Sorry for the non-posting as of late. I had some funky seafood on Saturday night and it messed me up for three days. I’ve been walking around hunched over like I was carrying an elephant or other large mammal.

Aside from the so-so seafood, Saturday night was great. Tarfia, Garrett, and Amanda joined me for a week-after-my-birthday birthday celebration. They drove in from Austin and took me out to dinner at Pappadeaux’s. I had a margarita and was feeling pretty good. I got to hear all about their (mis)adventures at various parties on Halloween night. Needless to say, I was most definitely outdone in terms of costume and behavior. It seems that all a girl has to do to come up with a badass costume is wear a short skirt and some really high boots. (Awwww yeah.) The rest is just details.

Had a pretty good weekend. Chilled in Austin with a couple friends on Friday night and watched The Big Lebowski while drinking White Russians. “The Dude abides.” Beautiful. I think this was my fifth time seeing the movie. On Saturday, we saw Lost in Transaltion, a new film my Sofia Coppola (Francis Ford’s daughter). I highly recommend it, especially if you dig movies of the ‘artsy’ variety. The dialogue was minimal, which was refreshing, and the cinematography was outstanding. Bill Murray did an awesome job of playing the jaded 40-something businessman, and his costar, Scarlett Johansson, excellently played the jaded 18-25 year-old as usual (reference Ghostworld). An added bonus was the superb introductory shot. A big Thank you goes out to Ms. Coppola for that most excellent welcome. She had me from the very start.

Check out what Semaphoria says on Lost in Translation. Her review is more eloquent and less horny than mine.

I’ve been listening to the Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream a lot lately. It’s been stuck in my car’s cd-changer for weeks now and I’ve been reminiscing on the old days when all I did was listen to grunge rock and dream of starting a band. What amazes me about the album is the jump in songwriting quality from the Pumpkins’ first record. The songs are tighter, more creative, and a little less predictable. One song in particular has been getting more play than the others: Soma. Zooming in even closer, I finally figured out what it is about this song that gets me. There is a string of notes played in one of the guitar solos that is discordant, yet still very beautiful and melodious. The notes do not seem to fall into any scale, so I cannot describe them as major or minor, but they do exude a ‘minor’ feeling. If you have the cd or an mp3 of the song, pay close attention to 5:10-5:13. These are the notes to look for.

After watching Snatch for the hundredth time, I thought it wise to invest in the soundtrack. This was several months ago. One of the best songs on the cd is by Massive Attack, a band I have heard a lot about but have not actually heard that much. While in Austin this weekend, a friend i was staying with happened to have the MA cd in her car with the Snatch song. I caught on to what I listening to and asked to borrow the cd. Wow, the album is awesome. I like the slow beats, soaring vocals, gradual builds, and interesting rhythms. The songs, though long, utilize their time well. The album she lent me is Mezzanine. I highly recommend it.

Matrix 3 was a total cheese fest. Every other line was dripping cliché. Hardly any of the dialogue was worth the time they spent to speak it. As Russell said, it was impossible to not roll your eyes. The love scenes mad me gag – I could have gone for a stroll and not missed anything of value. That said, I saw it at an IMAX theater, which had amazing sound and graphics, so it made for a nice action flic. The graphics were very nicely done and everything was very ‘in your face.’ Though it is easy to bash this movie, it wasn’t as bad at Matrix 2. So go in with your hopes relatively low, but not at the one-foot level. A foot and a half sounds about right.

I just got through listening to Protection by Massive Attack. What a let down. It’s not half as good as Mezzanine. First of all, the female vocalist they got for this album does not appear to be the same as that on Mezzanine, and she treats her vocal tracks as second-rate opera pieces. It really sounds sappy and contrived. I felt like I was listening to adult contemporary top-40 nonsense. The male singers did a worse job than on Mezzanine as well. For some reason, they got the idea that it was their vocals that made Massive Attack what it is and should therefore placed them higher in the mix. Bad idea. The tracks suffered as their mediocre voices dominated. The melodies and rhythms weren’t as catchy either. All in all, the album didn’t jump out at me like Mezzanine did. Maybe I need to give it time, but for now, the album is getting shelved, or in this case, returned to Chris. Sorry man. I think we have a dud here.

And to further the lameness, they close with a superbly pointless and laughable live version of Light My Fire. Whenever I think of Doors covers, I think of Nirvana butchering The End in an attempt to make a joke. Whether or not it’s funny is up for debate, but one thing’s for sure, Doors covers do not belong on albums, especially as the closing track.

this one's a keeper:

3 cups flour.
2 tbsps sugar, three-four tbsps honey.
2 tsps baking powder
2 tsps salt.

One 12 ounce bottle of beer (of whatever personal preference.)

Combine ingredients in bowl. Pour into greased breadpan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 min. Cooking time may vary depending on the oven. Use a toothpick to test doneness.

Eat with butter while still hot/warm for best results.

What images do you see when you read these statements?

one time i really let go

where are you

your time will come

i woke up to a nightmare

I found a cool site run by a guy who encourages you to send him short statements like the above. If he likes what you send, he draws a picture of what comes to his mind and posts it on his site. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if his drawings weren’t so amusing and poignant. His style is childlike, but it cuts to the core and puts a cool spin on sayings that are either commonplace or totally random. My favorite so far is the ants know too much. Of course I sent him a statement, but I can’t tell you, it would be like divulging a secret.

I’m used to Texas weather. Scorching heat in October is no big deal. In Houston and Austin, however, I’m used to gradual temperature changes that persist and follow trends. When it finally cools down in November, it continues to cool to a certain point, holds that temp, and begins to rise in the spring. This is predictable and I like it, or more specifically, my sinuses like it. Rapid changes in temperature tend to wreak havoc on my body. San Antonio seems to be toying with me. The temps drop for a week, rocket back up to the 80’s, and then drop down to the 40’s again, leaving my respiratory system in shambles. It’s not yet December and I’ve already gone through one and half flus; I’m beginning to get annoyed. I’d rather live in a place with temperatures that more or less followed a pattern, even if it was freezing most of the year.

I wonder if this has anything to do with El Nino, the ozone layer, the war in Iraq, Israelis and Palestinians blowing each other up, or Bush’s presence. Is he gonna go away or what? I wish he’d step down and say, “Ok folks, jokes over, Gore lost a poker game but the gag has gone on long enough. I’m goin’ huntin’.”

Not sure how this post steered itself towards politics… must be the decongestants.

Grunge-rock pioneer Krist Novoselic says he may run for lieutenant governor in what would be the next step of a transition from rock star to politician.

Interesting, eh? I say go for it. It's what he's been driving towards for years (JAMPAC, Spitfire, etc). He was always the most vocal member of Nirvana, I'd like to see what he can do with a podium in the Washington senate. And I'd like to see if he can bring some of those big ideas of his to fruition.

relevant links:
Murky Slough
Fix Our US

I finally finished the Kundera book. Drag it on long enough, I did. Anyway, the book was good. I’ve been trying to think of one word to describe it, one word to encompass everything it is and represents. Many come to mind, but the best so far is: trippy. It’s trippy how the dog, a female, is given a male name and is referred to as a male throughout the novel. Better yet, his name is taken from a character in a Russian novel who is a total trip (Karenin himself). It’s trippy how accurately Kundera describes the inner workings of the male mind, especially the part of it dealing sexuality and love…well, it’s not entirely accurate, but the fake parts are amusing. It’s trippy how Kundera’s writing is so simple yet says so much. The concept of kitsch that Kundera advances was not only trippy, but also difficult to understand given I already had a meaning for it etched out in my brain. Kitsch is a word that may or may not be Yiddish and, as far as I know, tends to mean “stuff, junk, clutter.” Acceptable uses are, “You have too much desk kitsch. Time to clean up.” and “The kitsch in my veins will be my undoing.” Thus, the several chapters devoted to kitsch felt awkward. Trippiness aside, the book was entertaining, unpredictable, clever, and unique.

I am also happy to report two new developments:

1. I have already started and am now tearing through the book my friend got me for my birthday: Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis. I mention ‘already’ because I was of the mind that I’d take a break from reading but, when I read the first few pages, I knew a break wasn't possible.

2. You can now preview your comments before you post them! This feature is many months in the making; not that it actually took me months to code it, but it took me months to locate the motivation to code it beneath layers and layers of anti-motivation. Be gone, anti-motivation!

Below is an excerpt from Liar’s Poker. The narrator is a rookie trader on Wall Street learning from a seasoned trader, Alexander.

Remember Chernobyl? When news broke that the Soviet nuclear reactor had exploded, Alexander called. Only minutes before, confirmation of the disaster had blipped across our Quotron machines, yet Alexander had already bought the equivalent of two supertankers of crude oil. The focus of investor attention was on the New York Stock Exchange, he said. In particular it was on any company involved in nuclear power. The stocks of those companies were plummeting. Never mind that, he said. He had just purchased, on behalf of his clients, oil futures. Instantly in his mind less supply of nuclear power equaled more demand for oil, and he was right. His investors made a large killing. Mine made a small killing.

Cool, eh? It gets better.

Minutes after I had persuaded a few clients to buy some oil, Alexander called back.
“Buy potatos,” he said. “Gotta hop.” Then he hung up.
Of course. A cloud of fallout would threaten European food and water supplies, including the potato crop, placing a premium on uncontaminated American substitutes.”

He saw the markets as a tightly woven web. Yank on one filament in the web, and the other filaments had to move, too.

addendum, later in the day: I can’t remember the last time I raced through a book with this kind of speed. It really is thoroughly entertaining. If you’re looking for a witty and clever read, and are perhaps interested in learning a thing or two about the inner workings of Wall Street, give this book a shot.

Now beginning The Case for Israel by Alan Derschowitz. Here is a brief review of it and a similar novel by Yaacov Lozowick, Right to Exist.

Via nerygirl: “Blogger has some tips on how not to get fired because of your blog.” Good stuff, especially since paychecks should always trump your blog.

semaphoria must have a really cool job.

Is San Antonio weather on crack? I went to bed last night and it was like 60. When I woke up this morning it was 33 (and my nose was stuffy again). A friend from work told me how he went for a ride on his motorcycle out in the country and saw a line of dark clouds in the sky. A few minutes later, the temps dropped “a good 20 degrees” and the wind almost blew him off the bike. He hit the gas and raced the cold front back to his house, weaving in and out of it as the roads wound through the Texas hill country. When he got home, he saw it tumbling towards his neighborhood and WHOOSH the wind blew and the temps dropped. Cool stuff, weather.

It just occurred to me that Rid of Me by PJ Harvey is 11 years old (recorded winter ’92, released ’93). After that, Steve Albini recorded two more of my favorite albums: In Utero and Last Splash. Why are most of my favorites from the ’90-’95 era? I must be getting old. Pretty soon, I’ll be listening to a classic rock station playing Mudhoney. I rue the day.

This web site is on my referrer list under four different URLs. What gives? How did it find me? Strange.

I’m off tomorrow morning for a flight to Little Rock to see my sis, her other half, and their five-month-old. My parents are driving up from Houston, which will make for a full house. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so I’m hoping the flight doesn’t get delayed (temps are near freezing in LR).

Happy Thanksgiving!!