jetsettin'

tore up from the floor up

this is me, arriving home this evening courtesy of southwest scarelines and the always lovely san jose airport. actually, it's not me. it's a kitten. and that's food -- something i forgot to engage with this evening during any of the hours that could be considered prime dinner hours.

was supposed to go to a friend's bday party and realized upon arriving in burbank that i had scores of unanswered emails that needed to be addressed if i am to rise at 5 am and make the journey back to palm springs tomorrow, so i came home and dove into work until just a few minutes ago, when i decided it was "wine thirty" and had a little nightcap. the mister and phriedz are at said party, so i sit here by my lonesome (save for two halfway-trained yet adorable canine companions) and i wish i could've gone, but time flies when you're on the habitrail. ok, i'm done with whining (this second, anyway).

in other news, the next time someone asks me to divulge something i don't want to divulge, i will be citing "executive privilege." it's all the rage, doncha know.

there's a picture of this guy next to "dickhead" in the dictionary

romney strapped his dog to the roof of his car for a 12 hour drive

red and blue

elizabeth edwards called into 'hardball' this week while ann coulter was on to ask her to stop being such a bitch, basically. this was after ann coulter, when asked whether she would steer clear of making comments about john edwards after calling him a faggot a while back, said she would keep her mouth shut except to say that she wished he'd been assassinated by terrorists.

i blogged before about how much i like elizabeth edwards, and now i'm really starting to like john edwards. i'm starting to think he may be the one who can win it in 2008. and i'm a sucker for annie leibovitz photos of handsome men (see this month's men's vogue cover featuring said candidate -- and the article ain't bad, either!).

so i was thinking i would blog about how evil ann coulter is and how great the edwardses are, etc., when i read a little further in the article that her comment was a riff on bill maher's comment in march that we would be in a lot better shape if cheney had been killed in that failed terrorist attack on his group in afghanistan.

that's when i realized that i agree with bill maher and, really, aren't both his comment and coulter's cut from the same cloth? and doesn't that make me a hypocrite if i condemn her 'cause i hate her but are ok with what bill maher said? don't answer that--it's rhetorical. i'm just sayin', is all.

thumb up

phriedz blogged today about 'the comeback,' one of the best shows of the last 20 years if you ask me, and it reminded me of another show that's still pretty under the radar, but coming back for a second season (surprisingly?): "the minor accomplishments of jackie woodman."

once you get past the strange plastic surgery that the previously gorgeous laura kightlinger had done, the show is nasty and damn funny. my favorite episode involves the decidedly caucasian jackie woodman getting a $10k grant earmarked for native american filmmakers and blowing it on $1000 peasant blouses and booze. it eventually leads she and her cokehead girlfriend to an indian reservation where they take hallucinogens and go on one of the funniest trips ever depicted on film. it's delicious, and you can get it on dvd starting july 17, with the new season premiering august 5 on IFC.

why are they always following me?

i went for a little stroll through hollywood yesterday, and imagine my surprise today when i stumbled across this and realized i was being filmed:

every day is like sunday

a sunday list:

* saw 'black book' this weekend, the latest from paul verhoeven, the arthouse auteur-turned-hollywood hack who has returned to his roots and made a quite interesting dutch popcorn movie about a bunch of double-crossing nazis and resistance fighters in wwII holland. lots of naked boobies and shooting!

* sweltered in the palm springs heat, with the highest temp experienced somewhere around 114 degrees. made a foray out to the community pool and was slapped upside the head with more community than we bargained for when a fellow complex dweller decided to put on his 'swinger' moves, but from a safe distance, thank you, lord.

* it's been a long time since i dreaded mondays, but that monday-fear is like the herpes -- just when you think you're rid of it, it pops up again to surprise you!

* am reading "imperial life in the emerald city," which chronicles a year in the life of baghdad's green zone (specifically, the first year of iraq occupation). i think my eyes were bugging out of my head (see pic above) at 10 minute intervals as the author revealed yet another completely avoidable (yet completely inevitable) mistake made by the folks entrusted to keep it together there in the days and weeks after the invasion. case in point: only applicants loyal to the bush administration were allowed to take civilian reconstruction jobs (of the highly-paid variety, anyway), so that's how a home-schooled, 21 year old recent grad of an evangelical university was given control (along with five other similarly qualified individuals) of $13 billion in reconstruction monies.

also, one interview question many were asked: "do you oppose roe v. wade?" if you answered 'yes,' congratulations -- you were completely qualified to travel to iraq and waste billions of taxpayer dollars being completely inept!

good night, and good luck.

i KNEW it!

gay and gayer:

no instant coffee for me, thank you

beware of cat

they make 'em mean in switzerland (apparently)

apology to loyal readers

ok, i'm giving you a pre-apology. i love this here blog, but 14 hour work days barely leave me time for drinking, much less blogging, so i'm warning you of this now: blogging will continue, but it will often be embedded videos or linked stories until things slow down or someone showves some smelling salts (or poppers) under my nose.

in this spirit, please enjoy:


Charlie The Unicorn - Click here for more free videos

the real world - ikea

The Real World Ikea - Funny video clips are a click away

little sparrow

ok, don't walk -- run! -- to see 'la vie en rose.' i hadn't read anything about it, but i do like edith piaf and the mister was amped to go because he'd heard several good things about it on drivetime npr. so, we went last night and actually had to wait in line to get in, which is highly unusual for our three-screen arthouse cinema in palm springs, and even more unusual given that it is 112 out here and the town is dead as a proverbial doornail.

anyway, we went and i think the performance by unknown-to-me french actress marion cotillard is easily one of the best film performances i've ever seen. lots have been made in reviews of the film's hackneyed narrative structure and it seems to have affected the overall critical reception, but it is one of the most engrossing movies i've seen in, well, ever.

in other desert news, we saw what may be our new dream house yesterday, and the mister was chased across a pool by a black widow the size of my eyeball.

home away from home

it's a little tough not having a 'home' in palm springs after so many years, but there are upsides: no maintenance and worry-free downtime whenever we're here, not to mention it's cheaper to rent. we are back out here now after six weeks away, the longest time i think we've spent away since we first came down here in 2000, and it's good to be back. i would prefer a little less 'community' at the community pool, but otherwise, i'm not complaining (except it's 110 degrees--oh, i said i wasn't complaining, didn't i?).

we're going house/condo hunting this evening and tomorrow a.m. (though it's a leisurely house hunt---in this market, no need to hurry, and there's not much good stuff out there to begin with), and hoping to get in a little outlet shopping, too. ah, the joys of the desert!

happy friday!

i left my heart in...

...los angeles, but i still harbor a soft spot for the city by the bay, my home for many years before trading in fog for sunshine (or fog for smog, if you're feeling snarky). after reconnecting with some old friends and mentioning that i may be in the market for a very small and very cheap apartment that would be less than or equal to the amount i am shelling out for hotels (well, mostly motels), one of said friends presented an interesting option: sharing a loft in what is one of mine and the mister's fav-o-rite buildings in the city, with sweeping views of nearly the entire bay area. it's a long shot, and the timing and mechanics would have to be worked out, but it's an interesting thought, having a place back here where it all began for me at the wee age of 23 and where the mister and i first made our non-societally approved conjugal nest.

bada bing

i figured i'd throw in my two cents on 'the sopranos' finale last night before the blogging moratorium on the subject goes into effect (if it hasn't already).

i'm going to have to watch it again to be sure, but i think i liked it. everyone's opining this morning about its meanings -- i especially enjoyed the pieces on msnbc and sfgate -- and i think there's not much to say other than it was an amazing show, and i really, really hate that it's over. i've never invested the kind of time and energy in tv (well, not in adulthood, anyway) as i have with the hbo shows (not you, 'carnivale' - you bastard), and it's so sad when they end. at least we have 'big love' to look forward to, and judging from 'the flight of the conchords' comedy special available on hbo on demand this month, i can look forward to that, too. i'll report back later on 'john from cincinnati' (was too tired after the pre-sopranos ziti and lambrusco to check it out).

sunday list

* 'knocked up' was great and suprisingly sweet (another surprise: having to wait in line at the ever-mediocre los feliz 3 theater -- an exercise in capitalism whereby one grand theater was randomly chopped up into three, creating viewing experiences that nearly always induce neck strain and headache due to the bizarre screen-to-eyeball relationship it created).

* on a related 'knocked up' note, i wish i'd gotten to be friends with katherine heigl when we smoked next to each other for five minutes at a stevie nicks concert, cause she is gonna be a big star, yo, and i would like some movie-star-friend-perks, like free spa days or some of lindsay lohan's coke (kidding!)

* 'waitress' was probably good, but after buying five reserved tickets to it at $14 a pop only to abandon it after the pre-movie drinking got a little to vigorous leaves me unable to say for sure

* trent reznor is very short in person. and gay looking (that's a compliment).

* it's hard to decide which is better: a two week trip to europe or spending five minutes petting your dogs

* today promises a grocery run so i can make baked ziti to commemorate the ending of 'the sopranos'. why does it always hurt so much when these hbo shows go off the air (not talking to you, 'carnivale'!)

welcome to switzerland

hey, dionne...

...i know the way to san jose! what a better way to end a 16 day european excursion than to come back and almost immediately turn around and travel to the city i love the best. two days and nights of breakneck-speed meetings and trips up and down the 101 (though i didn't have to drive, so consider this a half-whine). the good news about all of this: business is booming. the bad news: i fear no amount of xanax will make a dent in my free-floating anxiety.

a few observations from the trip abroad:

* boy, people sure do seem to hate america. even if standing silent in a line with one's u.s. passport in hand, observant europeans, upon noticing the passport, will throw lots of barbs your way, such as "look how that american is standing there looking so self-satisfied!" or "look how they are holding their bag!" or "i can't believe how loud they are" (even though you're whispering). if i'd had a backpack, i could've sewn a canadian flag on it, i guess.

* compared to rome, los angeles looks like the pinnacle of urban cleanliness

* compared to venice, los angeles is nearly bereft of graffiti

* i love paris in the springtime

* wine in europe is nearly free. i'm seriously considering a move just based on the economics of this alone. think of the savings!

* sharing a bathroom with one's mother & mother-in-law will lead to liberal and unembarrassed use of the terms "drop a deuce" and "where are the matches?"

* feeding said moms multiple bottles of cheap european wine will lead to tearful nostalgic ramblings and declarations of motherly love

* visiting stonehenge was better when you could walk among the stones

* visiting versailles is better now that they have rental golf carts available for exploring the grounds

* what bush has done to the value of the american dollar is criminal

* what bush has done on every front is criminal, too, come to think of it

* dogs are cute in every country

* if one of your main pleasures in life is shopping, make sure the one day you set aside to do it doesn't coincide with an obscure italian holiday on which every shop closes

* scale back your sightseeing when rome cabbies go on strike -- otherwise, your feet will be tired and you will board a bus that takes an hour to travel 100 yards

* when riding newark airport's interterminal train, beware of continental flight attendants wearing pantyhose

* if heaven exists, it must look a lot like switzerland

* listening to french pop while taking the eurostar bullet train to paris makes you feel like you're in a really cool music video in which you are starring and look fabulous

* if you find a toilet seat is broken upon check-in to your rome apartment, notify the management lest you be charged $35 u.s. dollars for someone else's too-vigorous bowel movement

* if you see an american with a rick steves' guide in their hand, prepare to encounter someone who packed two pairs of pants for a month in europe

* beware of lonely women in indiana university sweatshirts lying in wait in front of quaint swiss country inns as they will make you wish for a freak accident involving a large boulder dislodging itself from the adjacent mountain

say what you will about the u.s....

but they ain't got this on no bbc: