Long Time Gone

I saw "Live Free or Die Hard" today. It was pretty good, especially for the third sequel in a series that started with the now-classic "Die Hard." This one didn't really feel like a "Die Hard" flick, though; it was basically a 2007 action film with references to the original, but thoroughly adapted for today's computer-savvy audience. Awesome gadgets, though. It almost makes me want to be a hacker!

I knew Dick Cheney had Bush wrapped around his finger; I just knew it! I have long suspected that the Iraq war was Cheney's war, not Bush's, but it seems that Tricky Dick's power extends much further than any of us thought. MSNBC is reporting new info that Cheney is the de facto "leader" of our country and has much more influence than any VP should. Refer to "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" on Monday, 6/25/07 for more info.

"Feeling Woefully Underqualified 101" I feel the need for about two graduate degrees before stepping out into the world. Did I really work this hard to come up this short? If I hadn't lost those years, I'd probably have a Master's in International Affairs and a law degree. Or an advanced degree in Languages and Literature, because I love those subjects too. Oh, and a degree in Psychology of some sort to help me land a cool government job that would combine all three arenas--law, psychology, and foreign affairs. Now I have no idea where to begin.

Leave it to the West to commercialize one of the world's most ancient spiritual traditions: yoga. I tried out a new yoga studio today, and its website boasts of the "most extensive selection of yoga wear" in the area, or something. Honestly--is that why we do yoga? So we can show up to class wearing $100 coordinated yoga outfits (that really look like just about any other exercise wear) and bear overly cute, pseudo-chic, "yoga specific" brand names? There is an entire industry of yoga gear out there that I'm sure would have the original yogis in India scratching their heads (or in deep meditative confusion). It's just so indicative of where unbridled capitalism and the decline of real spirituality in our lives have taken us. What one could practice for free, just about anywhere, at any time, Americans can spend hundreds of dollars on before even "coming to a comfortable seated position" on our $80 yoga mats!

The documentary "Deliver Us From Evil" is about Catholic priest and serial child molester Oliver O'Grady, and exposes corruption at the highest levels of the Catholic Church. It's sort of like Michael Moore's "Farenheit 911," but with much more credibility and based upon more facts. In one videotaped deposition after another, various cardinals and high-ranking Catholic officials lie through their teeth about a lack of knowledge of O'Grady's actions. Each deposee says "I don't recall" so many times that it reminds me of Reagan's infamous memory-impaired testimony about the Iran-Contra affair.

It didn't seem to exist among ancient Greeks and Romans.

Laid-Off Zoologist Goes On Tranquilizing Rampage SAN DIEGO-Twelve San Diego Zoo visitors and two employees were brutally sedated Monday, when laid-off zoologist Dr.

Do not collect $200. Go directly to law school. That's what the preliminary job search is telling me, without a smile on its face.

Diana Vishneva in "Firebird." In "La Bayadère."

Paloma Herrera in a pas de deux from Don Quixote.

As he usually does. Why bother reporting it? It's a foregone conclusion. Damn it, Mr. President. It's called SCIENCE, otherwise known as REALITY! The head of a Parkinson's organization sounded resigned and almost embittered as he said on NPR today that there's really no way any meaningful stem cell legislation will be passed under this administration. In the way of progress, as usual, Mr. Bush.

This is her zoo-like credit card commercial (no promotion intended; their art/marketing department got the better of me with this imaginative piece).

Jon Stewart gets an awful lot of mileage out of his facial expressions on the show, which is one large reason why I prefer Colbert's show. It packs much more of a punch and has more substance. I only really like one of Stewart's correspondants, the guy with the British accent, and occasionally the guy from India who pretends to be reporting from Iraq a lot. I also dislike Samantha Bee. Her comedy doesn't work for me because she somehow manages to humiliate herself. She makes me uncomfortable. Here is one of Colbert's notorious interviews from his "Better Know a District" series:

The film "A Mighty Heart" is getting great reviews, even though it hasn't opened yet. I do think that Angelina Jolie is at an amazing time in her life right now, having evolved à la Madonna and Christina Aguilera from very troubled, acting outlandishly to "finding themselves," to use a dreadful cliché.

If my eyes were working properly, some guy at Gaylord's tonight was actually wearing part of a coat of armor on his arm, which reminded me of the armor and arms gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. It was my favorite exhibit, displaying shields, spears, axes, and entire suits of armor belonging to emperors and royalty over a period of several hundred years. Fascinating. All very short in stature, too, which indicates how far nutrition and medicine can take people.

Here is the real Stephen, out of character, on Charlie Rose:

The legendary White House press corps doyenne talks politics with Tim Russert, in a surprisingly awkward interview.

Succeed at being bad. People who perceive themselves as underdogs, for example. Robert Hanssen, convicted spy and former FBI agent, for one. Hitler, for another, who failed at everything until he found his "calling" as an anti-Semitic loudmouth with a talent for commanding attention. He was brilliant at genocide and terror. Joseph Stalin was short with a malformed arm, and became very good at evil. Those who perceived themselves to have been wronged by the system tend to view their actions as justified. Robert Hanssen, for example, disliked the US government and the FBI, and therefore it was "OK" to sell secrets to the enemy. Hitler had a problem with a number of people, therefore it was "necessary" to harm them. A partially formed theory, to be sure, but one that keeps running through my mind, especially after seeing films like tonight's "Breach," which is about Robert Hanssen's story. A brilliant mind, but used for harm rather th...

Will the real Stephen Colbert please stand up? Here is a look at "The Colbert Report" minutes before it goes live, as Stephen gives guest John Kerry a brief run-down on what to expect once the cameras start rolling.

Has anyone ever noticed the tendency of the surrounding language to seep into one's own lexicon? For example, listening to Lewis Black for much of the day punctuates my internal monologue (and external, if I'm not vigilant) with newfound profanity. Being around people from the South for any period of time magically inserts "y'alls" into my vocabulary, and so on. When in France, I even start to think in French. I rest my case. Unrelated question: Why is so much stand-up comedy lowbrow?

Former Alaska senator Mike Gravel cracks me up. Here is one of his campaign videos for the Democratic primary. He's this year's Al Sharpton, providing comic relief to the campaign without really expecting to be nominated. Why doesn't America ever gather up its courage, throw caution to the wind, and actually elect one of these oddballs into office? The system is ridiculous enough as it is.

Jenny and I at Mecca in SF.

"Don't ask, don't tell" really should refer to the cowardice of anti-gay hate-mongerers (i.e. don't tell anyone that it's really fear, and not faith, that motivates us).

Aside from the fact that his name sounds a lot like "RuPaul," this guy bucks the trend. A welcome relief and a guest on Colbert's show on Wednesday night.

I'm looking forward to the opening of Michael Moore's new film "Sicko." Yes, his "documentaries" are sometimes more entertainment than edification, but he drives home a point nonetheless. And it's not as if there isn't plenty to mock about our healthcare system. Should we even continue to call it "healthCARE"? I don't think so. How about a new initiative called "No Patient Left Behind"? This clearly isn't something Bush would sponsor.

We are so reliant on oil, yet we supply only 2% of our own oil supply. That makes our status as world superpower extraordinarily tenuous, and increasingly vulnerable as time goes by and oil supply dwindles.

I'm watching a documentary about the oil crisis, and it's created this image in my mind of audience members leaving an auditorium in a panicked stampede. The stampede out of a theater grows more frantic as more people realize there's a fire, and people end up trampling each other to death. Similarly, I foresee nations coming to blows over a smaller and smaller oil supply that could lead to a worldwide armed conflagration of conflict.

It's funny how there is a "government" in place, nominally, but no one is really running the country. There is a semblance of a government structure, but it seems almost totally disconnected from what is actually happening day-to-day. Kind of the way our cat looks out the window of our car while on the way to the vet's office, not understanding how he can be moving forward without walking on the ground--there is no connection. In the case of Iraq, might does make right, since it's the folks with the biggest bombs and bloodiest explosions who get the attention and instill the fear.

I believe that the terrorists in Iraq crossed a line today when they destroyed much of the beautiful mosque in Samarra. It reminds me of when the dim-witted Taliban started destroying ancient religious icons in Afghanistan in the name of their twisted version of radical Islam (where the representation of humans and animals is forbidden). Beautiful and ancient and extraordinarily meaningful artifacts are now being destroyed in Iraq in the name of whichever battle it is these particular people consider themselves to be fighting. A tragedy on a new scale (as if the regular civil warfare fallout weren't enough).

Inside. Something to be aware of. I've been struggling with an aspect of my behavior that I haven't understood, and this may be the necessary insight.

The more self-aware news anchors and tele-talking-heads are acknowledging the ridiculousness of devoting so much time (or any, some would argue) to the Paris Hilton fiasco. I suppose that acknowledging that awareness separates the speaker by a degree or two from the offensive action, but not by much. Even Christopher Hitchens acknowledged his disdain at addressing the matter at all (if it is disdain; I have a hard time "getting" him sometimes, prickly curmudgeon that he is). By the way, what are the major differences between Slate and Salon? These two websites blend together in my mind. I think Slate is a bit more intellectual.

I believe it's Mike Huckabee (what an "aw shucks!" kind of name) who lost over 100 pounds and appeared, nervous as all get-out, on The Colbert Report awhile back to try to inject some adrenaline (or, in Colbert's case, testosterone) into his campaign. He reminds me of Richard Nixon on some level--I'm not sure if it's the nervous squirmy-ness or a more physical resemblance. He made some really awkward jokes on the show, probably because of his nerves, but he seems really out of touch, as if behind a shell of "I'm trying my darndest to appear like how I think I should look." He strikes me as disingenous and lacking in confidence, much like the rascally Nixon. I liked how Helen Thomas put it (and just about everything else) in her recent interview with the ever-jovial and somewhat annoyingly tepid Tim Russert, that Nixon took the wrong turn at every single opportunity. That goes with my overall perception of Nixon as an almost tragic figure; hop...

Caffeinated or decaffeinated? I think that caffeine may ease my anxiety the way ADHD medication (a stimulant) counterintuitively eases ADHD symptoms. That is my theory after noticing a market decrease in my anxiety (which I hadn't realized was there) shortly after drinking a latte. More data and observations to follow! Wednesday, 6pm update: No, not the case today. I had a latte around 2:30pm and if anything, have felt a bit more pent-up than usual. Then again, I haven't been responding to the lack of structure post-graduation well, and am looking forward to my new venture that begins next week.

or should I say "Hilton Head"? it's about time she be held accountable for her actions. she is right where she deserves, and should not be entitled to any special treatment. she ought to have a "field study" in how the other 99.9% live.

He looks the part--slick, insincere politician who could double as a Stone Phillips-like news anchor on cable tv. His rising popularity concerns me, since he's so conservative (and flip-floppish, but who isn't, in our system?). I hope he isn't the Republican candidate who would offer an attractive alternative to Giuliani and McCain and draw some theretofore disgruntled GOPers back into the fold.

Are these the post-modernists to Reagan's modernism, to use an obtuse metaphor? Latter-day Reaganites?

Hmmm...yet another unstable spoke in the Bush administration's wheel? I do know that CNN, in yet another show of its own irrelevance as a "news" outlet, cut away from its coverage of Pace's dethroning to show Paris Hilton being unceremoniously hauled off to jail. But seriously, wasn't his consideration for a second term as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs another example of the inbred nepotism of Bush's regime? I'm glad that our new, non-Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense (I can't even think of his name, I'm just so glad he's not Rumsfeld) had the [balls] to decline to nominate him for a second time round, citing the contentiousness of doing so. Finally, someone in the Bush administration acknowledging that all is not well in the state of Bush's denial!

After years of manipulating the system, Paris Hilton is finally getting what she deserves, and, rightly or wrongly, I am so pleased.