Wednesday, October 23, 2002

 
IS BUSH'S 9/11 AURA WEARING OFF?
External link:

Comedy Central is running a marathon of episodes of "That's My Bush!" on November 3, the Saturday night after next. The popular show mysteriously disappeared right after 9/11. Is it finally okay again to acknowledge that the unelected ruler of America is an idiot?

This is The Official Record. 4:55 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/is-bushs-911-aura-wearing-off.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85592633

 
ASHITA TOKYO E IKIMASU.
External link:

I'm going to Tokyo Thursday morning to visit my friend Andy M.. I've been really busy, since I just got back from a business trip to Las Vegas last Thursday night, which has been keeping me from blogging or doing very much else besides working the last few days. I probably won't be blogging much while I'm there either.

I'll get there Friday night. Sunday, I'm flying to Bangkok, mainly just to shop. I'll return to Tokyo Thursday night, and I'll be back in the U.S. in time to vote on election day, Tuesday, November 5.

I'll tell you all about it when I get back!

This is The Official Record. 2:38 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/ashita-tokyo-e-ikimasu.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85592355

 
"TOBACCO IS WHACKO ... IF YOU'RE A TEEN", IS, ITSELF, WHACKO.
External link:

What is up with that ad campaign, "Tobacco is whacko ... if you're a teen"? I see it a lot in comic books, and occasionally on TV. If the goal of this campaign is to encourage young people to smoke more, then I think it's an excellent commercial. But the idea that such a slogan will get anyone not to smoke is absurd. Why say "Tobacco is whacko ... if you're a teen", and not just say "Tobacco is whacko"? The corollary of "Tobacco is whacko if you're a teen" is, obviously, "Tobacco is totally awesome if you're not a teen." And if you tell a teenager they're not old enough to do something, because it's too adult for them, what do you think they're going to do? And aside from that, the "Tobacco is whacko" rhyme is totally trite. Do you think one person will hear "Tobacco is whacko" and decide not to smoke because of this?

This ad campaign is sponsored by the Lorillard Tobacco company, ostensibly out of a sincere effort to discourage youth smoking. But, if you ask me, they know exactly what they're doing, which is encouraging kids to smoke more by making smoking seem more adult. In fact, their campaign seems weirdly transparent in this regard.

This is The Official Record. 2:32 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/tobacco-is-whacko-if-youre-teen-is.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85592417

 
BOOK REVIEW: E=MC˛: A BIOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS EQUATION (2001) * * * (3 stars out of 4).
External link:

This is a really fun and accessible book. It's sort of two books in one. First, it's a history of the various pieces of the equations and the science that led up to it as well as the people involved. Second, it's a history of the development of the atom bomb, and the people involved in that. It's engaging and easy to understand and, I think, genuinely educational.

This is The Official Record. 2:18 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/book-review-emc-biography-of-worlds.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85592387

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

 
INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT.
External link:

I saw this commercial on TV.

It starts with an aerial view of Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant and starts panning back. A woman's voice says, "American nuclear power plants are potential terrorist targets. Millions of us around the Indian Point Nuclear Plant live in the rings of a bulls-eye. Within ten miles, the evacuation zone." This is shown in yellow. "Within 17, the peak fatality zone." This is shown in orange. "And within the peak injury zone," shown in red, "there are some pretty big towns." Our view heads south, revealing, of course, New York City. You hear the street noises, as the camera zooms in from the whole of New York City, to Manhattan, to a four by four block section of Manhattan that INCLUDES MY APARTMENT. The screen goes black. "Tell your senators. Tell the governor. This is one nightmare we don't have to live with." The screen says "CLOSE INDIAN POINT. To contact Sen. Schumer, Sen. Clinton, Gov. Pataki go to riverkeeper.org." Then in small type, "Paid for by Riverkeeper. We do not support or oppose any candidate for public office."

So, that was a little disturbing. It was a pretty disturbing commercial altogether, but it was certainly made all the moreso by the close-up of my building. On the other hand, I really do believe in nuclear power. I think the solution is to make it safer. A lot more people, you know, have been killed or injured or suffered weird, seemingly unexplainable illnesses, because of coal than because of nuclear power.

But, yeah, not in my backyard, please.

This is The Official Record. 1:12 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/indian-point-nuclear-power-plant.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85589899

Saturday, October 19, 2002

 
I'M BACK.
External link:

I was in Las Vegas from last Friday until Thursday night. I had a business meeting that went well, and I saw a hypnotism show in which my brother's girlfriend, Rachel, got hypnotized on stage.

I also gambled a bit. On Friday night, I lost $265. On Saturday, I was down another $8. On Sunday, I won $553. On Monday, I won another $300. At this point I reached my high for the trip, and was up a total of $580. Tuesday, I lost $400. Wednesday, I thought it might be neat to play at the $100 limit table. However, I played 8 hands and lost 7 of them, costing me $600. Thus, I finished the trip down $420. Still, I got a free flight and a few free nights at the Venitian Hotel, and I got a whole bunch of free stock options, and I had a lot of fun, so I'd say it was well spent.

This is The Official Record. 3:26 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/im-back.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85578998

Thursday, October 10, 2002

 
GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.
External link:

Yesterday was John Lennon's birthday, so I went to Strawberry Fields in Central Park with Bryan C. There were about 30 people there, singing Beatles songs and such-like. Just as we got there, a woman was straightening a piece of paper that was on top of the "Imagine" mosaic, and this not-well-dressed hippie guy started yelling at her not to touch anything. She said she was just straightening out something that she had put down in the first place, and that he wasn't in charge of her. He said that he'd been coming to Strawberry Fields for 22 years, and that he was "the Mayor of Strawberry Fields", and that she'd better not touch anything. They argued back and forth in a way not at all in keeping with the spirit of the event, and eventually, she gathered up all the things she'd put down, which was about a third of the stuff there, and said she was going to get the police. We stayed for about ten minutes and sung along and left before she got the cops, if she ever did.

This is The Official Record. 5:38 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/give-peace-chance.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85549085

Wednesday, October 09, 2002

 
MOVIE REVIEW: THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER (2002) * 1/2 (1 and a half stars out of 4).
External link:

The premise of this movie is that Kissinger, the mastermind behind the war in Cambodia, and an influence in extending the war in Vietnam, the overthrow of the Chilean government, and the invasion of East Timor, should be tried for War Crimes for his role in those events. While I am no Kissinger fan, I found the movie totally unconvincing. If the thesis of the movie had been "Henry Kissinger is a jerk" or "Henry Kissinger shouldn't have gotten a Nobel Peace Prize", I'd say it had done a great job. But the war crimes charge just doesn't stick. All they've accused Kissinger of is setting the policy of the United States, in a time of war. His only war crime was successfully convincing Nixon and Ford that his ideas should be the policy of the United States. Now, I'm no expert on International law, but unless it goes completely against the principles of the First Amendment, and of the very concept of representative democracy, there's just nothing wrong with serving your country, even if you occasionally bungle the job, and even if people die as a result of your decisions, particularly in wartime. Additionally, again and again, the "documentary" promotes speculation by its interview subjects about what Kissinger liked and disliked, what motivated him, what he must have been thinking, and so on. Very many of the most damning statements about Kissinger in the movie are completely unsupported and speculative. Before I saw the movie, I was fully prepared to come out of that movie ready to hang Kissinger, but there just wasn't any smoking gun.

This is The Official Record. 3:12 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/movie-review-trials-of-henry-kissinger.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85541793

 
THEATER REVIEW: THE EXONERATED * * 1/2 (2 and a half stars out of 4).
External link:

The Exonerated features an all-star cast (most notably including Richard Dreyfuss) reading the exact words of several falsely convicted former residents of death row. It's certainly a compelling argument against the death penalty. But it's not very visually apealing. The actors all sit in chairs the whole time, and just read their lines off a page. Also, the stories are inter-cut Fantasy Island style. That works fine for two or maybe three unrelated stories, but here there were at least half a dozen, and it got more than a little confusing. I really think that, one at a time, the actors should have walked on stage, told their whole story from start to finish (preferably from memory, though I apreciate the fidelity to the actual statements of the accused), and then been followed by the next actor. That would have been more visually engaging, and much easier to follow.

This is The Official Record. 3:01 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/theater-review-exonerated-12-2-and.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85541776

Monday, October 07, 2002

 
AUDIO BOOK REVIEW: THE CODE OF THE WOOSTERS * * (2 stars out of 4).
External link:

This is another recorded farsical play, and not to be confused with the book of the same name, upon which it is based, which is one in P.G. Wodehouse's popular "Jeeves" series. It's silly and sometimes amusing, but it ultimately left me unimpressed.

This is The Official Record. 2:27 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/audio-book-review-code-of-woosters-2.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85535282

 
AUDIO BOOK REVIEW: FORTY-TWO STORIES * 1/2 (1 and a half stars out of 4).
External link:

This audio recording of the play, Forty-Two Stories is available for online download at audbile.com. Set in Chicago, this farcical tale of love and loneliness is extremely trite.

This is The Official Record. 2:22 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/audio-book-review-forty-two-stories-12.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85535258

 
BOOK REVIEW: THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES (1987) * * * (3 stars out of 4).
External link:

This Tom Wolfe book suffers from being a little longer than it needs to be. Written just before the rise of the P.C. movement, it raises some very interesting and difficult questions about race which today seem in some ways very sophisticated, but in other ways very very naive. I guess my main problem is that these questions ultimately go unanswered, and even largely unexplored. Also, I found the ending rather unsatisfying. All along, I felt like the story was leading somewhere, but then, in the end, very little was ever resolved. I'm not saying the ending was too happy or that it wasn't happy enough. I'm just saying that the ending wasn't satisfying enough, and didn't feel like an ending at all.

Having said all that, though, it was a page turner, with moments of real drama and humor, as the protagonist proves Murphy's Law again and again. Often, reading the book feels a lot like watching the show Curb Your Enthusiasm, as I was twisted up in knots watching the protagonist suffer.

This is The Official Record. 2:12 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/book-review-bonfire-of-vanities-1987-3.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85535227

 
CIVILIZATION III.
External link:

I haven't blogged in almost a week for one reason, and one reason only: Civilization III, the new sequel to the classic computer strategy game. I got it at the new Yahoo Games on Demand. It's actually a pretty great deal. For $14.95, you get up to 10 games for up to 30 days each, and they have lots of really popular new games, like Civilization III, and Grand Theft Auto 2. They have other deals for fewer games, but they didn't seem like as good a bargain, though maybe they are, since after 6 days all I've played is Civilization III. This game is really addictive, and not really in a good way.

This is The Official Record. 1:47 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/civilization-iii.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85535118

Wednesday, October 02, 2002

 
WORKING OUT MONTH-A-VERSARY.
External link:

I think Tuesday was my four month anniversary of going to the gym. I say that I think it was, because I started May 31, and there is no 31st of September, so I'm not really sure when it falls. I wasn't really counting, but I think that in the past month, I went to the gym every day, except for two days. Early in September, I switched my workout around. I used to do weight-lifting for one, or occasionally two body parts, three exercises per body part, three sets of ten reps per exercise, and then I did an hour on the elliptical machine. Now, I'm doing six body parts all on one day, and doing that every third day. The other two days, I do an hour and a half on the elliptical machine. It feels a lot easier, mentally, to gear up for either just weight-lifting or just aerobics. I'm now down to 177 pounds, down 20 pounds from four months ago, and the least I've weighed since I was in eighth grade. Even though I'm 20 pounds less than I was, I've also put on a lot of muscle. I don't know how to measure that, but I've got to figure it's at least 5 to 10 pounds, in addition to the other 20 pounds. I keep thinking of how close I came to going through my whole life as that chubby shlub I used to be, and it really scares me. Everybody asks me how I stay motivated, and, well, that's really it. Oh, and books on tape. That really makes it fly by.

This is The Official Record. 1:04 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/working-out-month-versary.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85514345

Tuesday, October 01, 2002

 
THE NEW FALL TV SEASON.
External link:

Is it just me, or is the new fall TV Season the least exciting one in at least the last 25 years? I'm starting to wonder if all these new TV networks, instead of providing more and better choices, are just spreading out the talent too thinly. I guess it's a good new season if you really like crime dramas, with CBS's Without a Trace, Robbery Homicide Division, Hack, and CSI: Miami, and NBC's Boomtown, mostly getting very good reviews. But I'm not really a crime drama fan at all. The only shows that looked interesting to me are American Dreams, which is opposite the Simpsons, and the all-new version of The Twilight Zone, which is opposite The West Wing, so I don't think those are going to work out for me.

I actually did catch Sunday's premiere of American Dreams. I was a little disappointed after the hype I'd gotten from NBC. I'll say 2 and a half stars. Could they have beaten you over the head more that it took place in Philadelphia? Eagles this, Phillies that, Cheesesteak this, Bookbinders that, Phiadelphia, Philadelphia, Philadelphia. Okay, I get it, we're in Philadelphia! You don't have to use up all your references in the pilot.

I also saw the new show Boomtown. It was really just okay. 2 stars. The idea is you see one crime from the different points of view of all the characters. I was thinking that it might be too gimmicky. But, really, it wasn't gimmicky enough. EVERY crime drama follows the points of view of different characters. This didn't seem that different. And then, the story itself wasn't all that particularly interesting. The end, especially, was much too tidy and two-dimensional, like an after-school special.

This is The Official Record. 4:30 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/new-fall-tv-season.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85512884

 
MORE NOTICE FOR MY REVIEW OF SLANDER.
External link:

William Burton's blog calls my review of Anne Coulter's terrible book, Slander, "The definitive Anne Coulter book review," and he quotes it extensively.

This is The Official Record. 2:55 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/more-notice-for-my-review-of-slander.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85512520

 
BOOK REVIEW: THE NATURAL * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
External link:

The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton by Joe Klein, the Newsweek columnist who anonymously wrote Primary Colors takes an ambivalent view of the Clinton Presidency, as, I suppose, most all of us do. It takes the hardly controversial view that the Clinton presidency was characterized by policy triumphs and personal failures. But he also makes the insight that these are not entirely unrelated. That is, Clinton always made his politics personal, and traded on his ability to empathize with voters. Additionally, his personal relationship with his very influential wife often trumped his political judgments. In the end, Klein does convince me that Clinton was misunderstood, and that his policy successes were greater than he was given credit for, which only makes his personal mistakes, which cost him so much politically, all the more unforgivable.

This is The Official Record. 1:02 AM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002/10/book-review-natural-12-3-and-half.html


Check for older comments: Archived comments on item #85509969