Ants in My Pants
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Huh?
So, Ronald Reagan dies. Age 93, lived a long life, even if I don't respect his politics I can still respect his hanging around for so long. And as a result of his dying, American news just had a 1 week holiday, literally the only news story was his funeral. And yeah, I guess he did serve his country and all. But hey, he also lived a long prosperous life. And yet, the Senate still won't change the Pentagon policy regarding caskets returning from war. These kids are being snuffed out at a young age, giving their lives for this country that doesn't even have good reasons for sending them there, and yet we can't even see their caskets returning home?! That's a travesty.
Everyone wants to get out in the nice weather.
Some infrequent visitors are showing up off Long Island recently. Read about the basking sharks!
Turin
I went to Turin, Italy a couple of weeks ago, my old friend Andy Berner was getting married there; I hadn't seen him in at least 6 or 7 years, which in some circles may make me the lamest friend ever, but I was extremely happy to be invited and present on such an occasion. Thw wedding itself was beautiful, at a villa in the hills outside of Turin. Great people, good laughs, good food, good desserts (!), even some fun Hora and regular dancing at various points in the evening.
The worst part of the whole trip was the shrieking child on the plane ride back to the States; I think maybe airlines should invest in a small sound-proof room for babies that won't shut up. I'm not talking take-off/landing ear troubles either, I'm talking the whole way...grrr....
Anyways, some nice things to do in Turin:
Drink wine - lots of nice bars with outside seating, tasty snacks.
Drink espresso - un cafe. grazie. important words to know.
Walk around - some great architecture, cute shops, nice river, and some cool museums. I didn't go see The Shroud, but I was told it was away somewhere, so there was a replica (of the shroud, in itself proven a fake) on display instead. I did go to a fantastic Egyptian Musuem with a nice collection, and also a museum of cinema that was fun and informative (and housed in an amazing building, originally intended to be a synagogue, it's the most noticeable building in the skyline there)
Eat gelato - honestly I don't know how all those Italian girls were so skinny, they ate so much gelato!
Friday, June 04, 2004
So, lately GW Bush has been comparing the war on terrorism to WWII. And at the same time the military is using this "back-door draft" of extending soldiers' service. Which got me thinking: if FDR was able to get an exception and serve 4 terms, maybe Bush is hoping he can do the same? Gods no! I'd much rather we bring back Clinton. Blowjobs aside (and really, they are beside, has nothing to do with politics), he'd be much better at restoring our place in the world. "Back-door draft Clinton!" almost has a ring to it. Almost.
Just finished Michael Moore's Dude, Where's My Country. Right-wingers out there, you probably won't like it too much. But despite his liberal slant, I think he's fairly balanced in his rhetoric in this one.
New Harry Potter opens today. Reviews are good, new director is making it go in a new direction. But since he's the guy who directed Y Tu Mama Tambien, maybe should get a new director by the time the 3 stars pass puberty into adolescence. Could just imagine the sex scenes from Mama transferred into Potter: Hermione shagging Harry in the backseat of the flying car, with Ron grumbling in front!
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Tis a Season
3 months. And I'm outta here. Back to Thailand. Would be leaving earlier, but for the drastic increase in airfares for the summer. It's kinda funny, because June-August isn't even the nicest time of year to be in Thailand. A) when the weather's good here, not as many people are going to want to fly halfway around the world to the tropics and B) it's really not the nicest time of year in Thailand, weather-wise. Not that it's bad weather then...just not as nice as say, February-March. But anyways...prices just seem a little too high right now. Much as how I'd love to be out of NY before the Attack of the Republicans, it makes more sense to wait a few days, and have that much more money to spend once in Thailand. Speaking of the Republicans, there was an ad in the Metro paper today: full page back cover, picture of Ed Koch, slogan was something like "New York: it's not just for Democrats" and encouraging people to volunteer to help the Republicans out. I dunno, they seem to think the Convention will bring in money to NY. But really, do you see these Republican delegates going to some hot dog stand, or local bar, or corner green grocer? Except for the occasional bottled water, I'd reckon most of 'em are just gonna eat in their nice hotels, drink in their nice hotel bars. Since those hotels are large corporations, I can't imagine the city of NY is actually going to benefit very much. Well, maybe the cab drivers will. But also, think of the amount of time and energy that's going to be spent on security issues. Is that really going to make the city a profit? It's all just capitalizing on 9-11, really, "OOh, see look, we CARE about NY, because NY got attacked" Yeah right. Politics as usual. I tell ya, if I were emperor, I'd be running this country a WHOLE lot differently.
TV Corner: as I was just watching it yesterday, just thought I'd make a note of Dinner for Five, Jon Favreau's show on IFC. It's just him and 4 other actors (usually, though I've seen a couple writers and musicians too) sitting around having dinner and talking. He doesn't act like a talk show host, maybe a little more like a moderator. And he tends to have interesting guests. Well, at least the 1/2 hour it's edited down to makes them seem interesting. Worth a watch.
