The Runcible Blog

I've been listening to the new "liberal" radio network, Air America Radio, and from what I've heard, it stinks.

Al Franken's "O'Franken Factor" was all over the place. Why was he talking to his daughter and some old friends? It was like eavesdropping on a phone call. But I didn't hear much of his show.

I did listen to this woman, Randi Rhodes, who is grating my ears as we speak. Geeze, everything she says is annoying. Maybe some people enjoy her outrageous personality and awful New York accent, but I'm going to tune out during her timeslot from now on. E-gad, her attack on Ralph Nader was over the top and offensive.

She sounds like an egotistical buffoon who can't help but run her mouth off for hours on end. She reminds me why I don't listen to talk radio. I hope the Air America strategy isn't to out-Rush Rush by being more obnoxious and abrasive than the Repugs.

And what's the deal with Daily Kos these days? They've gone from a grassroots anti-war community website to a DNC insider, congressional campaign donation collection agency. Some of the comments there are pathetic now. They're a bunch of band-wagon Democrats who have blindly forgotten all of Kerry's negatives. They're like sheep being lead by the DNC and united in their fear of a Bush re-election. They don't want to realize that their grassroots effort is being commandeered and watered down from inside the beltway.

It's a shame. I've been reading the Daily Kos blog for more than a year because of it's perspective during the run-up to the war, but now it's all zogby polls and begging for money. Thanks, DNC!

You know you're staying up too late if you watch Tavis Smiley on TV. Actually, you're staying up too late and you're a loser…

On the 6th I'll be even more over the hill as I observe (probably not celebrate) my 21st birthday. I don't have any special plans and don't intend on becoming an alcoholic. So, my options are limited.

I was asked yesterday if all my friends were already 21 and bugging me about being 20. I said no. I definitely don't have that problem because I don't hang around with anyone my age, or, for that matter, any age. From time to time I'm reminded that I don't have any friends.

super.

I should be more outgoing or something.

You know, I wonder when someone says "I like meeting new people". I wonder if they're just saying that or if they actually enjoy meeting new people. I don't think I like meeting new people. I mean, I do (I'm not completely introverted), but I don't enjoy the process of meeting someone new. There's a lot of background information that I end up repeating -- what are my hobbies, what do I do at work, what do I listen to, have I been convicted of a felony lately. You know the drill. I don't mind asking the same questions of the other person, but they must be just as bored with the interrogation.

I could use my compyooter skillz to create a vast website which explains everything there is to know about me, but that would suck. What would drive someone to that site? My dynamic personality? Doubt it.

As usual, I end up back where I started: complaining about not knowing anyone, thinking about being more extroverted, complaining about the inconvenience of introductions, giving up.

File this one under recurring theme.

Well, I think I'm in a band now. Starting next week I'll be the official bassist for Travels With Charlie (I don't get the name either…).

We played yesterday morning at a barn in Rowley, the perfect setting for a jam band. The band leans toward Grateful Dead jams with rock influences and some pop-ish hooks at times. That might not be an accurate description. They have a bunch of originals in that vein. They're pretty laid back and interested in having a good time -- no delusions of grandeur. They're all a few years older than I am (30's I guess), so we don't share the same memories of popular 80's rock songs, but I see that as a plus. The only thing to worry about is if one of them breaks a hip or gets Alzheimer's. har har.

I think it'll be a good experience. I'm not sure what I bring to the band with my eclectic musical tastes. We may end up playing some funk, jazz, or even reggae, and maybe if we're daring enough: death klezmer! I have some ideas for potentially interesting covers and may come up with some original material if I'm creative enough. I dunno, it may just be fun.

They have gigs every once in a while, but otherwise the schedule doesn't seem demanding. The last time I played out was 3 years ago (!), so I'm eager to get back on the train. There's a gig at some bar coming up in mid-May. can't wait for that

I went in to Boston today because it's been a while since I've wandered on the subway. What's the deal with the $1.25 T fare now? Why the rate increase? I must've missed something. $1.25 is kind of inconvenient. What if you don't have change or just have $1? out of luck, I guess.

Anyway, I had a hearty burrito at Burrito Max in Kenmore sq. I should write to the Burrito Max HQ (in Mexico, I'm sure) and ask them to open one of their fine establishments in the Lawrence area. As far as I know, you can't get a good, cheap burrito around here. There's a vast, untapped burrito/taco market in the Merrimack valley, waiting for an enterprising restauranteur to set up shop. Get to it!

You know, that guy Sheik Ahmed Yassin didn't look like a big scary terrorist. Here he is having a fun time scooting around in his wheelchair:

The Sheik Ahmed Yassin that I knew

I doubt he put up much of a fight against a missile attack. It's pretty cowardly when you have to resort to missiles to assassinate a crippled old man. I hope I don't get destroyed by Israeli missiles when I'm 72.

On another note, I just saw some show on PBS about women's liberation and what not. I wasn't paying much attention, but I was captivated by one Miss Wendy Shalit, author of A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue. See what I mean?

Can I discover her lost virtue?

I was surprised to read that she's quite the prude. You'd think that someone who wrote a book on modesty would be an ugly dog, but Ms. Shalit throws that theory out the window! Even though I don't know her and didn't listen when she spoke, somehow I think the modesty thing is just a façade -- she's actually a "girls gone wild" groupie or an Ivy League porn star.

Well, I can imagine.

That concludes the Offensive Post of the Day ™

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind shines eternally with a spotless cast of Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. (ugh!)

But seriously, it's worth seeing (even from the first row at the theater). It's the best Jim Carrey performance I've ever seen simply because he isn't over-the-top this time. And Kate Winslet is great as quirky Clementine. She pulls off an American accent even when yelling (one way to determine someone's true accent is by listening to them yell).

The film has that Charlie Kaufman style -- flashbacks, loopy plot, neurotic characters. I like the movie's message though. Maybe it's not so bad to remember one's negative experiences along with all the positive ones. Keeping those memories enriches life and helps us grow, eventually. Impulsively deleting painful memories would mean never learning from one's mistakes and throwing away countless tender thoughts.

Althought the idea probably isn't too original, I think the memory-erasure story is a fascinating thing to imagine. Or, if you don't feel like a imagining, go see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. playing at a theater near you!

Well, that's just two cents from a regular, sappy moviegoer.

My sister didn't much like the film considering the sighs and yawns she uttered constantly. Some movies require a certain modicum of attention span. If only there were a method of quantifying attention spans. Then they could write on the movie posters, "You must have at least a 7th grade attention span to appreciate this movie." or something like that

Today at Romano's in Methuen we were approached by a pregnant woman bearing paper flowers.

I was confused when she gave me two flowers until she said, "$3 for one, or $5 for two." Huh? "It's going to a good cause." [points to her belly] Huh?

Generous guy that I am, I gave her $10 for 4 fake flowers. I hope she spends it wisely. The flowers will look lovely in my car.

Anyway, the consolation is that since the flowers are paper, they won't die...unlike the baby.

Here's a user contributed review of The Battle of Algiers from imdb (emphasis mine):

Christopher Mulrooney
Los Angeles
Date: 21 January 2004
Summary: Thrilling.

The substance of this takes place in a flashback after the opening scene, a man seated on his chair, shaking with the tortures he has just undergone. The great gag is that Ali La Pointe is a purveyor of Three-Card Monte, i.e., a street Arab. The flashback occurs during a situation like that of Le Jour Se Lève.

There is an amusing revelatory sophism (still more in Queimada) which Richard Lester and Sydney Pollack developed in Cuba and Havana, respectively. Saadi Yacef as the NLF leader Jaffar bears a striking resemblance to Robert Forster in Delta Force.

The essence of this film is the predicatory realism of the handheld camera in the Rouch manner. There is the Casbah, there is the sea, over the rooftops. The absoluteness of the structure is the fait accompli of style waiting to be born every second and doing so explosively, thanks to special effects unmatched until The Pianist reversed the perspective, observing the mayhem at first hand and an answer to it at a distance.

The score takes note of Bartók to very thrilling effect.

hmm...clear as mud.

Well it's been a hectic couple weeks. Let's see if I can recall the events in chronological order...

• I think my job title is officially "programmer", and I'm the low rung on the totem-pole. Maybe it's just a coincidence that my morale went through the floor after being reorganized into a defined pecking order.
• Ron, veteran IT worker at the tribune, died suddenly. I'm not quite sure what to say about it; we were neither friends nor enemies (most of the time). It will take some time to get used to having no one calling me a "dummycrat".
• I bought a car -- a 1998 Honda Civic LX (dark green). I won't bother finding a picture of it since they're all the same. Maybe I paid a little too much for it though. Although I'm an expert at kicking myself with regret after every major purchase, eventually I get over the buyer's remorse. Once a few of the kinks are worked out (like the "check engine" light that just came on today and the apparent oil leaks!), I hope to drive this car into the ground, as I'm so adept at doing. It has 88,000 miles on it now. I figure it's good for 400,000, or 20 years -- whichever comes first.
• It turns out cars are expensive. So far I've been shafted at the dealership, extremely shafted at the insurance office ($2,200 per year?! what?!), and shafted at the RMV ($50 title fee?!).
  The good thing is that it's ok to get into an accident as long as I don't cause it. And since I don't have health insurance yet, I figure if I ever need medical help, I'll be driving my car constantly, waiting for a head-on collision and a ticket to healthcare! "That's right, doctor, I got appendicitis, myopia and a sore throat right when that SUV slammed into me!"
• I feel like quitting my job pretty much every day. Even the most patient person has limits to their patience. I haven't reached that limit yet because my job is marginally better than unemployment. But poverty is looking better all the time.
• I saw The Battle of Algiers last night. bad acting and dubbing, but overall, very good movie. go figure.
• While I was at the movie, my grandfather had to be taken to the hospital because he couldn't breath. How is chemotherapy supposed to cure you if it makes you weaker? I'm afraid he won't have the will to go through that for long.
  I'd rather not think of that right now.

I'm sure I'm forgetting much of the past two weeks. The Repressitol pills are working well.

listening to: When Doves Cry by Prince