This Time Last Year

Drinking Champagne with Christine and Kevin and rushing out into the street of the Stepford neighborhood to talk to people.

Despite the tidy image, people are still struggling. Boy oh boy. And yet, by god, we might get healthcare, and may do a sensible withdrawal from an expensive and ill thought out war, an dmay finally start some new industries in this country.

It's a good time to be young and alive in this country. It really is.

Good Luck California

We tried this in Oregon:

Nobel Peace Prize

Now I really feel like a slacker.

Three years ago, no one knew about him, say that he was the honorable Senator from Illinois with a funny name.

The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize now goes to that guy with the funny name:

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

“Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the United States is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.”

Wow.

Capitalism: A Love Story

I went to see Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story yesterday.

I cried.

It seems that Michael gets better and better as a filmmaker, and here, he goes back to the beginning- to Roger and Me, to his childhood, to all the stories about the American way of life that he was taught to revere, and what he saw done to his home town and then to his country.

There is something potent there, of a man of at the very height of his outrage, yet for the grandstanding (which is muted)and the very funny satiric parts, it's the people's stories that get through, and the way Michael simply shows malfeasance. He does not have to lecture, or hector, or explain it all. The stories are relentless, and his smart linking of these stories together leaves one breathless with shock and dismay and anger and strangely enough, hope.

There were critics in the local weekly who sniffed that Michael did not have any answers and was nothing but a grandstander, a cheap populist. Interesting, since most film students know that a documentary, at it's heart, does not propose to come up with answers; it is an act of storytelling that follows and asks questions of a subject.

Go see it.

The quest continues

So, I called on an used Panasonic camera, but apparently I was 1 hour late! Yikes! So I am still looking for a suitable camera, but I am also prepared to rent a camera at this point in the project and simply store the film in a hard drive when needed for future editing.

Meanwhile, am gearing up for Wordstock 2009!

Boyfriend with Benefits

I know y'all is bored with my politics and such, but sorry, this is funny:

Strange Things About The Gym

So, I have been going to the gym since the beginning of the year, mostly to relieve stress. It has turned out that I have strengthened my body and lost about 20 pounds gained after Eric's death, which is good. But what is strange about the gym, so noteworthy and yet so ordinary, are the little rituals and sounds and sights that comprise a visit:

1) The sounds of agony. I workout partly in the weight room, and I always try to do a little ladylike huff when I am doing some work with weights. But there is always someone- usually a man- who sounds like he is being put to the question by the Inquisition. When it sounds like the person is being disemboweled, I put on some music from the iPod.

2) Japanese Sauna Hour. The Japanese community in Beaverton seem to all belong to the 24 hour Fitness, and when you want to do a sauna or a steam, thee seems to be an entire family of Japanese, catching up on the day and having a chat. I always feel as if there should be tea served. Konnichiwa!

3) The not so deep pool. I am very comfortable in the pool because it is not very deep- only 5 feet at it's deepest. So it's perfect for doing water exercises with old people, who like the fact that the pool is not too deep, either, honey.

Of course, I could talk about the basketball players, the fried tan worshippers, and the guys on the lookout for a hookup, but that has so stereotypical that I don't need to talk about them.