Month: September 2003 (Page 4 of 7)

The best thing about Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark becoming a candidate for President is he is probably the only human being who has the ability to call Bush out on stuff like the aircraft carrier stunt, and much more importantly, Bush going AWOL during his National Guard duty.

My friend Paul says people vote based on their pocketbooks. I think the genius of the Bush administration is getting people to vote (and think) purely on their basest emotions. Personality is all the Bush team has to sell – everything else is in the dumper. So Bush’s military service, or lack of it, would make a big difference in the campaign if someone was brave enough to hammer him on it. I hope Clark is that person.

Things I Learned Watching “American Splendor”

1. My life isn’t all that bad.
2. There’s a lid for every pot.

Both of these lessons are important ones for me right now. But even without the lessons, this is an off-kilter gem, with great performances by Hope Davis and especially Paul Giamatti as comic writer and general crank Harvey Pekar. “Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff,” says Giamatti as Pekar, and the movie does a beautiful job of illustrating the point.

The mixture of the real people with their characters was a fine line to walk, and they managed to pull that off too. After all, when you’ve written a famous comic book about yourself, and had that comic turned into both a play and a movie, your life is already a strange blend of reality and imagination. So the gamble works.

Highly recommended.

From a review of the upcoming Xbox game “Freedom Fighters”:

Set in an alternate reality wherein the Soviet Union has won the Cold War and invaded the United States for a communist takeover, the game takes place on the front lines: a battle-scarred New York City overrun with tanks, turrets, and a cornucopia of hammer-and-sickle-flavored propaganda. Cut-scenes and news broadcasts tell the story of an invading Pinko government “concerned for years by the plight of poor American people suffering under a corrupt regime,” and genuinely interested in “restoring peace and stability to your troubled country.”

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. But I should be used to that by now, shouldn’t I?

Today I did something unusual – I used the floppy drive on my computer. I’m bringing some backup files to a client this afternoon, and I forgot one when I burned a CD for them. So rather than waste another CD, I just put it on a floppy. (I’m surprised I had one lying around.) It made me oddly nostalgic. Why did I ever sell that Commodore 64 in the first place?

As I watched Jon Stewart interview former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on The Daily Show tonight, I was struck again by how smart, funny and empathetic she was. To me she symbolizes the stark contrast between the Clinton people and the Bush people.

The Clinton people, for all their faults, seemed to genuinely care about their jobs and how the American government affected Americans. The Bush people, to a person, seem absolutely drunk on not just power, but a certainty that the world and everyone in it should march in lockstep to their orders. They know best. No debate is required. Get behind us or get run over. It’s that simple.

Well, that’s not me. That’s not my friends or family. And that’s not the America I want. Next year, we all get to choose – which America do you want?

Rhetorical Question of the Day

How come it’s so easy to fix other people’s problems, but so difficult to fix our own?

For Matt

The luckiest man in the world

Those SFGate people have been copying me for years.

Last night I dreamt I was living in an old broken-down apartment with someone who looked exactly like Audrey Tatou. The only thing I remember about our living arrangement was, whenever I would want to take a shower, she would run in and jump in the shower just ahead of me.

Which would have been fine, if I had a slightly different roommate. (apologies to Wayne R.)

50% superstition, 50% realism

My prediction: Come February 2005, George W. Bush will still be our President. Where we’ll be is another question.

Lately I’ve sent out so many e-mails to people who haven’t responded, I feel like Tom Hanks in “Cast Away,” throwing notes into the ocean without the bottle.

(I don’t think he did that in the movie, that I remember. But you get my point, right?)