two dramatically different movies this morning.
first, right after i came downstairs and turned on the tv, a movie that made me cry and feel ashamed. you see, it as a documentary about the aftermath of the chernobyl, with plenty of interviews of people that have absolutely no hope. one of the last interviews was of a team of 13 american volunteer doctors and nurses that performed heart surgeries. the crew was filmed performing a heart surgery in which two gortex patches were inserted into a 13 year old girl's heart two fill two holes. this type of problem was portrayed as very common in the area, and local doctors had told the girl and her parents that there was nothing they could do.
the doctor said that the reason more people didnt have the procedure performed was because the patches cost $300 each. the average monthly salary of a doctor there (belarus) is only $100 (i couldnt help think, as sad as i was feeling, of the diamond commercials. what better way to make three months salary last forever). the doctor came out to tell the parents the success of the surgery, and was being showered in praise, the mother kissing his hands and hugging him. as he walked toward the elevator, clearly and admittedly not taking it well, he said he received all that praise just for doing his job, doing what he does.
i dunno. its one thing to know that theres that type of suffereing, really needless suffering, going on in the world, its another to rub your face in it right after you get up early in the morning. a bit ashamed that the country whose constitution i believe so strongly in, one of the most powerful and rich countries the world has ever seen, is wasting billions in iraq, but people are dying for lack of a heart surgeon and $600 worth of gortex.
and then i watched thank you for smoking, which i havent seen before. fuckin hilarious.
speaking of smoking. im making another effort to quit again, probably my most serious attempt. in two weeks ive had 3, all of which were last friday when i spend the evening having dinner and drinks, catching up with an old college professor that was visiting town. its been really difficult at times not to run to a 7-11 and buy a pack. ive been a bit of a dick at work. sometimes just one stupid thing wont work and ill just go nuts.
i saw rilo kiley on thursday night at the concourse. im still not sure how i feel about the show. they barely interacted with the audience, which was disappointing. ive wanted to see them for ages and just havent been able to. the smaller bands ive seen before have been more talkative, usually because the people that show up to see them are huge fans, the kind of fan that keeps the band going. they played a long time, and after they stopped playing the songs from their new record, seemed to enjoy themselves. i dunno. ill try and catch them again and see how that show is. still love them.
oh, and a new computer this week too. dell inspiron 1720, 2.4ghz processor, 4gm of ram, 320gb hard drive. love the features and how fast it is so far, not sold on the design. comes with a full key board, which is great, but its pushed everything way to the left of center of the laptop. this wouldnt be that big a deal, but the touchpad has been moved accordingly, which makes body position in relation to the center of the screen a tad off. even this would be forgivable, as you just move the laptop over a bit, but the main fan on the thing is on the left side, so if you move the keyboard over to be able to center your hands with your body and the keyboard, the fan is all but covered by your leg. not a good thing. ive had it for three days, and i just now have time to spend time reinstalling programs and the like. maybe ill like it more, or just get more comfortable with it, as time goes on.
anyway. far too much for the casual reader of this thing. work is a tad frustrating. well see how that plays out next week. back to movies, wow, and program installation.
first, right after i came downstairs and turned on the tv, a movie that made me cry and feel ashamed. you see, it as a documentary about the aftermath of the chernobyl, with plenty of interviews of people that have absolutely no hope. one of the last interviews was of a team of 13 american volunteer doctors and nurses that performed heart surgeries. the crew was filmed performing a heart surgery in which two gortex patches were inserted into a 13 year old girl's heart two fill two holes. this type of problem was portrayed as very common in the area, and local doctors had told the girl and her parents that there was nothing they could do.
the doctor said that the reason more people didnt have the procedure performed was because the patches cost $300 each. the average monthly salary of a doctor there (belarus) is only $100 (i couldnt help think, as sad as i was feeling, of the diamond commercials. what better way to make three months salary last forever). the doctor came out to tell the parents the success of the surgery, and was being showered in praise, the mother kissing his hands and hugging him. as he walked toward the elevator, clearly and admittedly not taking it well, he said he received all that praise just for doing his job, doing what he does.
i dunno. its one thing to know that theres that type of suffereing, really needless suffering, going on in the world, its another to rub your face in it right after you get up early in the morning. a bit ashamed that the country whose constitution i believe so strongly in, one of the most powerful and rich countries the world has ever seen, is wasting billions in iraq, but people are dying for lack of a heart surgeon and $600 worth of gortex.
and then i watched thank you for smoking, which i havent seen before. fuckin hilarious.
speaking of smoking. im making another effort to quit again, probably my most serious attempt. in two weeks ive had 3, all of which were last friday when i spend the evening having dinner and drinks, catching up with an old college professor that was visiting town. its been really difficult at times not to run to a 7-11 and buy a pack. ive been a bit of a dick at work. sometimes just one stupid thing wont work and ill just go nuts.
i saw rilo kiley on thursday night at the concourse. im still not sure how i feel about the show. they barely interacted with the audience, which was disappointing. ive wanted to see them for ages and just havent been able to. the smaller bands ive seen before have been more talkative, usually because the people that show up to see them are huge fans, the kind of fan that keeps the band going. they played a long time, and after they stopped playing the songs from their new record, seemed to enjoy themselves. i dunno. ill try and catch them again and see how that show is. still love them.
oh, and a new computer this week too. dell inspiron 1720, 2.4ghz processor, 4gm of ram, 320gb hard drive. love the features and how fast it is so far, not sold on the design. comes with a full key board, which is great, but its pushed everything way to the left of center of the laptop. this wouldnt be that big a deal, but the touchpad has been moved accordingly, which makes body position in relation to the center of the screen a tad off. even this would be forgivable, as you just move the laptop over a bit, but the main fan on the thing is on the left side, so if you move the keyboard over to be able to center your hands with your body and the keyboard, the fan is all but covered by your leg. not a good thing. ive had it for three days, and i just now have time to spend time reinstalling programs and the like. maybe ill like it more, or just get more comfortable with it, as time goes on.
anyway. far too much for the casual reader of this thing. work is a tad frustrating. well see how that plays out next week. back to movies, wow, and program installation.