HRC Launches Cheney Ad: “What If It Was Your Child, Mr. President?”: " The Human Rights Campaign today launched an ad featuring Vice President Dick Cheney that poignantly asks Federal Marriage Amendment supporters, “What if it were your child, Mr. President?” At a campaign rally Aug. 24, the vice president restated his position that states should handle the question of marriage, signifying his opposition to putting discrimination in the Constitution."
Did I tell you that my iPod died? 2300+ songs hovered for a bit between being visible and invisible files, but they gave up the ghost with a loud gasp. Cause is unknown. Mattypod is dead, long love Mattypod. After restoring the factory settings, the device came back to life like a phoenix but without any of the fire or drama. Honestly, I'm not sure I could have handled either. Please welcome iPod pt deux. So all is right in the world again, aside from the bulk of my music collection disappearing.
Several months have passed since the previous book worm. Have I not been reading since then? Oh, I have been reading alright but nothing with any spectacular quote. And from the looks of things, this might be the last book worm until December exams are finished. Both stories are from a collection of short stories by Denton Welch:
“Leaves From A Young Person’s Notebook”:
“...I decided always to carry a box of chocolates with me, so that I could shove them hastily into the mouths of all who were about to hurt and terrify me by their remarks. If the chocolates were large enough they would successfully act as temporary gags, and in extreme cases, if they were thrust with violence, they might even lodge in their throat and choke.”
“Ghosts”:
“Everything at that moment held a secret. Everything was haunted. But human eyes were not the right eyes, and my ears would never hear.”
Pencils still needed at tech-savvy schools: "Ewing said that in fiscal 2004 the number of people who took the tests on computers was only a fraction of those using pencils -- only about 1.6 million people on computers, compared with about 23.7 million using paper and pencil... Ewing cited several reasons for this difference: 'Wider use of computers is hampered somewhat by availability -- where can you find computers for 25 million people?'... 'Not everyone has a computer, but I guarantee you can get everyone a pencil,' Loomer said."
Many of my new classmates take the highlighter approach to their books; I prefer the pencil. Why? The biggest problem with highlighters is that the colors are so *bright*.
We Say No!!: "...we think that Johnny probably wouldn't be too keen on this given the beating the current administration has been giving to our nation's poor. Actually, he might have been downright pissed that the Republicans have linked his name to theirs...
Musical weaponry and dress code: hair grease (real or store-bought), pompadours, all black clothing, guitar (real or cardboard), bolo, musical instruments, jailstripes (solidarity), Johnny-inspired toughness"
Blowin' the gaff: Dylan to tell all: "Dylan... is set to focus on significant and influential periods of his life in the first of three books called simply Chronicles: Volume One, according to his publisher.
Both icon and iconoclast, Dylan once said: 'The easiest way to do something is just don't ask anybody's opinion. I mean, if you really believe in what you're doing. I've asked people's opinion and it's been a great mistake ...'"
Television highlights on the other side of the ocean
BBC3 to screen Tracey Emin film: "Controversial British artist Tracey Emin has teamed up with prolific director Michael Winterbottom to make her first feature-length film, an autobiographical improvised drama about her home town of Margate for BBC3... Emin, once described by David Bowie as 'William Blake as a woman, written by Mike Leigh', shot the film earlier this year."
The article also goes on to note that BBC3 is also planning "a live flash-mob opera event at a major railway station":
"Flashmob - the Opera will feature well known arias from operas such as Madam Butterfly, Don Giovanni and La Traviata and weave them into a story about a man who goes to the station to get a train to a football match after falling out with his fiance. But she also turns up at the station to meet her lover."
American television is a parched desert in comparison.
High-quality photocopiers lead to boom in fake Dalís: "Finnish police said yesterday they were investigating a large-scale art fraud in which dozens of high-quality photocopies of works by artists such as Salvador Dalí were passed off as originals and sold for up to €10,000 (£6,700) each...
'They were saying these pictures were too suspicious to be true,' Mr Seppala said. 'There were many, many sets of complete works of Dalí such as The Divine Comedy and The Twelve Tribes of Israel. They were wondering how there were so many original Dalís in Finland?'"
Some Vermonters want to 'Live Free or Die': "They may not wear breeches or padded doublets. Nor do they boycott tea. But a group of 21st-century revolutionaries in Vermont say they want nothing short of a tax revolt. Their plan? Secede to New Hampshire as a means to save millions in property taxes they say unfairly penalize resort communities across the state... 'We can 'Live Free or Die' in New Hampshire,' [Tom Glavin, town manager of Dorset] says, referring to that state's motto, 'or be oppressed by Vermont.'"
Scream stolen from Norway museum: "Armed robbers have stolen the iconic Edvard Munch painting, The Scream, from the Munch Museum in Norway."
Would it be too easy to make a comment on this as "ohhhhhh nooooooooo!"? At least the painting has something to scream about now, besides the crushing human condition.
Leicester pubs ban drinkers from wearing Burberry label: "Drinkers wearing Burberry have been banned from two pubs in the city centre because it is one of the favourite designers of a group of thugs... Customers at the Parody and the Varsity will be turned away if they are wearing the luxury label, which was founded in 1856."
And this reminds me to stop by the Burberry outlet store in Vermont when I "camp" at a B&B in a few weeks.
'Seurat and the Making of 'La Grande Jatte': How Seurat Worked Up to Sunday: "...at least [Seurat] was gone from the scene, perhaps to join some other, empyreal scene, where he painted the Milky Way instead of the Seine. And can't you imagine 'La Grande Jatte' up there, too: a time capsule of a picture now doubling as a space-capsule, airtight, with its handpicked crew of Parisians still alert in their Sunday leisure, still not having fun quite yet?"
4x4s replace the desert camel and whip up a worldwide dust storm: "Dust storms emanating from the Sahara have increased tenfold in 50 years... And one major cause is the replacement of the camel by four-wheel drive vehicles as the desert vehicle of choice... Andrew Goudie, professor of geography at Oxford University, blames the process of Toyotarisation - a coinage reflecting the near-ubiquitous desert use of Toyota Land Cruisers - for destroying a thin crust of lichen and stones that has protected vast areas of the Sahara from the wind for centuries."
We might as well coin SUVrisation to explain the near ubiquitous castles on wheels in suburbs. Gasguzzlingunneccessaryroadhogrisation is a mouthful (however, now that I live in New Hampshire and when I see an SUV, the vehicle looks like it is actually used in the mountains or a mobile moose defense).
Alistair at Tangents is setting up a gallery dedicated to pictures of people's creative spaces, be it a "Geek Lair" as his is or whatnot. I affectionately call mine "the Office". Now I am a student again and have to do real work in there. It's not even ironic--it's just true.
Spanking the money: "...the fifth and final volume bears a curious inscription on its cover: A Book for Private Reading. Leaf through it, and you'll see why: It has line drawings of genitals, of Rand McNally road-map accuracy... It's a Victorian sex-ed manual. For children. Starring a monkey."
Phelps vs. Thorpe: "It is well that this showdown will take place here, in a place that has shown itself capable of comprehending the full impact of the epic. Think thunderbolts. Think large wooden horses... For this is a rivalry straight out of Homeric central casting - only add Speedos."
'Serge needed all the love he could get': "Jane [Birken] is back in London this week, to promote her new film, Merci Dr Rey... it's a peculiarly Parisian piece reminiscent of Eric Rohmer and Woody Allen. Jane plays a deluded actress who dubs stars into French and falls in love with a young, gay boy. It seems to be a part very close to her real life...
'It's not a lonely road, although I'm happiest with just a suitcase and my dog Dora. If they lend me a grandchild occasionally then that's great, but if not it's me and the dog.'"
Harlem globetrotter : "While discussing John Kerry's speech to the Democratic convention, [Nellie McKay] says: 'If I was to have a lesbian crush, it would be on Theresa Heinz Kerry.'"
Back to New Hampshire after a sunny week on Cape Cod--below are some notes from the holiday:
*After reading six months of back issues of Country Living, Country Home, Better Homes & Gardens, et al, a definite design change can be noted. Many of the featured homes have a Modernist design core that would not be out of place in Wallpaper*. Except the homes are then covered with painted hydrangreas, ugly baskets, and miniature chairs.
*Charlie Chaplin's film City Lights holds up very well after seventy years. Is it time for a Chaplin revival? I do have a fondness for pinstripes.
*My mother asked if I knew about New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey. Not sure if she meant I knew that he was going to announce his resignation or that he is a "gay American". I'll just say that I always thought he had very sparkly eyes.
*The new David Sedaris book made me feel slightly uncomfortable. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way, but I am not sure exactly what that is yet.
*My sister invited me to a folk art/craft painting class. It is easy to scoff at but those hydrangeas (again!) with the scruffy brush do require a certain amount of talent. My favorite project was something I dashed off in ten minutes after of an excess of grey paint. One day, with much practice, I will master the OneStroke!
*When on Cape Cod I like to watch people try to have family-oriented time. Usually this involves parents and children slowly ripping each other apart. My favorite was the father who chewed out his daughter for not placing her feet in the correct golfing position during miniature golf. She sat down on a bench and cried. Later she asked to sit in the van but her father exclaimed that he had to get his thirty-five dollars out of his game. The mother who "accidentally" knocked her son in the head was priceless too.
*My happier family pictures from Cape Cod are here.
If Jesus were made of corduroy he might do better in today's tough religious idol market, especially with the upcoming fall fashion season. Does Buddha come in merino wool? Does Vishnu come in a puffa jacket? Not at all.
What's in a Name? Well, Matt Is Sexier Than Paul: "Men with 'front vowels' in their names -- sounds formed at the front of the mouth like the 'a' in Matt -- were considered sexier than men with 'back vowel' sounds like the 'au' in Paul.'"
Germans balk at effort to simplify their spelling rules: "Mark Twain found its rules - and exceptions - so complicated, he dubbed it 'The Awful German Language.' Indeed, experts have struggled to streamline Germany's notoriously difficult spelling rules. Then six years ago, German culture ministers and other German-speaking countries forged a controversial agreement... Among other things, it replaced the idiosyncratic ß, called Esszet, with a double 's' at times. It loosened the use of commas, Germanized foreign words - so that 'spaghetti' became 'spagetti' and 'ketchup' 'ketschup' - and broke up interminable compound nouns... Beyond the emotions stirred by whether kids end up writing 'dass' or 'daß,' the debate has had another result."
Slightly late but not never, below is the matins summer 2004 mix. Slightly dour for the upcoming week in Cape Cod, but that's the way it is.
"Your Cover's Blown" Belle & Sebastian
"Love Has Got Me Crying Again" Denise James
"You Still Believe In Me" Kirsty MacColl
"Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" Buffalo Springfield
"Take Me Out (Morgan Geist Reversion)" Franz Ferdinand
"17 Years" Ratatat
"So Goes Love" Carole King
"Winchester Cathedral" Clinic
"Endless Shovel" Rogue Wave
"The Sun Is Gray" Natalie Wood
"Blinded By The Lights" The Streets
"Sorry I Made You Lush" Wagon Christ
"Raphaël" Carla Bruni
"Chords Of Fame" Marianne Faithfull
"Final Day" Belle & Sebastian
"One Day Late" Sam Phillips
I have a bad habit of saying silly things off the top of my head. This
morning - without realizing it - I had an audience. I was picking up my
morning cup from the coffee cart on the corner of 5th Avenue and 40th
Street. The city is jittery after the recent terrorist warnings. The coffee
man said, “Oh, excuse me, I put two plastics lids on your cup of coffee by
mistake.” I said, “That’s okay. We can all use a little extra security
nowadays.” Everyone standing in the coffee line behind me broke out
laughing...
Girl sues over bullying: "Natalie, from Newmachar, said she had been bullied at four schools in Aberdeenshire. The worst incidents allegedly took place at Dyce Academy, where she said she was attacked, called a whore and a bitch, and threatened with death."
For the most part, this sounds like a normal day in high school. Usually people turn to art and Belle & Sebastian in such instances.
New Hampshire: A poem by Robert Frost:
"The glorious bards of Massachusetts seem
To want to make New Hampshire people over.
They taunt the lofty land with little men.
I don't know what to say about the people.
For art's sake one could almost wish them worse
Rather than better. How are we to write
The Russian novel in America
As long as life goes so unterribly?
There is the pinch from which our only outcry
In literature to date is heard to come.
We get what little misery we can
Out of not having cause for misery.
It makes the guild of novel writers sick
To be expected to be Dostoievskis
On nothing worse than too much luck and comfort.
This is not sorrow, though; it's just the vapors,
And recognized as such in Russia itself
Under the new regime, and so forbidden..."
Grad's Eye for the Good Buy: "The class of 2004 was practically raised on Martha Stewart and shows like 'Cribs.' So they tend to be more design-conscious at an age when their parents or older siblings were content, more often than not, to live with dorm leftovers... This is a generation whose members resist force-fed décor. Instead, they tend to mix a single catalog piece with Internet purchases and items scavenged from garbage bins to create a highly personal look."
See also the the slideshow. Do a handful of New Yorkers make a generational touchstone? Since I am in the middle of unpacking, I can only imagine that the other side of their rooms--the side not photographed--is still full of boxes and piles of books.
The final part of the move was supposed to go like this: put the cats in their carriers with the few boxes of dishes and clothes left in the apartment into the car. Then we drive across the George Washington Bridge, look at the skyline and all say in unison "Bye bye, gotham!" Arrive at the new apartment up north to find the weekend New York Times on the doorstep and all is right in the world.
Unfortunately, reality is never that pretty. Brian and I realized that we had left about three times too many things to bring in the car. We stashed some things at Heidi's apartment, some more things at a parents house, and still stuffed the car to the roof. The cats screamed in unison for the first two hours of the drive. On Sunday we drove back to pick up the boxes from Heidi's since there were many important things there (coffeemaker! coffee! tv!). And the worst part is that a Boston Globe arrived on my doorstep. That's just not nice.
Madeline the cat went missing on Monday night. I hoped she was hiding in some odd spot, but when she missed breakfast the next morning I knew she was definitely gone. The good thing about Madeline is that she does not actually like the outside. I went up the steps to the other apartments in the building--no sign of her. However, on the way back down a small stuffed tiger outside someone's door caught my eye. I went to look more closely and found Madeline curled up next to it. She was always very friendly. All the cats have to wear collars with bells now in case of any more escapes. Every move they make goes jingle jingle.
