I survived the 5 and the 405!

Structuring your day around driving is a new concept for me. Planning hours of lead time to actually make it to your destination on time leaves little time for other aspects of life. I'm so spoiled, my drive to work takes 3 minutes as work is .9 miles from home. And my parking garage, right next to work is paid by my employer. Montana is a cheap place to live, at least in my town. Seeing LA for the first time is really thrilling though. Funny how familiar so many things are. Our first night we ate at this great place at Venice Beach with an open air view of the Pacific. Sweet. And we traversed into the hills close to the HOLLYWOOD sign where the houses and windy roads and thick jungle growth create a very inviting atmosphere. If I could live in one of those areas I'd move here in a minute. I'm not ashamed at being a total tourist. We walked the Hollywood Walk and checked out all the stars, and even caught the last 5 minutes of the ceremony for Nancy Sinatra's new star. Not sure she really deserves it as the only thing she's really known for besides her icon dad is the "Boots" song. But I don't think the criteria bar is especially high these days to attain your own star. But I did recognize the majority of names on the walk. So it's off to the famous farmer's market and then to Craig Ferguson tonight.

NYC-Optical Illusion

The Culpret

Can you tell it was pepperoni? This is what happens when you come home at 3 a.m., pop a pizza in the oven, (400 degrees) then fall asleep. Six hours later this cinder disc is waiting for you.
Bucking Bronc by Capitol

Friday Afternoon Random Notes

Three cheers for Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Pink for speaking out against our current political mess. It seems like it's taken too long for the artists to start speaking publicly to proclaim that things have gone awry in this country. Pink's song Dear Mr. President cuts right to the bone. It is an honest and genuinely moving performance.

For years I've admired the fact that Pearl Jam, besides kicking ass in general, records their shows and offers them as official bootlegs. There's something really special about seeing them live and then owning the show to listen to at will. Doing different shows each night is essential and lots of acts don't do it. Well Tori Amos does and now she offers some shows as official bootlegs too. The results are true treasures.

To See or Not To See. I've never been a fan of flying and that's only one of the reasons I hesitate to see United 93 which opens this weekend. Brian Williams of NBC told of attending the premier this week, which a lot of the families of victims attended, and hearing the sobbing from the back of the theater at the end of the film when it suddenly goes to black. Which brings me to another reason I may not be able to attend as I'd be blubbering all the way through just knowing the outcome. It's not fun to cry in public, although I can be assured I would not be the only one with hankie in hand. Yet I feel I should see it, as 9-11 is such a part of our national identity now and it touched us all. Upon hearing of the flights originating from Boston's Logan I thought, gee I wonder if I knew any of the people flying that day. Well, I didn't, but I did watch Garnet "Ace" Baily, #14, play on the Boston Bruins hockey team as I was a rabid fan in my youth. He was still a young man and died along with another hockey scout that day. So sad. The night of 9-11 when I went to bed I remember having such a sickening feeling about what kind of horrendous acts humanity is capable of. To be so hateful and disrespectful of life seems incomprehensible to me. Maybe seeing the heroes of Flight 93 will restore some faith in humanity.

The Geriatric Cat

We had both cats and dogs when I was growing up, but none of them died of old age. They didn’t live long enough. Living on a four lane road, most came to their end in traffic. I remember one cat got wedged between a split rock for two days before we found her and had the vet put a metal framed cast on her. She lugged it around pretty well while it healed. We had one cat named Spastic, named for his epileptic-like state. He only lived about a year and one sunny day when I returned from school he was lying by the front door dead. We also as a family viewed helplessly as one cat choked to death on a chicken bone. A pretty disturbing experience and we could do nothing. So for anyone who tells you it’s okay to give poultry bones to pets, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Our Chinese police guard dog, a German Shepherd named Hoshee, was a great dog to have for protection for us small kids as living in a suburb of Boston a lot of the riff raff tended to venture out from the city. Unfortunately she also bit every person who came to our house in a uniform, mailman, milkman, you name it. She used to kill the garter snakes and prehistoric looking snapping turtles that would venture up from the swamp nearby our house. She also killed the chickens of our neighbor vet. When she disappeared we suspected the vet had had enough. Really as an adult I wonder why my parents kept such a dog. When I see lunging, aggressive dogs now I don’t usually think much of their owners.

So now I get to watch the old age process and declining state of Abraesca, our 22 year old tabby. She’s had a few close calls, a rotweiller grabbed her by the back once and two times we had to pay ransom to the humane society to retrieve her. She learned at a very young age not to cross the street, any street, and so she has reached old age. I’m told feeding her dry cat food all her life has also probably added to her longevity.

My kids would tell you I’m detached from reality for not putting her down long ago. They say she’s miserable and would be happier dead. Well I don’t know what it’s like to be dead, and I don’t even know if cats have souls, so I’m not convinced. My problem is that I think of what I’ll be like in old age and how I’d feel if someone got tired of taking care of me and decided to put me out of their misery. She is decrepit, no doubt, and can’t do much except sit around and sometimes cry. But when it’s warm and sunny and I see her through the kitchen window lounging on the patio, I have to think she enjoys it. I know I enjoy lounging in the sun. So the saga continues. I keep hoping one day I’ll find her dead of old age, going in her sleep peacefully, but somehow I don’t think I’m going to get off that easy. Not that’s it’s easy. We’ve had to barricade her in the kitchen so when she doesn’t quite make it to the litter box it’s not a big deal to clean up. But it’s not pleasant. I think it’s a real moral dilemma, a test for which I’ll be judged. How many more years could she possibly live? Well, I worked with a woman who had a cat that lived to be 25, so it doesn’t bode well for me.

Heron

Random Thoughts

Now Bush wants to delare NUCLEAR war on Iran. Some people never learn from their mistakes. And we think Islamics love us now, just imagine the backlash, worldwide, if he's stupid enough to carry it out. And it's apparent THE EMPEROR HAS NO BRAIN!!

Speaking of which, CNN had an excellent piece on documenting the falsity of the WMD case for war, the lies and arrogance were/are so outrageous. I think the public is in denial that the fraud and deception could be as bad as the facts say. Who could be that corrupt?? Easy answer.

Just finished 1st season of Deadwood, anxiously awaiting the release of season 2. Very good dialogue, really well acted and shot. This show will make stars out of all of the main players.

Also viewed the final season of Six Feet Under. The way they wrapped it up, fast forwarding to reveal the demise of all our favorite Fisher's was a really fitting way to go.

Almost Easter, the darkest day in the realm of Christianity, 3-3-3 Gods in One!! Funny thing is if the pictures hanging in the churches around the world reflected Jesus' true likeness, he'd look more like Osama bin Laden than that white bread character you see everywhere.

Paradise

Sweden

Strange, good movie

Stay with Ewen McGregor, Ryan Gosling and Naomi Watts is the most twisted, creative, artsy film I've seen since Memento and just as good. As you try to figure out the wild ride, what is dream, what is reality and who is who, it's easy to think you'll see a Fight Club moment where two characters are really fused into one. But the final scene reveals all bets are off as to where fantasy leaves off and reality begins. I'd be interested to hear other viewers' interpretations of what the plot really portrays. I think it reflects the journey between the living and the world beyond and how narrow and blinded to reality the human view really is as we plod along in our daily lives. There is so much beyond our comprehension we only scratch the surface of the true reality. The film seems to take the dying moments of a character and expands it to a 90 minute montage of life, dreams, hopes, regrets and fantasies. It's worth the viewing just for the cinematography alone.

Spike Lee's new flick

The Inside Man is an entertaining flick with some new twists to the usual bank robbery caper. Although I enjoyed it and would recommend it, the after effect left a lingering sense of what was missing. The most obvious thing, I'm reluctant to admit, was the face of Clive Owen which was covered in shades and white cloth throughout. It's just simply a shame to have him in a movie and not have his striking mug on the screen in every scene. Aside from that, Jodie Foster seemed to be in it to show off her great legs and not much else. The part seemed to be written just to get her into the movie as her character was really a throw away part. Denzel's character was the great redeeming factor, he plays a firecracker of a cop, a likeable, lively character who you couldn't help but care about. But the plot took a convoluted journey of unlikeliness and a necessary suspension of reality was required. The how's were explained, but not the why's. Don't get me wrong, I love to see the downfall of the Nazi War Criminal as much as the next person, but a little back story would've been nice. Still, it's a romp worth viewing.

Wings of Justice honors Boston Legal

This show rocks, and has from Day 1. This clip shows one of the best moments so far this season, in case you missed it. And they were just honored with a Peabody Award too!

Voter's Remorse

When George W. proclaims that he NEVER said there was a connection between Sadam, Al Qaeda and 9/11 and then you see the reams of clips from past speeches where he indeed inferred over and over again that they WERE all connected, and in fact led us under totally false pretenses into a war that is a disaster, how many of the 51% who voted for him think to themselves "gee, i guess I helped vote that liar into office"?

Keith Olbermann

If you've never seen this guy on MSNBC he's terrific. He's opposite Bill O'Reilly at 8 p.m. and Midnight EST and has the most informative, intelligent news program on cable. He's bright, quick witted and always approaches the issues from an original angle. Apparently O'Reilly feels pretty intimidated by him: if you mention his name when calling in to O'Reilly's show you get immediately hung up on followed by a call from the Fox Police, no shit. Talk about paranoia!!

E-mail to Annie Proulx - Re: Sour Grapes

Dear Ms. Proulx,

I was sorry to hear of your rant in the British press about losing the Oscar to Crash. I saw most of the nominated films, including Brokeback Mountain, which I wanted to win Best Picture, and Crash which was also a high quality film. In fact I was thrilled to see so many excellent films this year, not so in many years. I too gasped when Crash got the nod, however I felt Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director, plus score did show that the Academy recognized the quality of the film. To denigrate the academy members for their choice is not a classy move, they are entitled to their opinion and get to vote on what they want. It's always better to take the high road, don't tarnish the reputation of a beautiful film, as well as your own reputation, by whining about your loss, for that is what people will remember.

Yours truly,

Dana

READ Annie Proulx's rant in The Guardian:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1727309,00.html

Something Has Shifted in the Universe

I've always had cats. Nothing against dogs, it's just that cat's are so self sufficient. Since I've installed my kitty door so they can come and go as they please it's no problem to go away for a weekend. Just load up the food and water and off you go. Cats, besides being good companions, keep the rodents at bay which I always felt was a good fringe benefit. Until yesterday. Chewy my little "millennium cat" (born 2000) has a habbit of bringing birds, mice and butterflies in through the kitty door. We save who we can, but if it's too late we dispose of the carcasses. Yesterday she brought a field mouse in which promptly hid behind the piano. Then I watched as Chewy tried in vain to catch it again while the mouse ran from couch, to entertainment center and back under piano. As I went to bed I figured I'd have to pick up the dead body in the morning as I had full faith she'd catch and kill the little thing. Wrong! Maybe it's that extra 3 pounds she's gained but Chewy is still watching as the mouse runs free and definately has the upper hand. So much so that the mouse has amassed a stash of cat food behind the piano so he's definitely in it for the long haul. So now I'll have to intervene, and I'm not nearly as fast as the cat, so this oughta be good.

3-31-06 Epilogue: After a week of random sitings, and Chewy losing all interest in the fact that we were sharing our space with a chewing, pooping mouse, it was time for action. But not before scaring the shit out of me. Max says, "hey this speaker isn't working", I say "I'll look at it" and start to re-adjust the speaker wires on the stereo, meanwhile Max goes upstairs. It only takes a moment to get the speaker back working, at which point I pull open the bottom drawer to replace a couple of CDs. Pulling open the draw, on top of the CDs is our little friend staring up at me. I scream, twice, Max comes bounding down the stairs, thinking I was being electrocuted from working on the speaker wires. Enough already. SO, we put up a few barriers, open the front door and poke under the furniture until our little mouse bolts for the door. Though last seen heading for the door, I didn't actually SEE him leave the house, but I do believe he returned to nature, unharmed.

The Party Animals

Hey, check out Madge's new cd Confessions on a Dance Floor, pretty catchy stuff. Poor Jennifer, rumour has it the ex is getting hitched in Italy this weekend at Clooney's place. Where has Brittany Murphy been? She was great in 8 Mile, it's about time for another movie.

Oscar Night

“All right, so I'm not winning director.” George Clooney foretold the future and set the tone for the night while accepting his Best Supporting Actor statue for Syriana. Tonight would be share and share alike. It was a good year at the movies and a split between Best Director and Best Picture usually indicates a year of stellar performances. Lots of good moments, a few great. Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep did a wow job of the intro for Robert Altman’s award. I love seeing him get an Oscar for his years of great films. He’s most known for M*A*S*H* and Nashville and Gosford Park but just in the last two months I’ve watched Three Women which came out in the 70’s, one of Sissy Spacek’s first films, and Vincent and Theo with Tim Roth. Altman has produced a treasure trove of gems.

John Stewart seemed a little out of his element but I laughed out loud several times. The lead-in showing the Hosts of Years Past was amusing, although I expected Letterman to say, “I won’t do it because you didn’t ask!” I would love to see Letterman host again, but I don’t think it will happen. The joke Stewart didn’t do was introducing Jessica Alba. He should’ve said something like: Just because she’s out here on stage fully dressed, doesn’t mean you’ll see her back stage naked! Ben Stiller, bless his heart, was almost funny as a Green Screen. One of my favorite rolls from Ben was Bwick Elias, a quirky painter in the little known If Lucy Fell with Sarah Jessica Parker. There was life before Sex and the City.

I truly wanted to see Brokeback Mountain win Best Picture, a beautiful film which packed a strong emotional punch while exposing the restrictive mindset we live in. Crash was equally deserving and it’s nice to see such a talented ensemble cast get their recognition. But if Montana is indicative of the Academy members, where only gay men and women flocked to see Brokeback, that would explain the votes going to Crash. I don’t know of one man locally who’s actually seen Brokeback. I guess the sight of two men embracing in a passionate kiss and more is just too much for most men to bear. Brokeback Mountain did receive lots of recognition both for Ang Lee as Director and also for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hopefully that’s some consolation for Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal who walked away empty-handed.

The surprises were Good Night and Good Luck which I thought would get at least some recognition and Memoirs of a Geisha which took away three trophies even though the reviews were awful. So awful I didn’t bother to go see it. Go figure.

I hope the Crash victory gives Ryan Phillippe a boost, he’s a good actor in his own right and was terrific a couple of years back in Igby Goes Down, but I believe the last year of Reese Witherspoon Madness has really worn him down. He looked a little perturbed. Reese gave the most touching, genuine acceptance speech of the night. So gracious and I loved her nod to Joaquin Phoenix thanking him for taking that special journey with her on Walk the Line. Making that film was certainly a life-changing event for both of them. Joaquin doesn’t look like he enjoys the big crowd atmosphere and seems to be struggling with some demons judging by the look on his face. I’d love to know who he said “I love you” to when the camera was focused on him. I was rooting for him to win Best Actor, but Philip Seymour Hoffman deserved it too. I was happy to see Rachel Weisz get the Best Supporting Actress award; the Constant Gardner was one of the years best. Clooney’s speech noting that he’s proud to be part of an Academy where Hollywood has a history of taking the lead in exposing social issues was a breath of fresh air. If television and print media won’t investigate and expose the truth, someone has to start a dialogue about the massive injustice and corruption in our society.

A couple of technical notes, the stage was beautiful with the flowing visual so that each presenter made a grand entrance; Jennifer Aniston and Uma Thurman come to mind. Whoever thought playing music under the winners’ acceptance speeches was a good idea should be fired! What a lousy set up. And while some of the clips and “lobby” ads were appropriate and funny, cutting short the acceptance speeches was a poor trade off. You don’t want to see winners prattle on, but when they’re rushed it robs the viewers the chance to see a snapshot of what makes these people tick. After all, for many this is the one time they will stand in front of millions with an Oscar grasped in their hand, let them relish the moment and thank the legions who’ve helped them achieve this marvel.

So this year the Academy got it mostly right, for a change! No big sweeping winner just a lot of glory to go around. We should be so lucky as to have another such year in 2006. Question: Is it really hard out here for a pimp??

two days in new york

Everyone loves New York, or at least that’s what all the t-shirts proclaim. I hadn’t spent time there since the 1963 World’s Fair when my grandmother took my sister and me. I was six. On that visit we wandered around Fifth Avenue window shopping the luxurious diamonds and furs when not at the actual fair.

While the city is larger than life full of shiny perfect skyscrapers I am aware of the undercurrent of the dark side when I walk the streets this time around. I see the dual worlds living side by side: the affluent and the poor. That both sides co-exist in relative day by day peace is a miracle really. The glamour and the despair are odd bedfellows to behold. How can the haves be so content with their city when the evidence of the different reality of the have-nots is in their face at every turn? I wasn’t even in any of the “bad neighborhoods” but the inequity permeates all areas. The distress of our society is all around, a microcosm representing the whole of our country, if not the world. Witness New Orleans, the civil war in Iraq, and countless other examples.

The racial tension and economic barriers reveal the private little spheres each person holds around them like a protective coating but you know the coating is only an illusion, like a bubble on the verge of bursting at any moment. So living in your own made up reality while bumping up against the bubbles of the other individuals swarming all around you is perhaps the excitement and danger that draws people to New York, the ones who go there by choice that is.

The richer, more affluent don’t just surround themselves with their personal imaginary bubbles, they arm themselves in shiny ridiculously long stretch limos as they glide through the city streets. The better off you are, the thicker the wall of insulation needs to be to shut out those other realities. To reach your arm through the bubble and engage in the other realities crowding your bubble would be to wake from a dream of your own making. The stark realism would be shocking yet each individual houses an unconscious awareness already. A “we all know what’s going on here” kind of thing. To function each day and go forward with our lives we put on the blinders of tunnel vision and try not to turn our heads too often.

The shiny beautiful skyscrapers look awesome when you look up, but the accompanying stench of huge piles of bags of garbage sprawled around their bases like the exposed roots of an ancient oak tree show a truer complete picture. And the views, like the one from the 65th floor of the NBC Rainbow Room is spectacular. But a $20 martini is absurd no matter how wonderful the view.

So while Donald Trump’s New York looks fabulous and magical as portrayed on TV, it’s his own personal fantasy, a very darkly tinted pair of rose colored glasses indeed. I don’t hear of him visiting the aids clinics of his own neighborhoods, never mind South Africa, or donating half of his billions to aid humanity and bring the truly destitute up a notch. His bubble is not just limos and helicopters but the metallic looking towers he endeavors to build. I guess his chore of shutting out reality is a bit more strenuous than the rest of us.

Side Notes:

Young boy: “Mommy why can’t we ride in that spaceship?”
Mother: “It’s not a spaceship honey, it’s an airplane.”
Delta Gates, La Guardia Airport

While it is customary to stand at the curb with an arm raised to hail a cab, of the many people I saw doing this, I saw no cabs actually stop for any of them.

Rockefeller Center skating rink with the lights, flags and funny statue is magical late at night.

Up close, Times Square is pretty trashy.

If you have to have your period all over a public place, a noisy Turkish restaurant with bright red walls and seat coverings is the perfect place. Noisy because when you tell the waitress of your little accident, no one else hears, and red seats, well, for obvious reasons.

Our Sentiments Exactly

Garden Treasure