This Administration Still Amazes Me

Bush to Russia today:

"Bullying and intimidation are not ways to conduct foreign policy."

Huh?

Did I wake up in an alternate universe? Is this what Bush truly believes?

Really? Is he high? Has he bothered to look at his/our record of foreign policy?

I thought we wrote the book on bullying and intimidation....

I am still shaking my head.

Woody Allen's "Another Woman"

I can't believe I've never seen Woody Allen's Another Woman (1988). It's not that often that a film moves me...I mean, *really* gets under my skin (in a good way). I really enjoy films that make me think and fill me with ideas, and give me insight into the human mind. This is definitely one of those films. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all different genres of film, but I am particularly drawn to those that are dark, or depressing or melancholy, ones that are truthful and really make me think. Ezra Pound once said, "Artists are the antennae of the race." I believe this to be true with filmmaking.

The main character, Marion (played by one of my all time favorite actresses, Gena Rowlands) is facing a midlife crisis. She is a writer and an accomplished college professor who has taken sabbatical to work on her novel. In order to get some peace and quiet and be in an environment that is more conducive to writing, she rents an apartment in the West Village. She discovers that her apartment is next door to a psychiatrist’s office, and she can clearly hear every patient session. She is particularly drawn to a woman, aptly named "Hope", who is played by Mia Farrow. Through Hope's therapy sessions and Marion's flashbacks we slowly come to see that Marion has deceived herself for too long. It is through other peoples' descriptions and perceptions of her that we find out who Marion really is. Marion once overheard her stepdaughter describe her as "judgmental" and "stands above everyone else." After accidentally running into Hope and spending the day with her, Hope describes Marion (and Marion just happens to overhear) to her psychiatrist as, "...she can't allow herself to feel, so the result is she's lead this cold, cerebral life and it's alienated everyone around her...she's pretended so long that everything is fine...and you can see how lost she is.", and, "she's very bright  and accomplished...but you can tell emotions embarrassed her, passions and intensity frighten her."  Hope only spent a few hours with Marion and she has her completely pegged.

We gain insight about people by what they read and what they watch (Thank you Flaubert). Marion's favorite poet is Rainer Maria Rilke, who was also her mother's favorite poet. Marion's favorite poem, one that she wrote a paper on in college is "The Panther."

His vision, from the constantly passing bars,
has grown so weary that it cannot hold
anything else. It seems to him there are
a thousand bars, and behind the bars, no world.

As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,
the movement of his powerful soft strides
is like a ritual dance around a center
in which a mighty will stands paralyzed.

Only at times, the curtain of the pupils
lifts, quietly. An image enters in,
rushes down through the tense, arrested muscles,
plunges into the heart and is gone. (Rilke, 1907, found online)

Her mother's favorite poem was "Archaic Torso of Apollo", and the last line of the poem is, "for here there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life."

And, luckily, Marion recognizes who she has become and does begin to make changes in her life. This is definitely a great film. Go rent it.

The Sweet 'Stache Has Run its Course

It's a sad, sad day.

While watching the Yankees-Rangers game this evening I just noticed that Jason Giambi has shaved off his mustache.

Damn.

Why Jason? Why?

I think my odd attraction to him is now gone.

Though, a little piece of me hopes his batting average comes back up now that he's shaved.

Hey! Maybe he should consider growing a beard...

Update on Monday, August 4, 2008 at 08:08PM by Lisa J.

Okay...Jason just got a home run in the top of the 4th. (Question: why does he run so oddly around the bases? It's like he's shuffling or fast walking.)

Ken Singleton just commented that perhaps Jason should have shaved a few days ago...

Snicker.

Summer Thoughts

The sunset this eve was absolutely gorgeous. Huge, orange/red/pink/coral ball of fire setting beyond the trees and past the elevated train tracks. The pictures I took didn't do it justice, so you'll have to trust me (I tried to capture...see below). I had to run to my bedroom window to properly view it because while looking out of my living room window I couldn't fully see it, it was obscured by the trees. 

 
At 8:45 tonight while looking out the blinds, I noticed that the days are getting shorter. Huh. Kind of sad. Summer's passing...

But, there's still plenty of time left this summer...for cookouts with friends and family (where someone inevitably eats too much guacamole), block parties with neighbors old and new, fire hydrants open and gushing water into the street for kids to play in, hot, smelly, streets in NYC in which to walk down while covering your nose (because of the stench of rotting garbage waiting to be picked up), where your feet feel as if they're burning from the heat contained within the pavement, sitting in the park at dusk watching the fireflies, playing softball in central park on the hottest day of the summer with your friends, watching the abundance of dragonflies zip around the infield, while trying to not pass out from the blistering sun and overwhelming humidity, and after the win, taking off one's cleats and socks to walk barefoot and then lie down in the slightly damp grass of the 98th St. softball fields, having a few beers while sitting outside at your favorite bar watching passersby, or, ducking out of work early and having a few beers while watching the Mets or Yankees, or actually getting tickets to see either team in their final season at their respective stadiums, sitting at your desk at work., bathed in a/c and artificial light....wishing you were a kid again on summer break, where the days stretched and time seemed almost endless.

Wolverine!

Wolverine!!!

I for one cannot wait!!

He's my most favorite of the X-Men....