if you missed the short story in the new yorker a couple weeks ago called 'the last words on earth' here's the link. you shouldn't let this slip by without reading it.

the last words on earth

sources say...

a labor source tells CNN, "there wasn't the enthusiasm for dick."

...and yet i've heard the contrary.

article link

conservatives, liberals, and underwhelming hypocrisy

on the one hand, i was a little disappointed to hear john kerry say, "there are two ways you can have lower prescription drug prices. one is to hire rush limbaugh's maid. the other is to elect me president." i loathe limbaugh, his rhetoric, and his ideas, but i consider his drug problem a disease rather than a laughable matter.

on the other hand, i found it rather entertaining to see ann coulter get wErked on the conservative talk show, scarborough country, by lisa bloom (anchor for court tv and self-declared liberal).

coulter repeatedly dodged bloom's direct question eight or nine times. the question was clearly posed: should limbaugh should be "punished" under illegal drug use laws enacted by none other than conservative legislation? towards the end of the show we get this precious moment...

BLOOM: You don’t think the law should apply to your friend?
...
SCARBOROUGH: Finish it, Ann. Then let’s move on.
COULTER: It’s a stupid question to ask of what you think laws should be, based on what happens to someone I support, I admire, I am a fan of. That’s just a stupid question to ask.
BLOOM: So you’re not going to answer it.
COULTER: We’re very big on this hypocrisy angle.
...
BLOOM: ... the right who insist on Draconian drug laws don’t want them applied to their friends, for the same reason that I don’t want them applied to anyone.
...
SCARBOROUGH: Cut off the mikes. Cut off all the microphones.

now, that's a piece of work.

the show's transcript can be found here.

two rentals and a to-read list

i recently rented two movies - solaris and the shape of things. i was pleasantly surprised by solaris. i liked the tone, the pace, the story and the themes. as for the shape of things, i was rather disappointed. i don't know what i was expecting. i'm always disappointed by neil labute films. i'm not quite sure why he gets so much critical acclaim. he uses a unique, raw (if not awkward) approach, but there's nothing compelling about anything he says in his movies. and his character development is totally inadequate. whatever...

my books-to-read list seems to be growing exponentially. lots of good stuff out right now - fiction and non. hopefully, i'll start tackling that soon.

the playoffs

baseball is heartbreak and misery, unless, of course, you're a yankees fan. as for marlin fans, they're just a bunch of fair weather fuckers who wouldn't know the difference between the world series trophy and a home depot lighting fixture.

regarding "america's wish," to see a world series between the incapable and the unlucky [cubs and red sox]... hell has yet to freeze over. live with it. they're not the only teams trying to make it to the world series, nor are they the only teams that haven't won it in a very long time. if you aren't aware, 2004 will be the 50th anniversary of the giants' last world championship.

edit: [10/30/03] obviously, i was bitter when i wrote this. i feel no ill will towards marlin fans. just a bit of jealousy.

testing...

october has been an unkind month.

1. ugly workload
2. giants' playoff implosion
3. guv'nor schwarzeneggar.

i need a new mantra.

"all that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real condition of life and his relations with his kind."

--from someone much smarter than me, but he's dead, so that's why it's in my journal.

congratulations to the giants for clinching the NL west.

...the greatest difficulty lies in
getting one's intellect to explain
what one's intuition alreadly knows.

--Kitching.