abbreviated

[greygirlbeast]

I did a decent enough 1,336 words on Chapter Six of Daughter of Hounds yesterday. And then, at just past 4:30, the afternoon grew dark, and we had a wonderful, violent thunderstorm that managed to both cool off the day and knock our power out for over an hour. Nice gum-ball sized hail, though, and some of it made it down the chimney into the living room. As the storm wound down, we proofed To Charles Fort, With Love, pages 35-81, which includes "Spindleshanks (New Orleans, 1956)," "So Runs the World Away," and "Standing Water" (plus three afterwords). By the time we were done, the power still hadn't come back on, and I was exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep, anyway.

Kid night got a late start, thanks to all the electrical shinanigans, but we did see Higuchinsky's unevenly effective Uzumaki (which, somehow, I'd yet to see), There are some superbly weird moments, such as the vortex of ash from the crematorium descending into Dragonfly Pond, but I think it falls flat as a whole. Oh, and I see that Roger Ebert isn't happy with Speilberg's War of the Worlds, either. Well, this is the man who liked Congo, after all.

There's a toothsome new chapter of Boschen and Nesuko (Ch. 23). That's been the best thing about my morning thus far.

I've been trying hard to stay clear of things political in the blog, just because, but I snurched this link yesterday from robyn_ma: "What Iraq needs is a Walter Cronkite", from a USAToday Founder, Al Neuharth. I liked this bit particularly:

The crucial difference between Vietnam and Iraq is that there is no Cronkite to call Bush's bluff. Without a strong, trusted, non-political voice, too many of us remain Bush-blinded. Bush tried keeping the wool over our eyes again Tuesday on national TV by repeatedly tying Iraq to 9/11. That charge is as phony as his discredited prewar claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

And while I'm at it, one I found on my own: Yes, globe is warming, even if Bush denies it. After oil, I think denial may have become America's chief fetish...

Comments

[setsuled.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I see that Roger Ebert isn't happy with Speilberg's War of the Worlds, either. Well, this is the man who liked Congo, after all.

At least his reasons aren't irrelevant political ones.

There've been a number of times I disagreed with Ebert, but none of those times have persuaded me that he's not a sensitive and intelligent fellow. I like this bit from his review of The Scarlet Empress (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20050116%2FREVIEWS08%2F50113001%2F1023);

"Dietrich exists surrounded but untouched by this madness, as a locus of carnal insinuations. She rarely engages the other actors physically; von Sternberg likes to isolate her in fetishistic compositions of lace, feathers, fur and fire (notice the shot in which she gazes steadily at Alexei from behind her veil; the candle flame a few inches from her mouth trembles as she begins to breathe more heavily). One dress seems made of black-tipped white fur spikes, which undulate when she moves, like a dreamy underwater porcupine. There is something both contented and demented in her narcissism; perfectly made up and exquisitely lighted, she poses for us in von Sternberg's closeups, regarding us with contemptuous passivity while we commit sins of thought by contemplating sins of deed."

I'll still probably see War of the Worlds, though.

There's a toothsome new chapter of Boschen and Nesuko (Ch. 23). That's been the best thing about my morning thus far.

That makes me quite happy to've made it.

The crucial difference between Vietnam and Iraq is that there is no Cronkite to call Bush's bluff.

I think the problem isn't so much that people aren't calling Bush's bluff, as it is that calling his bluff is construed as extremist. If one were to constantly observe the truth about Bush, one could easily be seen as a relentless attacker of his policies. It's a situation of the biggest lie being the most difficult to lasso.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I think the problem isn't so much that people aren't calling Bush's bluff, as it is that calling his bluff is construed as extremist.

But would anyone have ever considered Cronkite an "extremist"? I think that's the point that was being made.

but none of those times have persuaded me that he's not a sensitive and intelligent fellow.

I used to agree with him far more often than I do these days. He seems to be slipping, I think. This doesn't lead me to think he not sensitive and intelligent. I think he's both. He's just wrong a lot. It happens to a lot of sensitive, intelligent people. Like me.

[fornikate.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised you had not seen Uzumaki. I can imagine how many emails you've received regarding it.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised you had not seen Uzumaki.

I just wish it had been better.

[extatika.livejournal.com]

A warning to Americans: ...the social fabric of Canada has been torn apart. Every single person in Toronto, our largest city, is participating in a massive gay orgy. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/uncut_diamond/158646.html)

Political, a bit, maybe, but you know you want to...

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Political, a bit, maybe, but you know you want to...

Okay. That tears it. I'm going over to Expidia to see how much plane tickets to Toronto will set me back...