Month: September 2003 (Page 5 of 7)

“I just don’t understand opera. Why do they have to sing everything? Why can’t they just say it?”
-Paige Clark (Joely Fisher), Ellen

The Secret Lives of Dentists

I think you probably have to be or have been married to get the full impact of this infidelity drama, starring Campbell Scott and Hope Davis as unhappily married dentists. I have not. But I loved how the conflict between the two was messy and unfocused and elliptical – like it would be between two repressed, unhappy people. It’s funny how “reality” can best be expressed in well-drawn fiction – especially these days, when popular culture seesaws between patently fake “reality shows” and Lifetime movies.

“The difference between fiction and non-fiction is negligible.”
-Paul Harrison, high school English paper

Plus, Hope Davis is one of those people I could happily watch read the phone book. I can’t wait to see “American Splendor.”

Recommended.

“In the wake of Dean’s success, the entire Democratic Dream Team is beginning to sound like Dr. Demento. On the basis of their recent pronouncements, the position of the Democratic Party seems to be that Saddam Hussein did not hit us on 9-11, but Halliburton did.”

-Ann Coulter, scheming psychotic monster. My jaw is absolutely on the floor. (via This Modern World)

My prescription is this: Coulter has to go on every single right-wing talk show on Fox and defend her statement about Saddam Hussein. Then she and Michael Moore should be locked in a county jail interrogation room together for two hours, and the results taped and then broadcast on “Good Morning America.” Then she should be tied to an anthill, covered in honey, for several days. Then thrown in jail.

Yeah, that’s about it.

A truth I’ve recognized about myself

I do not ROCK!!

And I never will.

I’m OK with that.

Lame is Rob

I’ve been listening to my “Les Miserables” soundtrack in the car lately. I have other stuff but I keep coming back to that while I’m driving. Not sure why, other than it’s fun to sing along with (aren’t you glad you’re not a passenger in my car?). I also find that I sing all the Javert parts, and none of the Valjean parts. That one’s easier to understand – the villain is always more interesting than the hero. (Plus he has better lines.)

Reminds me of my favorite news clipping of all time, reprinted in the New Yorker in 1990:

“She stressed the importance of women completing their education and considers an open mind and deep thought essential to raising a family.
Hafen is an enthusiastic reader and claims ‘Lame is Rob’ by Victor Hugo as her favorite book.”
– The Scroll, newspaper of Ricks College, in Rexburg, Idaho.

Great Mark Fiore animation. Go there now.

Osama bin Laden must be thinking he’s the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Despite all the rhetoric of “not letting the terrorists win,” his plans have succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. In less than two years, his actions have managed to fundamentally reshape American society, make us even more hated in Islamic societies, draw us into expensive and deadly conflicts on multiple fronts, and alienate us from long-time allies around the world. Isn’t that *exactly* what he wanted? How powerful must he be feeling right now?

And we served it all up to him on a silver platter.

I think a good exercise on this two-year anniversary would be to consider truthfully – what have we accomplished? What have we gained?

Yesterday was a quiet day for me. The computer and the TV remained cold. I listened to music, I read, I had lunch and dinner with friends. I thought my self-imposed exile from electronic entertainment would leave me jittery and shifty-eyed, but actually it was just the calming, brain-quieting experience that I’d hoped. A nice break, like a sorbet between courses. Even though I’ve been into computers since I was in junior high school, I never would have dreamed that being online would be such a crucial part of my life today.

Glad to be back.

Capturing the Friedmans

Finally saw this documentary about a father and son accused of sexual abuse. So many thoughts are running through my head right now, I have trouble sorting them all out.

Since I’m going to be taking tomorrow off from the web, I thought I would try something different with this “review” and open it up to my readers. If you’ve seen this film, tell us what you thought in the comments. It’ll give me something to read when I log back in Friday.

See you then.

John proposes that we unplug from the internet tomorrow as a way to commemorate 9/11. I think it’s a great idea and I’m going to give it a try. I honestly don’t think that I’ve unplugged successfully for an entire day other than when I’ve been out of town (like in the searing desert of Las Vegas recently). I think I’m going to keep the TV off too.

It’ll be an interesting experiment.

Word of the Day

prosaic

“Adam’s weblog writing is prosaic.”