Month: March 2003

Oscars…

So, as I do every year, I watched the Academy Awards last night, even with the surreal “War Commercials” (the updates from Peter Jennings that were placed during the commercial breaks, so that we wouldn’t forget, apparently). My reactions:

1) It was good to see awards going to “newbies”….Chris Cooper, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Adrien Brody, Nicole Kidman. It’s good to see genuine emotion in their responses. If I have to sit through YET ANOTHER award given to someone like Jack Nicholson or Meryl Streep, who fawn and demure over the experience, even though they’ve been up there before….

2) Adrien Brody—grab that moment. Lip-lock on Halle Berry (her husband sitting in the front row, fer chrissakes), Shout down the orchestra, and make a statement on the war that is heartfelt, wishing for peace, and at the same time supportive of the soldiers over there. THAT’S how you do it.

3) “Fictional election results, giving us a fictional President…” OK, Mike, Look– I *agree* with you on that point, but come on, man: there’s a time and a place. This was neither. So, congratulations: in a room full of people who largely share your political leanings, you managed to be boo’ed off the stage. Fat-ass loudmouth.

4) Best Director to Roman Polanski: Given the fact that Peter Jackson, who has succeeded in filming something that people thought was unfilmable, did three films back-to-back-to-back, and pulled it all in under-budget wasn’t even nominated, I suppose that I shouldn’t be too surprised that the Academy gave the Oscar to an unrepentant child-raping sexual predator. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.

5) I find it delicious that for the rest of his life, Marshal Mathers now has the right to be called “Academy Award Winner Eminem.” “Lose Yourself” *was* the best song of that bunch—it was a perfect distillation of the film, but I was stunned that it actually won.

…aside from the above thoughts, the main result of watching the awards was, as is the case every year, a rise in my desire to actual get a screenplay finished and sold. Which is a good thing, I suppose.

GMS

I don’t want to turn this into a warblog, but I think that my fellow citizens on the left should read this interview with Paul Berman on Salon.com, in which he outlines his belief (and mine) that the left should be concerned about Islamism (Islamic totalitarianism), should be backing efforts to establish liberal democratic ideals in the Middle East, and should come to the realization that although Bush is an idiot, he’s right about Saddam. (It’s a subscriber-only piece, but if you’re not a subscriber, you can opt to view some ads and read the article anyway)

One of his most salient points is that what we’re doing in Iraq is literally in the best interests of most of the world, and the huge backlash against the US world-wide is almost entirely due to the staggering ineptness of Bush and his complete inability to communicate these interests effectively.

Personally, I think that what we’re looking at here, with the new American policy, is sort of a “democratic domino theory”. I think we looked at what the Soviets were doing to spread communism from the 50s through the 70s, and realized that they would’ve been even more successful if a) they had a stronger economy than they did (a fact which eventually destroyed the Soviets from within) and b) they didn’t have a rival power blocking them at every turn. Given the fact that we’ve got scads of money and are essentially the sole superpower, I think that somebody along the line realized that we might be able to actually pull it off.

I think that if we on the left put aside our hatred of the Bush junta (which we can deal with in 2004 by mobilizing liberal voters in vast numbers), we would be able to realize that the establishment of genuinely democratic governments (or at least more democratic than they are currently) and the taking down of totalitarian and fundamentalist regimes the world over is a goal that can help spread more liberal social ideals and values, leading to greater personal freedoms for more people. The only question is whether or not the left is going to make sure that they’re part of the equation, involved in the process, or if instead they’re going to spend their energies on complaint and protest and leave the establishment of these new societies to corporately-minded conservatives.

Something to think about.

GMS

Cursed

No updates in a while due to my being afflicted with a huge case of LIFE.

Short version: I’m beginning to think I’m cursed.

Slightly longer version:

Friday, my landlord informed me that due to a bad financial year, they have to sell their new house, and move back into the property that I’m renting from them. Subsequently, they will not be renewing my lease. Faced with either having to look for a place in the most cut-throat real estate market (and highest cost-of-living) in the country, or finally going through with the decision to move back to Lawrence,Kansas (site of friends, family and half the cost-of-living of this area), I begin to think that the latter is looking pretty good.

Monday, I get pulled over by a cop on my way to work, who informs me that my insurance (which I thought I had purchased for 12 months, but apparently was only for 6) had lapsed, and so my registration and license had been suspended. They had sent notices, but it was to my old address, and none of them were forwarded. So—car towed (lot costing 26 bucks a day), court date set, and, because of New Jersey’s feckin’ *legendary* draconian traffic laws, I’m facing, as a first-time offender with a spotless record, $1500+ in fines, and a mandatory 6-month license suspension. Apparently, all of this is mandated by law–the judge has no leeway, and for this reason, there are lawyers in this state who make a career out of only handling traffic cases…because the only way to reduce the penalties is to plea down to a lesser charge. Hell, even the adminstrator of the Court tells me I should do this. You know it’s bad when civil servants are telling you to “work the system.”

So now, to get back and forth to work (a 45 mile trip which used to take me 3 hours/day driving), I have to walk a half-mile to the train station, catch a 6:40 a.m train, ride it for an hour to Hoboken, transfer to a bus, then ride that for an hour to my office. Then, on the way home, same thing—except the bus ride now takes almost 1.5 hours due to traffic, and the trains are slower, too. Last night, I got home at 8:30. 5 1/2 hours of commuting to work an 8 hour day….plus the privelege of paying $20 a day for the trip.

I love my life.

I guess the gods felt that I needed more of a push towards the decision to move back to Kansas. To them, all I can say is: “I get it already. Knock it off.”

GMS