oil change and walked into the showroom. After talking to the salesman, she decided it was time to buy a new car. She had more miles to travel.
Here is her obit. We miss you, Marie.
Marie Helen O'Neill, age 85, passed away Friday, March 9, 2007, at the Villas of St. Therese, in Columbus , Oh. She was born in New Haven , Conn. on July 14, 1921. Marie received her B.A. Degree in English from Albertus Magnus College in 1942, and earned her M.A. Degree in Education from Columbia University in 1955.
She served in the U.S. Navy as a Lt. Commander in the Communications Office of the Eastern Sea Frontier during WWII, which included the mapping of ship movements in the Atlantic during the war. After retiring from active service, she began and enjoyed a long fulfilling career as an elementary school teacher in Europe, and New Canaan, Conn., where she helped to shape the lives of countless children.
Marie's many travels throughout the world helped to enrich her love of nature, and the protection of the environment, which led to long associations with the National Audubon Society, and other Preservation groups. Her other favorite hobbies included attending museums, musical concerts, and other cultural and social events of all kinds. As an avid reader, she was versed in a variety of subjects, and loved to discuss and debate the current issues across the Political landscape. She was also an active volunteer to causes that helped the less fortunate. Marie will always be remembered for her unique sense of humor, and her adventuresome spirit will be greatly missed by her immediate family, and all who knew her and loved her.
Marie was preceded in death by her parents John and Mary O'Neill of New Haven , Conn. , her brother John J. O'Neill, Jr. and her brother-in-law John S. Bird. Marie is survived by her sister, Eileen Bird of Ohio (John); sister-in-law, Jessie O'Neill of Washington , D.C. (John). Marie is also survived by nieces and nephews, Mary Diamond (Bruce), John O'Neill Jr. (Martha), John Bird Jr., David Bird (Jeanette), Barbara Douglas (Brad), Kathy Cox (Michael) and Stephen O'Neill (Karen). She is also survived by great-nieces and nephews, Martha, Jessie and John Diamond, Carleigh, Madeline and John Douglas, Jack and Sam O'Neill, Benjamin O'Neill, Morgan Vickers, David Bird, Michael, Katie, Rachel, Matthew and Sean Cox and Anna Bird. Funeral from SISK BROTHERS FUNERAL HOME, 3105 Whitney Ave., Hamden, Conn., Saturday at 9 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial at 9:30 a.m. in St. Aedan Church, Fountain St., New Haven. Burial will follow in St. Lawrence Cemetery. Visitation will be Saturday from 8:15-9 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to the National Audubon Society or the Villas at St. Therese, 25 Noe-Bixby Dr., Columbus, Oh. 43213.
The Shame of London vs New York
Talk about your coincidences. Next month's cover story of Waters is about the chance that New York might be losing its financial crown to London. I pitched the story to my reporter Emily and I liked the neat irony that she is a Brit and will be looking at the local/global story as a US reporter.
Then last week New York magazine has a cover story theme issue that just reeks of a huge staff tackling a juicy subject. The same subject you can all read in my magazine next week. It was an entire issue dedicated to NYC and London. Who is the leader in the arts, entertainment, dining, living and global finance? It was very well done and you should def check it out. The magazine was a tad defensive -- hell, it is New York magazine afterall, but they did capture the notion that London is very much on the rise. It is the global city to watch.
I have some mixed thoughts on London. I love the history of the city and it's very neat to see the old architecture and the street names that bring back some novels I haven't read since college. It certainly has a pulse and there is a ton of money floating around there. The people are generally nice and seemed not interested in blaming me for the American-made woes in the world. But then again, they have no problem describing how much they detest President Bush. Not disagree with his policies but truly loathe the man. Oh, and Israel isn't popular either.
But what is it about London that I don't like? It's simple: it has a thuggish air about it. I feel like I could get jumped by a group of drunken teenage girls. I feel like a soccer hooligan can throw a drink in my face and steal my cell phone. The drinking is outrageous over there and I attended a SUNY school not far from the Canadian border.
A friend has relocated to London with her banker husband and two sons. She is adjusting well but she is having trouble matching the prim accents and smart clothes with the loutish behavior. She has seen drunks screaming at one another in broad daylight, mothers behaving badly with their children and her mind reels at the conversations around security systems and the rash of break-ins. I can relate - on my last trip to London someone was apparently stabbed outside the hotel where I was staying. When I checked out, a maid was furiously scrubbing the sidewalk.
So, what is causing this bad behavior? The excessive drinking is a cue and key ingrediant, to be sure. But maybe it's because the UK doesn't have a shaming culture the way the US does. If you misbehave here, scolds on the right and the left will gladly tell you where you screwed up and how you are a bad person. Having sex outside of marriage? The Christian Conservatives will tell you all about hell and loose morals. Have uncharitable thoughts about gays or minorities? The PC patrol on the left will tell you you are intolerant and need to change your thinking.
I don't think this exists in the UK. Do they have evangelicals, pentecostals and fundamentalists keeping one and all in God's line? Do they have liberal academics and columnists telling us that some thoughts are racist, sexist and homophobic and will not be tolerated? I don't think that exists in England.
Add in a lack of church attendence, and it's a wonder any laws are followed.
Then last week New York magazine has a cover story theme issue that just reeks of a huge staff tackling a juicy subject. The same subject you can all read in my magazine next week. It was an entire issue dedicated to NYC and London. Who is the leader in the arts, entertainment, dining, living and global finance? It was very well done and you should def check it out. The magazine was a tad defensive -- hell, it is New York magazine afterall, but they did capture the notion that London is very much on the rise. It is the global city to watch.
I have some mixed thoughts on London. I love the history of the city and it's very neat to see the old architecture and the street names that bring back some novels I haven't read since college. It certainly has a pulse and there is a ton of money floating around there. The people are generally nice and seemed not interested in blaming me for the American-made woes in the world. But then again, they have no problem describing how much they detest President Bush. Not disagree with his policies but truly loathe the man. Oh, and Israel isn't popular either.
But what is it about London that I don't like? It's simple: it has a thuggish air about it. I feel like I could get jumped by a group of drunken teenage girls. I feel like a soccer hooligan can throw a drink in my face and steal my cell phone. The drinking is outrageous over there and I attended a SUNY school not far from the Canadian border.
A friend has relocated to London with her banker husband and two sons. She is adjusting well but she is having trouble matching the prim accents and smart clothes with the loutish behavior. She has seen drunks screaming at one another in broad daylight, mothers behaving badly with their children and her mind reels at the conversations around security systems and the rash of break-ins. I can relate - on my last trip to London someone was apparently stabbed outside the hotel where I was staying. When I checked out, a maid was furiously scrubbing the sidewalk.
So, what is causing this bad behavior? The excessive drinking is a cue and key ingrediant, to be sure. But maybe it's because the UK doesn't have a shaming culture the way the US does. If you misbehave here, scolds on the right and the left will gladly tell you where you screwed up and how you are a bad person. Having sex outside of marriage? The Christian Conservatives will tell you all about hell and loose morals. Have uncharitable thoughts about gays or minorities? The PC patrol on the left will tell you you are intolerant and need to change your thinking.
I don't think this exists in the UK. Do they have evangelicals, pentecostals and fundamentalists keeping one and all in God's line? Do they have liberal academics and columnists telling us that some thoughts are racist, sexist and homophobic and will not be tolerated? I don't think that exists in England.
Add in a lack of church attendence, and it's a wonder any laws are followed.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
In through the window
What a week. Last Saturday, there was 10 inches of ice-covered snow outside with two foot drifts at the front and back doors. I couldn't let the dog out to do his business. I also couldn't get out to start the shovelling. Wunnerful. So, being the Man of Action that everyone secretly knows me to be, I donned my shovelling gear and opened the window of the TV room. I handed my wife the shovel, parted the curtains and slipped out into the white frontier. And then sank up to my knees in snow.
Yup, I had to exit through the window.
Fast forward: The neighbors joined us to help clear the driveway we all share. Once we realized that the driveway was more icy snow than powder, I suggested that one of the teens hail any truck with a plow. After one stopped and agreed to clear our driveway, I ran to the house for cash. We hadn't gone to an ATM in ages but we scrounged togther 38 bucks. The guy in the truck asked for only $10 or $15 so I gave him the top amount and asked for his phone number. His wife/girlfriend was happy to oblige. You could tell that the mild winter had taken a hit on their personal economy and they were grateful for this late snowfall. I was happy not to break my back chipping the hard stuff and hauling it over the fence.
I saw The Departed, the film that won Martin Scorsese his Oscar for Goodfellas and Taxi Driver. Not a great film but a terrific cat and mouse flick. I had a ball and I actually liked watching two actors I have never thought much about -- Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. I'd like to rent this again from NetFlix just to count how many people get shot in the head. I think it's at least six or eight but it might be more.
I am reading A Coffin For Dimitrios, a thriller by Eric Ambler, the master of this genre. (Man, how I hate that word). You can see why Alan Furst adores his writing and uses him as a guide every single time he writes a WWII thriller of his own. Definitely check it out.
Yup, I had to exit through the window.
Fast forward: The neighbors joined us to help clear the driveway we all share. Once we realized that the driveway was more icy snow than powder, I suggested that one of the teens hail any truck with a plow. After one stopped and agreed to clear our driveway, I ran to the house for cash. We hadn't gone to an ATM in ages but we scrounged togther 38 bucks. The guy in the truck asked for only $10 or $15 so I gave him the top amount and asked for his phone number. His wife/girlfriend was happy to oblige. You could tell that the mild winter had taken a hit on their personal economy and they were grateful for this late snowfall. I was happy not to break my back chipping the hard stuff and hauling it over the fence.
I saw The Departed, the film that won Martin Scorsese his Oscar for Goodfellas and Taxi Driver. Not a great film but a terrific cat and mouse flick. I had a ball and I actually liked watching two actors I have never thought much about -- Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. I'd like to rent this again from NetFlix just to count how many people get shot in the head. I think it's at least six or eight but it might be more.
I am reading A Coffin For Dimitrios, a thriller by Eric Ambler, the master of this genre. (Man, how I hate that word). You can see why Alan Furst adores his writing and uses him as a guide every single time he writes a WWII thriller of his own. Definitely check it out.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Some picture blogging -- on a mild Daylight Sunday
A boy and his orange paint.
The hands tell the tale.
Some flowers outsidde in the backyard.
Two angels and a green pillow.
An angel outdoors.
Thomas The Bitch Engine
The boys are watching Toy Story 2 and basking in the Buzz Lightyear introductory scene. It's a welcome relief from the Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs they have been devouring for more than a year. An actual story -- where things happen. Characters are revealed and developed. The surfaces have actual textures. In the endless Thomas videos, the different trains and engines moan and bitch at one another in their simpering British accents.
It's the video equivalent of working in an office of women.
Oh, dear. Was that my outside voice?
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Chief comments
A few days ago I posted that when I saw the F-105 Thunderchief at the New England Air Museum, I was amazed that the thing was so huge. I still am -- it's ginormous for a fighter. I saw an F-14 Tomcat inside the same wing of the museum and I would have been certain that the Tomcat would be larger than the Thunderchief. I also remarked that the USAF probably couldn't wait to get rid of this pig. I remember one documentary that said the Thunderchief needed plenty of maintenance after each flight. I got the impression that the F-4 Phantom was therefore more reliable as a fighter bomber. Besides, the Navy and Marine Corp clearly didn't see it as a viable option or they would have asked for versions of their own, much like the Phantom and one of my fave jets, the A-7 Corsair.
I received an email from USAF pilot who flew several missions in the 'chief. He was insulted that I quoted my son by saying 'oink oink' about the jet he flew and clearly loved. No offense meant, sir. It is a damned impressive jet and I remain baffled that it was really that huge.
It does look like it would be fun to fly one, though. That's for sure.
Books n flicks
My first week as just Special Projects Editor is over and so far, so good. It is an almost out of body experience to watch someone else do my job of the past three and a half years. Wow, it really is a full-time job, I said as I did the second job I have been doing at the time, namely the special projects.
We had a wicked downpour on Thursday night/Friday morning and regina and I woke to find a small flood in the basement. Let's just say we had some puddles and a small hole with water streaming out. Not a trickle -- actual force and volume, like you turned on the faucet half-way. We bailed and laid out towels and fired up the wet-dry vac. The filter was so old it couldn't handle the force of the water being sucked in so we went to a pair of Home Depots for a new filter. Once afixed, the sucking commenced.
Watched more of the second Season of The Office (US). It's very well done and is getting more wonderful with each episode. They soften Pam's bofriend from a thuggish lout to sweet if thoughtless loser. Dwight Shrute is a wonder and the actor Rainn Wilson was born tomplay this overbearing psycho who will ruin everyone's life once he is promoted to any position of power.
I am reading Low Life, a survey of old New York from the 1840s until the 1930s. NYC was, in short, a magnicently dirty and dangerous place to live. This isn't your father's Henry James novel. In fact, I bought this book of of Amazon with Edith Wharton's House of Mirth. Not a gilded age in the pages of Low Life.
The other morning, I cashed in some pounds at Grand Central and I laid the book on the counter. The guy behind the counter looked at the cover and said, "Low Life, eh? Is it about George Bush?"
Everyone's a critic.
We had a wicked downpour on Thursday night/Friday morning and regina and I woke to find a small flood in the basement. Let's just say we had some puddles and a small hole with water streaming out. Not a trickle -- actual force and volume, like you turned on the faucet half-way. We bailed and laid out towels and fired up the wet-dry vac. The filter was so old it couldn't handle the force of the water being sucked in so we went to a pair of Home Depots for a new filter. Once afixed, the sucking commenced.
Watched more of the second Season of The Office (US). It's very well done and is getting more wonderful with each episode. They soften Pam's bofriend from a thuggish lout to sweet if thoughtless loser. Dwight Shrute is a wonder and the actor Rainn Wilson was born tomplay this overbearing psycho who will ruin everyone's life once he is promoted to any position of power.
I am reading Low Life, a survey of old New York from the 1840s until the 1930s. NYC was, in short, a magnicently dirty and dangerous place to live. This isn't your father's Henry James novel. In fact, I bought this book of of Amazon with Edith Wharton's House of Mirth. Not a gilded age in the pages of Low Life.
The other morning, I cashed in some pounds at Grand Central and I laid the book on the counter. The guy behind the counter looked at the cover and said, "Low Life, eh? Is it about George Bush?"
Everyone's a critic.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Welcome to Stringfield
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.
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.
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...
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