Friday, December 31, 2004 ::: Met up with my friends despite some communications technology problems and have been seeing the sights - sacre-coeur and montmartre, the eiffel tower and all that. also wining and dining.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004 ::: Right now I'm in Paris, and if all goes well I should be meeting up with a few friends all of whom have arrived separately from various directions. more updates soon.
Thursday, December 23, 2004 ::: so I've been up to a lot - I finished my first semester of grad school without going insane or going down in flames. I've met handsome wonderful man from Colombia. I've almost finished my christmas shopping. And I have a bookshelf waiting for me in Baltimore. All in all a busy busy month.
Oh, and I'm going to Paris for New Year's. If I have reasonable internet access over there I'll post some entries from over there.
Monday, November 22, 2004 ::: so it's been a while, no? I thought I ought to point out a fabulous new research tool that's shown up: google scholar, which directs to articles and provides other online links and citations and is generally just superultrafabuluos.
in other news, I am doing a lot of schoolwork, or rather, avoiding doing as much schoolwork as I ought to be doing. The more papers I have to write, the greater interest I have in cooking elaborate recipes, vacuuming, spending lots of time on minor assignments, etc. which means I may write a few more posts before the semester ends.
Saturday, October 23, 2004 ::: so perhaps I ought to start off with a link to someone's writing on structured procrastination, a technique by which the lazy and slothful can appear industrious and on top of things. link via caterina.net.
here's some other links that have been sitting around my inbox:
Saturday, September 25, 2004 ::: so I guess it's pretty obvious that I've had a lot to do at school and so I haven't been posting too much. But I'll be writing more soon.
Friday, September 10, 2004 ::: so I did some cleaning around the apartment and feel a lot better now. on to the reading for all my classes, as it seems it's going to be a busy weekend and there won't be a lot of time for other stuff.
I've been doing a fair amount of thinking about blogging in relation to grad school. I have a lot of class-related weblinks, some interesting, some not so much. what to do? I think I may post the occasional link here about American Studies but may in fact start a new weblog. so don't be surprised if that happens
A few words about starting the program. There is an awful lot of reading. but that's no great surprise. the people are pretty cool. TAing is a lot harder than I thought it would be, but now that I'm starting to get a handle on it, it's a little less daunting. I do not have enough room for books in my tiny tiny apartment and since I'm doing some space reorganizing it looks really messy right now. to the point that I feel embarrassed. but this afternoon I'm going to do some cleaning.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004 ::: oh, and I guess I should mention that I know other real live people with weblogs, who despite their protests to the contrary are interesting people as well as good friends of mine.
wouldn't you know it, the family guy has started a blog to accompany its relaunch! of course, whether or not it's going to be a worthwhile endeavor is another question.
In the Hackescher Höfe - art gallery central - a network of courtyards that are almost unnoticeable from the street, but quite amazing once you're among the cognoscenti.
Facade, Frankfurter Allee, Friedrichshain - This building is part of a series built in the early fifties as a model of the new living in the GDR. really quite a lovely building.
Building on Friedrichstrasse, near Galleries Lafayette. I seem to recall that there used to be a storefront here with "ALLES IST BAR" (=everything is possible) written in the window in big gold letters. but not anymore.
Candlesticks for sale at the same flea market. I tried to explain the game of clue to my german landlady. She didn't seem to know what I was talking about.
Jürgen Wittdorf exhibit, Schwules Museum. An artist who created a number of homoerotic works in East Germany in the early sixties. Quite an accomplishment in and of itself for the time.
The walk symbol is called an "Ampelmänchen" ( = little stop-light man), and there is also a corresponding Ampelmänchen for the don't walk symbol. Walk is "Der Geher" and Don't Walk is "Der Steher." I was going to take a picture of the Steher but almost got hit by a truck bowling down the road and thought the better of it.
So this is the first of the Berlin photos that I'm posting. It was taken at the gardens of the Jewish Museum in Berlin, where they have some quite beautiful sycamore trees.
Friday, August 20, 2004 ::: so my journey is almost at an end. Today is my last day of classes, and I've been putting off my homework until the last minute. This morning I went shopping. I've been taking more pictures and they're finally organized but of course still not uploadable.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004 ::: So I've been checking out some more tucked away parts of the city. Spent the morning in Pankow, and saw the rather modest and run-down Schloss Niederschönhausen, where frederick the great plonked his estranged wife. the grounds are rather pretty though, very good for a Spaziergang. Pankow itself has a very east-european feel to it, and seems mostly populated by retirees, or maybe that's who's out at ten in the morning. I also recently had the opportunity to check out the märkisches museum which is in an old medieval building and filled with an eclectic assortment of exhibits, mostly from the nineteenth century but from other periods as well. the old ladies who run the place are quite friendly, or maybe just starved for a little attention in their perennially almost empty museum.
Friday, August 13, 2004 ::: so there's an expat rag in berlin, and it's pretty much what you'd expect, kind of arty, kind of sleazy, and veering between taking itself too seriously and arch self-awareness. the latter tendency shows through in the letters section in particular.
I was supposed to go to city museum this morning but got the time wrong, so I have a bit more free time than I had expected. I'm also beginning to realize that my time here is quite limited, so I had better make the most of it.
Thursday, August 12, 2004 ::: so last night I more or less spent the whole time drinking beer and speaking in english. slightly hung over this morning but drank a lot of water and started feeling better. also, yesterday morning I went to the pergamon museum which is pretty cool, especially the ishtar gate, which in my opinion is more impressive than the pergamon altar.
otherwise, not too much going on. I'm planning on taking a lot of pictures of berlin graffiti, since there's a lot of neat stencil stuff. of course, it's still pretty hot and so I may opt to stay indoors, or at least someplace shady.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004 ::: so, as promised, some lovely pictures, which sadly aren't mine. Sans Souci Palace, where frederick the great and voltaire and that whole in-crowd hung out. The Charlottenburg Palace, where I saw the concert. I gather that the prussians were rather fond of palaces. and gilt-covered walls and furniture. and parks full of homoerotic greco-roman statuary, of which I have snapped a few pictures.
speaking of homoeroticism, I tried to find the schwules museum (the gay museum) this morning only to discover that like many things in berlin, it is not open very often. there is a guided tour tomorrow and otherwise I have to wait till saturday. meh.
and speaking of local customs, I have discovered that one thing that berliners do NOT like to do is make change. And I'm not talking about just waltzing into a store and demanding change for a 100-euro note. Even when you go into a coffee shop and pay 2 euros and 50 cents for coffee and a pastry, and then present a 5-euro note, the shopkeepers get very upset. It would be preferable to whip out a gun and rob the store than make change for 5 euros. Another sore spot with berliner shopkeepers is failing to listen when they explain that there is a twenty cent deposit on cans and bottles. Failing to acknowledge the existence of the deposit means that you are Bad Person out to destroy the environment. or something. when they get mad, they start speaking german too fast for me to understand very well.
These days, we Americans are also somewhat apprehensive about the whole anti-americanism thing going on in europe. and I have to say there here in berlin, home of militant pacifism and generally the sort of people that neocons roll their eyes at and all that, I have encountered hardly a whiff. no one has asked my why I am a bloodthirsty fascist-imperialist or anything along those lines. Not that I'm planning on becoming one anyway. However, for those of you dear readers wishing to experience some good old fashioned euro-snobbery, rest assured that there are a few pockets still flourishing in berlin. A favorite subject in particular is the proponderance of happy endings in american movies. of course, indie american movies don't always make it across the pond, but whatever.
and now I must attend to my homework that I've put off until the last moment. bis später, meine damen und herren.
Monday, August 09, 2004 ::: ach, so wenig zeit hier umzuschreiben. anyway, it's been a pretty busy past couple of days. the concert was great, and I was quite surprised to discover that frederick the great can actually compose decent music. yesterday I went to potsdam along with a few goethe institut friends and it was hot and sunny. and expensive. and tiring. but still worthwhile - Sans Souci is surprisingly small and perhaps a little overdecorated, but then again, what's a palace without gilt? the grounds are lovely, and the town of potsdam has a lot of medieval buildings. hopefully I'll have a chance to go again before I leave. we also saw cecilienhof where the potsdam conference took place with truman, churchill and stalin.
today I went and saw the bundestag. the goethe institut had thankfully arranged it so that we didn't have to stand in the unglaublich long line, although we did sit through a long and not-too-understandable lecture on the intricacies of the german federal government before having all of ten minutes to see the glass dome atop the bundestag. the view is breathtaking. hopefully I'll have the time to come back and make some links, but other people are waiting to use the computers at the moment.
Saturday, August 07, 2004 ::: na ja. I've been experiencing a lot of laptop frustration of late. just spent about an hour trying to connect at the goethe institut with no luck. so still no pictures. In class yesterday we gave little presentations about our neighborhood tours and apparently one of the groups got a little slice of gay life in berlin. this was, of course, the group that included the polish nun.
as for me, I haven't been up to too much - I went to friedrichshain again this morning and had a fabulous brunch which included smoked salmon, pickled herring, cheese, plum tarts, crepes, assorted fresh fruit and whatever else I could stuff into myself. I would have taken a picture but had forgotten my camera at home. there was also a beerfest on frankfurter allee, but ten in the morning was a little too early for me to have a german-sized beer. there was also a lot of wurst for sale, including horse sausage, which I did not venture to try, but seemed a popular treat with the crowd nonetheless.
my landlady has gone on a spur-of-the-moment trip to the beach in poland, leaving me with the apartment to myself. again, no grandiose plans, but she does have lovely balcony for sitting out on in the evenings.
anyway, that's it for today's entry. this evening I'm going to a concert at the charlottenburg palace, which will include a composition by frederick the great.
Friday, August 06, 2004 ::: so it's been really hot in berlin, and yesterday we had to a little outdoor project for class, doing a little historical research on the neighborhood. I was more or less ready to melt, although now at least I walk around the area an not get myself instantly lost in the maze of tiny streets. I tossed my pictures on my laptop and some of them turned out quite nicely. until I get those pictures up, here's someone else's berlin photoblog.
oh, yes, and I had lunch at a thai place in the friedrichstraße Bahnhof and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.
anyway, today's entry is rather short because I have to go do some extra shopping and work a little more on my homework.
Thursday, August 05, 2004 ::: so where did I leave off? Ah yes, the hotel. every other building in the neighborhood was coated with graffiti, but the hotel sparkled on the outside - every corner was cleaned to perfection. The inside was also pretty nice. I checked in and promptly went to bed, even though it was only about 8pm or so. slept for nearly 12 hours. got up, had breakfast and read the berliner morgenpost and was happy that I pretty much understood all the stories. checked out, went for a stroll and discovered that I had been in the area last time, and was near a very large second-hand store that I hope I have a chance to visit again before I leave. Then I checked in at the goethe institut, took a grammar and vocabulary test that more or less indicated that I had forgotten everything, came back "home" to potsdamer platz, and then went to go visit the charlottenburg palace, only to discover that it was closed on mondays. I strolled around a bit and came back and got my stuff a bit more organized and made myself gemütlich.
the next day I had breakfast with my landlady who has lead a very cosmopolitan life in brazil and chile. Then I went to class - I'm the only american. there rest of the class consists of several poles and italians, a spaniard or two, a canadian, a french woman living in switzerland, a hungarian and probably someone else that I've forgotten momentarily. one of the poles is a nun, and her mere presence seems to instill waves of lapsed catholic guilt in me. I confessed to her that I hadn't been to church in ages.
anyway, I think that the makeup of the class is such that I am not tempted to speak english all the time. the canadian guy is thankfully equally dedicated to speaking german.
that evening I tried a filipino restaurant down the street from me. I was quite disappointed - the pancit was bland and came without calamansis or even a lemon. and the lumpia were not like any lumpia I had in my three years in manila. I guess they cater to german tastes.
the next day I went to jewish museum in the morning. there was a mixup with our guide and so we had a lot of time to kill, so I hung out in the museum courtyard, snapped a few photos and discovered that behind the museum there was a field with some farm animals, all looking rather out of place in the middle of kreuzberg. the museum tour dealt mostly with liebeskind's architecture and symbolism of the holocaust and I was hoping to see more of pre-holocaust stuff. perhaps I'll go back if I have the time.
last night I went to a goethe institut stammtisch and discovered that it was mostly populated by people I hadn't met before. it was a little awkward but a few familiar faces trickled in and so it got a little bit more social. I met a norwegian woman and got to practice my norwegian a little too. it seems that my german has pretty much taken over, even if it was the opposite just a week ago.
so more updates as things develop. So far things have been pretty enjoyable although perhaps not the sort thing that makes for exciting description.
Tuesday, August 03, 2004 ::: So now I´m at the goethe institut where I have more time to write. the story so far:
I packed up all my stuff, having decided to bring my digital camera, which meant that I had to bring my laptop to upload pictures with, meaning that I might as well bring my ipod and why not my travel speakers since that´s what they´re there for. combined with my hefty assortment of books this meant for some extremely heavy luggage. I stumbled down to 17th street and discovered that there was not a cab in sight, started walking towards mass ave, finally hailed a cab to union station, was grossly overcharged but didn´t feel like arguing. took the train up to bwi with some very loud new yorkers, and got on the plane. I took icelandair this time, which meant that the plane was full of blond people. I sat next a very bling bling elderly russian couple who were quite nice. then I got off at reykjavik for a flight change. iceland is very brown and rocky. scenic I guess if you´re into stark landscapes. of course all I saw was the airport so I should perhaps withhold my judgment for the time being. on the flight to berlin I sat next to a nice couple and chatted for a long long time, and then ran into them on the train into the city. Got to potsdamer platz, met my host, who is an old hippie of sorts. ran a few basic errands, had my first ever doner kebab, although I later discovered that my system isn´t quite ready for meat yet, and then went to hotel that refused to cancel my reservation.
Friday, July 30, 2004 ::: some quick internet research reveals that berlin has an equivalent to the dcmetroblogmap - the blog to stop ratio is lower than dc, but there are a lot more stops. and I guess it hasn't quite caught on as much. So far, I've only looked at one or two berliner weblogs.
Monday, July 26, 2004 ::: very sleepy today for no apparent reason. hmph. anyway, it seems that there are a number of interesting people covering the democratic convention, including librarian.net and previously on hiatus 601am. I'm Looking forward to hearing obama and eleanor holmes norton speak, although I don't watch a lot of tv news and my schedule this week is pretty hectic.
speaking of which, I'm going to be in germany for three weeks, which should be pretty exciting. I still have a lot of stuff to take care of, but have got my accomodations, plane ticket, etc. all squared away. hopefully I'll have enough access to blog there. I may even bring my laptop, which will be good for storing pictures from my camera and stuff.
kottke also links to an interesting article about the 17th-century tulip speculation bubble, which may have been less of a speculative bubble than previously thought. A while ago I read Nature's Metropolis, which has a lot to say on the Chicago futures market and cornering the trade, which must be done sneakily and can cause additional troubles for cornerers afterwards, who must then dispose of the millions of bushels of wheat that they have bought up.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004 ::: So my dvd for die mommie die finally arrived after no small delay. Other people have seen it too, even if they didn't appreciate it as much as I do.
I'm thinking having a quote per post from the movie until I get tired or lazy or forget. so without further ado:
"Angela Arden [to ungrateful bitch of a daughter [Natasha Lyonne]]: ya sound like a square from squaresville!"
Tuesday, July 13, 2004 ::: So I've been reading the screenplay for Gigi and all the lessons in manners and breeding etc. reminded me of an especially sarcastic passage in gogol's dead souls, regarding the ever-so-important training in french lessons, piano, and housewifery:
she had been gently brought up, and gentle nurture, as we all know, is to be acquired only in boarding schools, and boarding schools, as we know, hold the three principal subjects which constitute the basis of human virtue to be the French language (a thing indispensable to the happiness of married life), piano-playing (a thing wherewith to beguile a husband's leisure moments), and that particular department of housewifery which is comprised in the knitting of purses and other "surprises." Nevertheless changes and improvements have begun to take place, since things now are governed more by the personal inclinations and idiosyncracies of the keepers of such establishments. For instance, in some seminaries the regimen places piano-playing first, and the French language second, and then the above department of housewifery; while in other seminaries the knitting of "surprises" heads the list, and then the French language, and then the playing of pianos--so diverse are the systems in force!
Wednesday, June 30, 2004 ::: so here's some links that have been sitting around in my inbox:
an absolutely stunning photo taken from the building where I used to work, back in the college days. only serves to remind me of how ugly it is where I work right now. at this very moment some crows are hopping over the ugly tar and gravel roof and and staring the the hvac equipment.
getting more out of gmail. turns out I can't check it at home less I upgrade to OS 10.3, or wait for OS 10.4 to come out and then upgrade to that. meh.
having escaped from the castle dungeon/trunk of a car/creepy attic/large plastic prison where I've been hiding out or held hostage, I'm free to take up posting things here again. in the meantime, I've been doing a lot of reading - Chopin in Paris (rather dull), a very long and informative history of the first ladies, which disappointed me terribly by finishing with plain jane mamie eisenhower, and some other book that I can't remember but must have been good enough to finish and give back to the library. I also just checked out the revolutionary career of maximilien robespierre, which I've only just started. It's supposed to be an apologistic account. it did mention that he was kind to small birds, or least his sister said he was.
I also just ordered the DVD for Die Mommie Die, which I simply just loved when it came out in the theater.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004 ::: right now I'm listening to new order's "state of the nation." so good. btw, a while ago I griped about the the new martina topley bird album but since I've decided that it's really really really really really good. In fact, it's one of those rare albums where I can put it on and listen to the whole thing and like every song.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004 ::: oh, and I emailed the ANC people since I didn't see anything about the election results. schwinn won. no great surprise. seems like a nice enough guy although I do not so much "vigorously support the residential character of the neighborhood"
Friday, June 11, 2004 ::: speaking of screenplays, part of my job involves reading them. Here's an excellent passage that I came across from the 1930s screwball comedy The Young in Heart:
Such a distinguished man... But what does he do now?
He's an economist. Part of the Brain Trust, you know. Labor conditions,
wages, unemployment... [He] doesn't believe in unemployment.
Wednesday, June 09, 2004 ::: This evening was a local ANC election. I had my choice of movahedi or schwinn who as I understood it are the business/nightlife and the anti-nightlife/anti-development candidates respectively. I met schwinn on the way in to the JCC and he seemed nice enough even if I wasn't going to vote for him. I met movahedi afterwards, and he was certainly very handsome but a bit standoffish, but he was in a hurry to get to the polling place I assume. It's a shame ANC meetings are stultifyingly boring and go on forever, because there are some issues I would hope the neighborhood could address (like lack of affordable housing) rather than squabbling about whether or not there should be more sidewalk cafe permits or whatever. I really should go more often but frankly don't have the time.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004 ::: unbeknownst to me, the cassini satellite has been speeding towards saturn and its motley assortment of rings and orbiting celestial menagerie, including the large and orange and mysterious titan. and there are pictures already.
while I was up in nyc, me and my sister had a chat about the comic books of our childhood, many of which were asterix in english translation - and some dedicated fans have put together a translation of all the major characters - with some significant changes namewise that I didn't happen to know: the dog dogmatix is idéfix in french, unhygienix the fishmonger is ordralfabétix.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004 ::: My new yorker came in the mail yesterday and I sat down and read the entire on barack obama, who is running for the illinois senate. It's kind of weird to have someone who I always thought of as such a local person (my old state senator) to be running for an office that would vaunt him onto the national scene should he be elected.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004 ::: So it was quite a weekend - hung out with friends, went to the farmers market for the first time in ages and saw a fabulous movie called valentin which made me want to live in Buenos Aires.
and there are now almost too many weblogs to read these days - gothamist has budded off a sister site chicagoist. kind of like a sea anemone, but with writing skills and a central nervous system. oh, and there was also an interview with actor chris eigeman, who was in the last days of disco (as a villain) and the tv show it's like, you know (as an antihero). and an interview with the slower.net guy
Thursday, May 20, 2004 ::: so this evening I thought I'd go and get myself a nice lindt candy bar from the store a few blocks away. On the way back, I thought I'd take 16th street for a chance of scenery - it was a beautiful evening and I was enjoying myself immensely. I group of about three or four girls were walking up the street in the opposite direction. As we got close, they all waved and hello very cheerfully. I was a little surprised since people don't usually do that. I smiled said hello back. Once they were past me one them called be a "gay moron" and the rest all laughed. I was too shocked to really respond. I rarely encounter outright homophobia on the street but of course I guess I'm sort of straight-acting. Of course it could have meant gay in the sense of "that is totally gay" which doesn't really make it less insulting.
I kept on walking and didn't even turn around. It stung. And then I thought, I should have turned around and confronted them and asked them why they did what they just did. what do you say to a bunch of ten year old girls? They were also all black and there being a lot of (white)gay/(straight)black tension these days in DC I sensed that some very harsh words could be exchanged if I did confront them. I'm at a loss. Like I said, these things don't happen too often to me and when they do I usually feel like a deer in headlights and only in hindsight think of the right way to have gone about the situation.
this has been a long week, workwise. feels like friday, in fact I was thinking that it was, and then realized just a few minutes ago, that no, I'm going to have to come into work again tomorrow. very sad.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004 ::: posting has been light lately, since I've been really busy - lots of work, plus I've started seeing someone - we had a great first date last week, a second date last night that went well also but of course you tend to overinterpret everything cause you hope you didn't say anything stupid. anyway, things seem to be going well and I hope I don't jinx things by saying so.
Monday, May 10, 2004 ::: I do so fondly remember reading choose your own adventure stories when I was little, especially skipping around to find the ending that I wanted. And now, there is a present-day choose your own nyc adventure. I went to williamsburg and hung out with a poorly behaved karen o of yeah yeah yeahs fame, but of course anything could have happened! except when you're given two choices, neither of which you actually had any intention of doing. or one choice that's clearly not leading anyplace good. but whatever. this all via very big blog.
oh, and I came across another chicago photoblog, chicago uncommon.
Thursday, May 06, 2004 ::: The Washington Post places the blame squarely on Rumsfeld and his delibarate flouting of the Geneva Conventions. They don't go so far as to suggest that he resign - I don't think he will though he obviously should. The more I think about all the torture and unsavory bush administration policies, the angrier I get. And I get even angrier the clearer it becomes that those who are truly accountable will not be brought to justice.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004 ::: as I sit here with my cinco de mayo sangria, I hereby resolve to write at least something every day. or at least every weekday. at least when there's something worthwhile to write about. or whatever.
the window next to my desk at work has got to have the fastest-growing vines around it known to man. they're very pretty though, and beautify what is otherwise a stunningly ugly office building.
A little internet research reveals that the vines are called virginia creeper. It's very common and I recognized it before but never knew what it was called.
Monday, May 03, 2004 ::: Had a fabulous fabulous dream last night - the sort that, when you wake up in the morning and realize that it wasn't real in any way shape or form, makes you realize what a dull, unexciting life you really lead. I had recently rented Pirates of the Caribbean and discovered that I liked it a lot more than I had expected to, what with all the swashbuckling and witty dialogue from johnny depp and geoffrey rush. The dvd has a lot commentary tracks and extra features that make it worthwhile. I think it was also a little inspired about by a documentary I saw yesterday about reenacting a trading mission from the hudson's bay company.
Anyway, the dream was of the sort where you don't really remember too much what happened plotwise, but whatever it was was very exciting. There was a lot of sailing the high seas in beautiful sunny weather, boarding ships, sailing to small but picturesque island cays which had secret pirate dwellings with such modern luxuries as indoor plumbing and refrigerators and upholstered furniture, making the sailor's life a very comfy one indeed.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004 ::: So I snagged a gmail account, before my preferred address is taken. I don't really plan on using it unless it catches on. there's a lot of very useful features, especially if you have a larger account, and I have to say it avoids the interminable load time that afflicts hotmail these days. If it were simply a matter of design and usability, I'd have to go with gmail.
Friday, April 23, 2004 ::: Someone is documenting all the starbuckses with photos, and I have to say the whole thing is really kind of creepy. Especially since I've been to about a third of them, and the rest I've walked by at some point or another. The web site also makes me orient my mental map of the city in terms of where everything is in relation to starbucks, which I find unsettling. link stolen from wonkette's post discussing starbucks as a site of political infamy.
Wednesday, April 21, 2004 ::: oy vey, It's been a while, no? It's been busy busy here. but here's what I've been reading these days:
the april 19 and 26 new yorker, which has a number of very interesting articles, including a profile of young standup comics trying to make it in the world, including a nice veterinarians' daughter from NJ and a fresh-faced young man from alabama, ready to be disillusioned with the harsh reality the world has in store for him. There is also a great profile of Aaron McGruder of Boondocks fame.
I also went to the stereolab concert last night as sort of a last minute thing - It was kind of weird to see them and hear all the songs without mary hansen. All in all a good concert - the tall people in the way moved somewhere else when the music started, those analog keyboards reverb nicely with the 9:30 acoustics and it wasn't too hot, and I ran into some friends from work.
Friday, April 16, 2004 ::: I have finally been able to make a decision about graduate school - I will be starting the Ph.D. program in American Studies at GWU. The decision was a lot easier thanks to a deus ex machina arrival of a hefty funding package, which has made my life a lot easier and will allow my to avoid crushing levels of debt from student loans. It's all very exciting.
Saturday, April 10, 2004 ::: It seems that wonderfalls has been cancelled - what a shame. The show really seemed to have had some promise. of course, friday night is ratings siberia anyway, so it was probably doomed from the start.
Monday, March 29, 2004 ::: Television without Pity has started doing recaps of Wonderfalls. The show is good, if poorly timed on friday nights, the recapping could be a little better, although I think that the worse the show, the better the recap when it comes twop.
Sunday, March 28, 2004 ::: The Washington Post Style Invitational, which had been slipping of late, has come out with some quality material this week. Well, maybe not quality exactly but worth a quick read. It's a shame that Richard's Poor Almanac isn't available on the post web site, or anywhere for that matter.
mozarts requiem: good
the coral double album: first album good, second album not so good.
martina topley bird: very mediocre, especially considering that I ordered it on import and had to pay extra money.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004 ::: scrubbles has a post about dvd commentary. I loooove DVD commentary. Best commentary on any DVD so far has to be for Gosford Park - there are separate tracks for screenwriter Julian Fellowes and director and buddy Altman and Balaban. Very interesting in looking into not just the making of the movie, but really every aspect of the film. It helps that Gosford Park is a movie that's meant to be watched and rewatched and improves with every viewing.
I recently bought an iPod - here's the lowdown: very nice for being able to carry around my entire cd collection wherever I go. the 20G is a nice, decent size for that sort of thing with plenty of room to go. By the time I need another 20G, they'll be available for cheap.
Things that are not good:
creating playlists on the go is sort of a pain. Also you can't resort your smart playlists. Or maybe you can and I just don't know how, but if you can it's not in a way that is intrinsically obvious.
for some reason, the slightest human touch makes an iPod incredibly greasy and the metal side absorbs fingerprints and looks unsightly therefrom.
Monday, March 15, 2004 ::: so busy lately. lots to do. I've been hearing back from schools and trying to figure out how it's all going to work out with aid and all that. more on that when things get finalized.
Saturday, March 06, 2004 ::: Last weekend I saw the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, a loving parody of low-budget fifties sci-fi and it delivered on its promises of hokey entertainment. It has what is probably the funniest dinner party ever, the guests consisting of the hosts, a nice fifties couple, a mad scientist and his half-animal creation who has been given a brief 10-minute lesson on dinner-party etiquette, and two socially awkward aliens in disguise who are doing their best to fit in like normal earthlings, and failing miserably despite a gracious hostess who is kind enough to overlook their eccentricities and offer more unspecified grey meat and mashed potatoes. The aliens also do not have much of a tolerance for earth drinks like scotch and soda. The rest of the movie doesn't quite match up, I think owing to being a little too gentle in its satire, but it's still pretty entertaining.
unfortunately, there isn't much there on the imdb quotes page aside from Aliens? Us? Is this one of your Earth jokes?
Last weekend was quite busy with houseguests and other out-of-towners, and I'm looking forward to a fairly relaxing weekend.
I also went to a concert on thursday - grant-lee phillips at iota - which was superb. I'm always a little disappointed when I go to a concert by someone I'm not so familiar with and it turns out that aside from one or two hits everything else is mediocre, which made it all the more surprising to go see grant-lee phillips and hear well-crafted song after well-crafted song. I'm a sucker for strummy guitar and resonant baritone voices, so I guess it's pretty much tailor-made for my tastes.
Thursday, March 04, 2004 ::: I read the post every day. I also read the post express sometimes, and find it interesting to compare and contrast the two and see which stories are in which. I noticed that there are articles which appear in the post express which do not in the regular paper - often short, humorous ones a la obscure store. I also found that these stories are often not posted online, including a transcription of the ad shooting scene from lost in translation, which I will excerpt:
Director: Mr. Bob-san, you are relaxing in your study. On the table is a bottle of Suntory whiskey. Got it? Look slowly, with feeling, at the camera, and say it gently - say it as if you were speaking to an old friend. Just like Bogie in Casablanca, Here's looking at you kid - Suntory time.
Translator: Ummm. He want you to turn, looking at camera, OK?
Monday, February 16, 2004 ::: On Saturday I went to the democratic caucus to vote. My polling place is a church about two blocks away, and as I stepped outside it looked like a normal day. As I crossed onto the same block as the church, I started seeing a lot posters, not just for Kerry and Edwards, but for Kucinich and others also. I got to the church and there was a small pack of supporters of various candidates engaged in a vocal and spirited debate about the virtues of their respective contenders. As I walked by them there was a mad rush and suddenly I was surrounded! They yelled and waved their posters and I scurried as fast as I could toward the church basement where the polling itself was taking place, thinking it would be more peaceful and quiet in there - after all, I had voted in the nonbinding primary a few weeks ago and all was peaceful then.
But today it was a madhouse. People everywhere in chaotic, disorganized and ever-changing lines, tables crammed into every corner piled high with campaign propaganda and candy hearts for valentines day. I finally found the K-O line where I belonged after spotting its half-covered sign for a brief second, signed my name on the voter rolls and got in the filling out ballots line, in the meantime striking up a conversation with the very handsome guy in line behind me. I finally made my way to the not-very-private booth and realized that the lining up of candidates made it surprisingly easy to vote for Al Sharpton instead of John Kerry (and vice versa). At this point, primaries are turning into a rubber stamp for Kerry but I felt a need to be there and exercise my civic duty and all, despite the sense of futility about it. One day Statehood, although I may very well be living somewhere else then. Or perhaps long dead and buried.
Anyway, I got my little I voted sticker and and made my way to the grocery store, which was not quite so packed but oddly enough filled with people I had seen in line voting.
some remaindered links that have been sitting around for a while:
Wednesday, February 11, 2004 ::: Interesting interview with Shadia Drury, who discusses the invidious philosophy popular amoung neoconservatives in the Bush Administration. Essentially, that the powerful can and should use whatever means at their disposal to perpetuate their own rule.
Sunday, February 08, 2004 ::: I went in to work today to make up a bit for slacking off during the week and hitched a ride back to the metro from athena my workmate and in the car we had a long chat, or perhaps more of a long pontification on athena's part. Anyway, she's all for john edwards as a texan like herself finds it difficult to root for someone out of massachusetts. I don't really have a clear preference, except for someone who will do well in the general election - I'd really be happy with any of the front runners. The matter will probably be concluded by the time the dc caucus rolls around.
I've put most of cd collection onto iTunes and have discovered of a number of songs from albums that I had previously dismissed as just not very good. Right now I'm listening to Never Never by Lush of their album Split, which I own but never listen to. And it's so good! It's got the great psychedelic guitar and spooky voices and pop hooks that I like in all their best songs. It's a shame I haven't listened to it as much in past because I've really been missing out.
Friday, January 23, 2004 ::: The new reliable source isn't nearly as good as the old one, but hopefully it will improve with age. In the meantime, there is the recently debuted wonkette, serving up washington gossip a la gawker, its more glamorous cousin.
Thursday, January 22, 2004 ::: So it seems I have been neglecting the sidebar lately. I'll be doing some pruning and planting, including dc area glbt blogs and dc bloggers. And yes, I know this post has note to self written all over it. That's what it is.
Wednesday, January 21, 2004 ::: Ay, it's been quite a week. I'm trying to be disciplined about reading and taking care of the rest of my life and yet nonetheless am astonished by my own ability to waste time.
Right now I'm reading Les Miserables, which I'm sure I blogged about before cause it is one very long book I've been reading since about september or so. I'm about three quarters of the way through. There are some things that I simply love about this book - I love Victor Hugo's digressions on human nature and observations about the general state of the world, observations that almost invariably are as true today as they were in 1858. I love his obvious familiarity with every boulevard, street and alleyway in Paris, down to the last cobblestone and the paint peeling off a sad little windowsill. Nonetheless, the book has some slow points. The first hundred or so pages about the soporifically good bishop of Digne should just be skipped by the reader. The bishop is nice. He is nice to everyone, including the recidivist Jean Valjean. That's really all you need to know. Once Marius and Cosette finally meet, something seems amiss in the pace. The coming riot has a certain anticlimactic quality. I find Cosette a little bland. Marius too a little, although I must admit I have a bit of a literary crush. But of course we're supposed to like them both. eh. I guess I'll wait until I finish before I come to more of a conclusion on the matter.
Monday, January 12, 2004 ::: I bought the director's cut of Amadeus which has great commentary from Milos Forman in his thick slavic accent. Read up a bit more on the Mozart/Salieri rivalry (or non-rivalry) and apparently a lot of the legend stems from a play by Pushkin later adapted into an opera by Rimsky-Korsakov. The movie also takes a great deal of dramatic license regarding the writing of mozart's requiem, which was secretly commissioned by one Count von Walsegg for his recently deceased wife. This count would host concerts and pretend that he had written the music, having copied the original score into his own handwriting, although no one was really fooled by his pretensions.
I've also been reading the January 12, 2004 New Yorker, which has some very interesting articles on defense contracting, suv safety (written by malcolm gladwell, whose writing can make anything interesting) and plastic bag in tree removal, which includes this fabulous line: "Bette Midler, as people know, is an enemy of litter, and she shares our opinion of bags in trees."
Sunday, January 04, 2004 ::: Another application done and sent. One left! Still busy, now trying to catch up on everything else I've been otherwise putting off. Christmas was nice, went up to Deep Creek Lake and went cross-country skiing.
I've been listening a lot to iTunes and among the playlists is the 25 most listened to, which is really kind of strange - are these my favorite songs? There are some that I've marked with my highest rating that I've barely listened to. iTunes seems to select some things much much more than I would choose. Anyway, this is my iTunes top 25 at the moment:
The Pogues - I'm a man you don't meet every day
Annie Lennox - A Thousand Beautiful Things
Hooverphonic - Electro Shock Faders
Rufus Wainwright - Movies of Myself
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
Rufus Wainwright - Complainte de la Butte
Belly - Angel
Belly - Star
Cardigans - Paralyzed
Catherine Wheel - Mouthful of Air
Dead Can Dance - The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove
Moloko - Absent Minded Friends
The Smiths - Some Girls are Bigger than others
Thompson Twins - Doctor Doctor
Cardigans - My Favourite Game
Catherine Wheel - Bill and Ben
Dukes of Stratosphear - Brainiac's Daughter
Lush - Kiss Chase
The The - This is the Day
A-Ha - Take on Me
Beatles - Martha my Dear
Catherine Wheel - Wish you were Here
Chapterhouse - Greater Power
Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven
St. Etienne - Goodnight Jack
