Friday Snapshot IV

Flower.

Friday Snapshot III

We did this.

Friday Snapshot II

Another kind of board meeting.

Belvedere Vodka, straight up.

Shaken, not stirred.

Friday Snapshot I

One kind of board meeting.

The best damn staff in the world.

You may think yours is good, and it may be.

It's not as good as this one.

Making History

I try very hard not to mix my work life with my blog life, but today I'm setting that aside. The Association I work for has filed a lawsuit against the State of California, asking the court to declare California's education finance system unconstitutional.

I've worked in the public education arena for close to 20 years now, first for the California State University system and now for the California School Boards Association. I've been blessed in my career to work with a lot of great people, but the people I work with now are truly remarkable. We've been working on this lawsuit for close to six years now, and today was a proud moment for all of us. You like to think that you're making a difference in the world, no matter what you do, and today we took a huge step towards making that difference.

Some days, you just try to make it through the day. And some days, you hit a home run. And today was one of those days.

Another Flower

Sorry, still too busy for original content. Will have to make do with backyard flower photos for now.

Bauer...Jack Bauer.

This is hell week at work, one of our two busiest weeks of the year, so I hope no one is expecting a lot in the way of original content this week.

But hey, even on days like this, I give myself a lunch break. And during said break, I had the chance to read a piece that you should also take a look at: Steven Rubio, on the final episodes of "24." It's a typically good piece, and as a bonus also links to a paper he once wrote on whether a leftist could love "24."

The only disagreement we have, and it's a minor one, is that I found Jack's cold-blooded execution of Dana Walsh more troubling than his torture of the Russian spy. Perhaps that says more about me than I really wanted to know.

Overall the season sucked, but the last few weeks have been terrific. Even Reed Diamond has done himself proud. Can't wait for the finale.

Backyard Flowers (and one Fungus)

My First Official Old Guy Gift

"American Psycho" - Less Than Zero?

Every now and then, you watch a movie that captivates you, but even as you're watching, you’re not sure exactly what it is that you’re seeing. When the movie ends, you say to yourself (or out loud, in this case), “what the f*ck was that!?”

Mary Harron’s “American Psycho” is such a movie. One thing you can’t call it is dull. Considered on their own, nearly every scene has a kind of weird, manic energy, whether it’s the rich young assholes at the firm where Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) works comparing their new business cards, Bateman walking us through his exercise and skin-cleansing regime, or Bateman chasing an unfortunate victim down the hall with a chainsaw (I kid you not). Yep, this movie has energy.

But what does it all mean? Damned if I know. And truth be told, I’m not sure I care enough to try and figure it out. I’m frankly surprised that critics like Roger Ebert and James Berardinelli liked it as much as they did; the whole enterprise struck me as pretty nihilistic – not unlike the film made from “Psycho” author Bret Easton Ellis’ first novel, “Less Than Zero.” I never read “American Pyscho,” but if the quotes from Bateman that we hear in the film are taken directly from the book (and they sound like they might be), then I’d say that it takes a little more than just stringing together a bunch of words that sound good to make a good novel.

I also don’t know what to think of Christian Bale’s performance. It’s definitely flashy, but is it good acting? I’ll leave that to someone who knows more about acting than I do. Son #2 informs me that Bale was playing it for laughs, and in a way he succeeded, but even then I’m not sure why he decided that it made sense to sound almost exactly like Brent Spiner’s Data (from Star Trek: TNG) in those moments right before he was going to be wielding an axe onto someone’s head – or something worse. There's genuinely funny, and then there's just silly. But I will admit that the musical commentary - particularly about Huey Lewis and Phil Collins - was genuinely funny.

And then there was the “surprise” ending, which didn’t even register with me until I read Berardinelli’s review. Well, OK…I suppose that the whole thing could have been a fantasy in the head of Patrick Bateman. After all, it’s not as if the chainsaw sequence was terribly realistic. So I suppose it’s possible. But in the end, I don’t really care one way or another. Overall, “American Psycho” had its moments, but taken as a whole, it was pretty darn close to being less than zero.

Invasion!

This is the view from son #2's window, showing our waterfall, stream and pond.

You can see the wire mesh above the pond - that's there to protect the goldfish from an Egret that loves to come by and fish every now and then.

The last few days, Debra has found the mesh under water in the morning, and last night we found out why. Son #2 and I were watching "Fargo," and all of a sudden he jumped up and grabbed our big flashlight.

What did he see on the lawn, making his/her way towards the pond?

A raccoon.

And it's not as if we live in the wilderness, folks. Classic suburbia, although we are fairly close to some wide open areas.

Should make things interesting.

On The Hunt

Our cat Scooter (the young, vibrant one) likes to hang out in the back yard in the morning and guard our apricot tree against a couple of Scrub Jays that are determined to pick it clean of any edible fruit. I think they like to torment him, as well - they get dangerously close to where he is crouched in wait, "yell" at him a bit, and then skitter away.

It's all very entertaining.

Pretty Damn Close To Being Perfect - "Lost in Translation"

Since we’ve been catching up on old films via Netflix, two have stood above the crowd for me: David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence" (review here), and Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation.” We saw the latter film a few weeks ago, and even though I loved it, I’ve struggled to write about it. I couldn’t quite figure out what it was that bumped it up from the category of “very good” to “classic.”

Anyone who has traveled by themselves for work understands what a disorienting experience it can be. I don’t travel a lot, but 3-4 times each year, work takes me away from home to a city on the other end of the state, or even across the country. There are always other folks from work there, but a good portion of each day is spent alone, or in the company of colleagues or strangers. In other words, you’re surrounded by humans, but at the same time, all alone. There are some aspects of the experience that are liberating (Feel like having a drink after midnight? Well, there’s a great bar just downstairs!), but the liberation wears off pretty quickly, and after a while you just feel like you’re alone. It’s at times like those that you’re thankful for your colleagues, and it’s during those times that your colleagues become friends. And then, you go home. It’s all very strange.

I think what I liked so much about “Lost in Translation” is that it captures that sense of disorientation perfectly. Bob (Bill Murray), an actor who is past his prime, is in Tokyo to film a whiskey commercial and make a quick buck. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) is a newlywed accompanying her photographer husband on a business trip. In their age, they are decades apart, but in the course of their stay, they form a bond that is based on their mutual sense of disorientation. Their bond is something less than a romance or even a friendship, but also something more. Bob and Charlotte may be little more than two ships passing in the night, but by the time the movie is over, you have the feeling that what they’ve given each other during their short time together will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Bill Murray is marvelous in the role, and Scarlett Johansson is a revelation. It’s amazing to me that she was only 19 when the movie was filmed. They are perfect in their scenes apart, and perfect in their scenes together. Their characters have very little in common, except for their desire for companionship. But they are comfortable together, whether in dramatic or comedic moments, and their believability is a testament to Murray and Johansson’s performances, as it is to the screenplay and direction of Sofia Coppola.

And of course, there is the enduring mystery of the film’s final scene. What is it that Bob whispers in Charlotte’s ear? For me, Coppola made the perfect choice in lowering the volume to a point where there is no way to hear what he says. She may have realized that there was nothing she could write that would be as powerful as the imaginations of those watching the film. And so, it is a perfect ending to a movie that comes pretty damn close to being perfect.

American Top 40 Flashback - "Runaway," Del Shannon

Ladies and gentlemen, Del Shannon and the invisible horns, performing the great "Runaway." The #1 song in America, this week in 1961.

Jackson and David's "Strange" Triumph

“Love is Strange,” the album just released by Jackson Browne and David Lindley, is the third in a series of live acoustic albums that Browne has released since 2005 (following “Solo Acoustic Vol. 1” and “Solo Acoustic Vol. 2”). Like its predecessors, the new release is a triumph of no small proportions. Viewed as a whole, the three albums paint a picture of an artist who is totally at peace with his past glories, one who has discovered a means by which to breathe new life into his substantial body of past work.

In fact, I don’t think it’s going too far to say that Browne has managed to reinvent himself as an artist. It’s not reinvention in the Bob Dylan sense, where you sometimes listen to a song in concert and struggle to figure out exactly what song you’re hearing. Rather, it’s reinvention in the emotional sense. Browne’s songs – many of which he’s been singing for close to four decades now – have always had a strong emotional component, but the benefit of life experience now allows him to instill into them an emotional heft and depth that makes it sound as if he is singing them for the very first time. It’s really quite remarkable.

The main difference between “Love is Strange” and its predecessors is the addition of extra musicians – most notably, of course, David Lindley. Lindley and Browne haven’t recorded together on a regular basis for a very long time, but as every long-time fan knows, there was a time when Lindley was a staple – the staple – of Browne’s touring band. A brilliant musician and instrumentalist, he will probably always be known best for his falsetto contributions to “Stay” on the magnificent “Running on Empty” – probably Browne’s best, and best known, album. Here, he plays a variety of instruments, including Hawaiian guitar, fiddle, bouzuki, oud, and guitar. He also sings a couple of his best known songs, the immortal “Mercury Blues” and “El Rayo X” (featuring a wonderful falsetto vocal), and makes a memorable partner to Browne on the old Mickey and Sylvia chestnut, “Love is Strange.”

Also featured are a number of Spanish musicians, including percussionist Tino di Geraldo (in fact, the album is billed “en vivo con Tino,” vocalist Kiko Veneno (who sings “Tu Tranquilo,” which Browne introduces as “Kiko’s version of The Eagles’ “Take it Easy.”), who turns in a beautiful performance (in a beautiful Spanish accent) of Browne’s “These Days,” and Charlie Cepeda (guitar), Javier Mas (archeleud), and Carlos Nunez (whistle). Even though this is a group of musicians that doesn’t play together often (or hardly at all), their camaraderie is evident, and contributes to the album’s success.

The two-disc set is full of highlights – “I’m Alive,” “Looking East,” “Sit Down Servant,” “Your Bright Baby Blues,” “Running on Empty” – but for now, I’d have to say my favorite is “Late for the Sky,” a great performance of one of Browne’s greatest songs. Truth be told, the album is one long highlight – evidence that experience and advancing age doesn’t have to put a halt on creativity.

Fleece

Cats love it.