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late Sat nite heads-up...      
yourstruly believes this country'd be alot better off
if good stuff like this wasn't only scheduled on
holiday weekends and only viewable on C-Span,
Howard Zinn, Live, on In Depth, Sunday 9am PST
okay, the rest of you can go and watch amurrican idle &
all that network crap-ola now, stay dumb, stay numb...

p.s. note to ourowndamnself...       8.30
don't title a previous post "kinda quiet hereabouts..."
'cause everydamntime you come back to the page
you get the impulse to keep it that way...
& apologies being offered up here, as we really
haven't much to spout off about, kinda down,
kinda blue, needing the brief respite that three
days away from the killing floor will provide...
firstly, to set a minor matter straight,
previous note re Berkeley Blogs & linkage provided
there to us here should really be credited to the
fine mind at MemeMachineGo!, who's welcome
to liberate linkage from ourowndamnselves anytime.
To those of you with a cable TV hook-up and no inclination
to get out to your local video emporium to rent some goodies for the
longer weekend, on BRAVO IFC Fridays tonite, Almodovar's
All About My Mother, & if you do stop by your local vid emporium,
you could do a lot worse than rent some other Almodovar titles,
you can use the linkage provided above to clue you in
on a few of his other wonderful efforts.

well, katz&kitteez, we think datz it fo' now,
just am not in the usual swing of things,
but we do wish each & every one of you stopping by
some enjoyment over the weekend, many reasons & occasions
to smile, and if you got someone close by whom you love & cherish
show them a good time, will ya, that kind of investment's worthwhile.
oh yahhhh....
yourstruly's been working on that lengthy composition
we been wrestling with for some months, with a little luck
& perserverance it'll be up sometime over the weekend...
ciao, bambini!

kinda quiet hereabouts...       8.27
on this rather unspectacular tuesday Am,
recently became aware of our inclusion at
Berkeley Blogs,
so thanks to the fine mind behind Linkstew
for including us, we've returned the favor by
adding Linkstew to the firmanent at los otros,
whilst culling the heavens of sundry linkage gone south.
now, tell me please, is there some real reason for us
to get excited about the impending three day holiday?
ohohoh, almos' forgot...
some librarians have alla da'fun

iconoclasts welcome here...       8.26
again, from the fishwrap,
Harley Sorensen, A Nation at the Crossroads.

yessss... procrastination is my middle name...
Why Not Put Off Till Tomorrow the Novel You Could Begin Today?
and y'all thought it was Vincenzo, didn't ya?

just where in da'hell did that weekend go?      
damn...     oh well, jessferdahalibut...    
in yourstruly's meagre opinion,
the best damn band in amurrica,
Los Lobos, from their newest release,
Good Morning Aztlán, Maria Christina...
hmmmm, Austin, Texass? Sept. 28 & 29?
oi! dammit lord, i tole ya; lead me NOT into temptation...

a little later that same day...       8.24
posted at American Samizdat earlier today &
certainly worth a double mention, tell your friends...
the most dangerous man in America...
happens to be G. W. Bush, if only that vast & ignorant
herd of citizens would wake up and pay attention.
Two items, culled from many, relating to another of the
great mistakes being made by the current administration;
from the N.Y. Times, both by Nicholas D. Kristof,
Bush vs. Women;
Shaming Young Mothers.
then please hie thyself to the U.N. Population Fund site,
where you can choose to join us in attempting to make up for the short-sightedness
of the present administration by supporting the efforts of these concerned citizens,
because it isn't just about birth control you know, it's about HIV/AIDS education &
prevention, family planning; it's just about being humane, teaching peace,
& taking some responsibility for the welfare of one another....

oh yah...      
and then there's that other idiot Bush-child
some more about les fréres Bush
watch your stomachs now, if anything like ours,
you're feeling pretty queasy & ill-at-ease...

and a momentary aside here to thank those behind the scenes
at lying in ponds for assistance provided in seeking out
linkage already archived at the NYT & allowing us to access same without
having to jump thru any pay for archived linkage hoops/arrangements...
Merci Beaucoup!!!

just a couple of things...      
on a fine & foggy Saturday Am, 'fore we head off
to brekkie meeting w/pals Janey-Kakes & the Phil-ster...
Poetry flows at Sixteen Rivers Press;
and from one time labor-organizer union gal, Jenny L.,
this interesting list, the Chicken Hawk Database.
here, we quote:
"The alleged "gentlemen" listed in this database are here
because they share three qualities: bellicosity
(a warlike manner or temperament), public prominence,
and a curious lack of wartime service when others
their age had no trouble finding the fight."
seems to yourstruly that an entirely new category is
awaiting creation, Chicken Hawk Warbloggers.
alright, now off to brekkie & a nice hot cuppa...

best be cheerin' Whooo Hooooo today...       8.23
'cause it likely you be Booohooooin' come Monday.
just a couple of items cadged yesterday,
first two espied in the beloved fishwrap,
another memorial to the late Galen Rowell;
next from B.Ladine, Boston Globe,
Feds Stonewalling Tribes in Government Accounting Fiasco,
then this next item passed along to me in message
from our pal of many years, J. Griffin,
(Hiya J., good t'hear from ya!)
Long Bets...
now, who wants to lay odds that the government will continue
to fuck over the native peoples that they failed to exterminate?

I don't even want to mention...       8.22
the names of the men featured in this CBS News story,
the colossal impudence & insensitivity of these morons speaks for itself,
there must be some attorneys somewhere willing to sink their teeth into these fuckers.
more slimy bits about Horsley...
time to take a shower after that brush w/brutish incivility...

we should take each & every opportunity...      
to make our voices heard and our opinions count.
Received in our email this afternoon,
please sign the petition and tell your friends, co-workers,
family members, and make some difference,
"No War on Iraq"

yourstruly made a little noise yesterday...       8.21
regarding a particular watershed event in the life of d'monquis,
so for those of you wondering, the delightful dedicated dozen readers,
there'll be some kind of explanation offered up here before too long.
On another subject altogether, the monitor to the reliable mongoose died the other day, and we've currently got a loaner from our local computer shop while they have a look at the monitor, we'd rather fix it if it makes sense, than toss it away alongside all the other modern electronic detritus being dumped into landfills these days. Ahhhh, but we digress...
we were just beginning to catch up on much missed perusal of bloggos favoritos and chanced upon a visit to American Samizdat, where, it must be noted, the good and fine folk contributing there are doing good work (our ol' red fez is off and we bow deeply to honor each & everyone of you) that we came upon mention of a particular piece of grumpiness directed towards our esteemed colleague in the waging of peace & encouragement of love-making, the good Doctor Menlo. Ourowndamnself was curious to see just what this Ganz guy was tooting his own horn about, with that bit 'bout an entire 2/3rds of his effort being Aht Uh Mi Hed, and seeing as how yourstruly has had a longtime love affair with massacring the american variant of the english language, well, damn, we just had to see for ourself. Holy crap, this guy Ganz's tryin' to give the good Doctor a ration of shit about wha'? damndamndamn, maybe it time to modify that 2/3rds ration to something more like 1/16th, 'cause the case you make for yourself (and your $30,000 Rickshaw) absolutely fails to be captivating, compelling, or convincing, and that's all we've got to say 'bout that. Our mental health is precarious enough that our doctor has laid down the law, "Don't read the warbloggers, don't read their compatriots, leave them to stew in their own rankness or else I'll have to lay some HEAVY meds on you my d'monquis friend." Okay Doc, we said whilst nodding in agreement, You da Boss!
oh yah, some other news which has been leaked out to selected members of the conspiracy is that yourstruly has cut his hair, had something to do with reaching that particular milepost/watershed mentioned yesterday & earlier in this post, first damn haircut we've had in about four years, we thank the goddess that the lovely Vonny is still on University Avenue, (the shop is hers now and that's the way to go, Girl!) otherwise we'd of had to accomodate ourself to the uncaring hands of some imperfect stranger.
You know, we be willin' t'betcha that Ganz guy's got hisself a helluva haircut to go
with that $30,000 Rickshaw of his....
continuing on in the vein we were mining earlier, a reminder that the good stuff out there is often overlooked, what with the rush of the unwashed & uneducated to create web logs of their own, hoooahhhhh, there is some ugly, yucky stuff out 'dere, dat be fo sure!
thank goodness we've still got Ethel, C.J., eldee, markilyMark, riley D, Cholly Kokonino, la bella signorina Armstrong, g.coale, ms. miromi, awwwshit, our sidebar'd be so damn long if we listed them all, the ones we love to read, the ones we miss when they takes a few days away. It hasn't escaped us that some folks have dropped out of the weblog heavens, moved on to other efforts, maybe bringing other dreams to fruition, oh we hopes so anyway, their absence has made us aware of the necessity to update the autreblog & allies pages, particularly in light of the impending anniversary. The anniversary that touches yourstruly personally will occur in about ten days, it'll be a year that our faithful poochster had to move along onto that next plane without her human alongside, aw shit folks, i still miss the ol' bitch like crazy, so, in sort of a gesture of memoriam, a mention about something in the news of late from the highly esteemed S. Baum, texass tornado, wizard behind the scenes of all things Ethel the Blog-ish, & thanks S.B., for keeping us on the right track despite the fact that so many people out there who are capable of hearing these things are just not listening, refusing to pay attention. Be my pleasure to buy ya a couple of beers one o' these days, what d'ya say?
ohohoh, una cosa mas,
Amurika Hates San Francisco, M. Morford.
too right, Mark, Too Fuckin' Right!

the conundrum of time...       8.20
from Scientific American Online,
Real Time
am beginning to feel that it may be high time
for yourstruly to consider retirement & re-locating,
now that a long-standing responsibility has come to an end...

a timely reminder, mentioned here earlier...      
tonite, on many PBS stations, POV presents
Señorita Extraviada,
discovered this related story in the L.A. Times today,
local fishwrap story link we originally posted on Sunday.
and now, for something completely different...
the Very Early Fall Ralph is now available for your enjoyment.

brief mention of two items...       8.19
back on the j-o-b after a weekend full of movie & DVD viewing,
wanted to mention our experience in theatre on Saturday afternoon,
while waiting for the feature to begin, and some loudmouth in the audience
prattling on about how the resident was "absolutely right", Saddam had to go,
and that the country is in good hands and that it is necessary
to root out those who do not support the administrations objectives,
and that Ashcroft (oh man, it was awful to hear such a thing) is the man
for the job, and well, we figured some warblogger had received a day pass
from the hospital and was on the loose, who knows why they chose this film to see,
perhaps it was the choice of the woman who sat silently alongside the loudmouth.
they did get up and leave a little less than midway thru the feature...
from Harley Sorensen, SF Chronicle, Goering Up to Leave the Country;
& Jon Carroll, also the Chron, On the Inevitability of Chance and Luck
"This is hysteria, carefully nurtured, and we must resist."
thank you Jon, and thank you, Mr. Sorensen...

a return to what passes for normality hereabouts...       8.18
firstly, we want to mention a couple of items we came across during our perusal
of the daily fishwrap over the weekend, like this announcement of SolFest 2002,
and yessss matilde, there is a related website (this aside to those clueless amongst you who may arrive here via result of searching for quien sabe que, if there was any real desire in the current administration to reduce this nation's dependence on petroleum, you'd see a LOT more emphasis & encouragement of the alternatives to petroleum dependence that already exist & are available for our utilization). Okay, still referring to things perused recently, read this article on Lourdes Portillo and her film and if you find yourself curious enough to view it, perhaps you can get more information about when & where in your area via this PBS-POV link, & now, that provides our seque into the topic of the day...

'i fell in love with the actress, she was playing a part that i could understand...'
so, here in the last couple of weeks, yourstruly has been laying low, laid up with some unholy variant of summer cold/flu, not sure, but it was ugly and we're glad the worst is behind us. Things got complicated by the fact that we'd invited our nephews Matt & Mike out to the Bay Area to give them a taste of life in N. California, but due to the unfortunate arrival of the illness simultaneously with the arrival of the nephews, well, they were kind enough to still say that they had a good time out here, so in our opinion they both have a great career in diplomacy ahead of them. Next year, Matt & Mike, I promise you a better visit. The other thing that we've done recently now that some semblence of good health has returned is hie ourself out to a couple of movies showing in the neighborhood. On Friday evening, we walked over to the Albany theatre for the late show of Lovely and Amazing, a wonderful little film featuring the work of some talented women, Catherine Keener (who just gets better & better in everything she does) and Brenda Blethyn, whom yourstuly has been a major fan of for many, many years. There is a youngster in this film who will also make a memorable impression on you, and we'll leave her to be discovered by you personally, go see the film, take someone you love (or at the very least, like a lot!) and methinks you'll enjoy yourself. Now, getting around to the film we were really very
impressed by, Sur Mes Levres. We'll avoid the inclusion of many links to reviews & commentary, largely to avoid putting any kind of idea in your head re what this film is, what it's about, as it is a lot of different things all woven together into something wonderfully compelling, and in relation to the little headline leading into this exposition, well, this d'monkey was very impressed by the work of Emmanuelle Devos, who did manage to cart away the César for Best Actress out of a group that included Isabelle Huppert, Audrey Tautou & Charlotte Rampling. Directed & co-written by Jacques Audiard, who does some interesting things with close-ups, handheld camera work, and the soundtrack. The success of this film usually makes it a candidate for the evisceration & plastic surgery
that typifies hollywood remakes of fine films from other countries. The male lead is a familiar face to many, Vincent Cassel, also very fine in his role of Secretarial Assistant. There's always so much crap in the american cinema, we're victimized by the accountants running studios these days who believe that the only successful
film can be one that can piggyback atop the success of its predecessor, or has some "bankable" presence, some Name that will encourage folks to spend their hard earned cash at the box office, and boy, are we sorry sometimes that we fell for their ruse. Along come these films from other places (like The Fast Runner) or occasionally the independent production like "Lovely and Amazing" to remind us of the bad choices we make when we choose the summer's special effects extravaganzas recycling the same gags, the same stunts, the same old tired, uninspiring nonsense that we've seen all too many times before.
Here, we'd also like to make mention of another film we saw recently, two in fact, one that we actually didn't think all too highly of, largely because of some of the writing in the script (we can be way too critical at times, particularly when we are feeling a bit peckish) alongside some of the "arty" nonsense the director was indulging himself in with some of his set-ups & shots, but we like Stockard Channing so much, again, that phrase from the Neil Young song A Man Needs a Maid comes to my mind every time we spend a few hours engaged in seeing one of these women work. The film we're referring to here is
"The Business of Strangers" which we viewed on DVD and again, in our estimation, a rather lukewarm recommendation, unlike a very hearty "Oh My!" sort of reaction we got when we finally saw "In the Bedroom", a film we missed seeing in the theatre (best laid plans, you know how those go sometimes, eh?) but now can appreciate what all the hubbub was about. Also nice to discover (while thinking throughout watching the film 'why does this story seem so familiar?') the story/screenplay was based upon short story by one of our favorite authors, Andre Dubus, story's entitled Killings (and we recommend, for those of you unfamiliar w/A. Dubus, hie thyselves hence to local book vendor and
seek out Andre Dubus - Selected Stories). Alright, so now, in effect, yourstruly has confessed to his admiration of the work of several women in a couple of films seen recently, some other recommendations in passing and very quickly, Brenda Blethyn, superb in "Secrets and Lies" & also "Little Voice"; the always wonderful Ellen Burstyn in "Resurrection" and "Requiem for a Dream"; Emily Watson, "Breaking the Waves" & "The Boxer"; you see, we've this penchant for developing a crush of feeling when we "meet" these women, yes, we're aware they're just playing a part, inhabiting a role, but in our mind, something inside each of them has identified with the role they're fleshing out, there is some kernal of ultimate truth that has come to the surface and you can see it in their eyes there on film, each one of them has become transformed via their discipline, their practice.
I dare you to see "Sur Mes Levres" and not be seduced by Emmanuelle Devos as Carla.
One last small thing, a mention of another film seen recently on DVD, which we'd never heard of, and had the pleasure of viewing just last night, "Last Orders", with a cast of wonderful British actors, some very familiar, all male, and this mention'll serve as segue to
Oh ohoh... no, not entirely male, the wonderful Helen Mirren is in "Last Orders",
and I could go on & on, rapturously, about being smitten by Ms. Mirren....
something we've been mulling over for months now, & perhaps, now that we feeling more like ourownbadself, finally get around to getting it down on the page in the next few days.

the end of a long & fatiguing week approacheth...       8.16
ugh's all i wanna say 'bout the way we been feelin'
better yes, no doubt, still all snotted up tho', & we'll
happily leave it at that, doubtlessly you'll agree...
two things this Am, from The Atlantic On-Line;
Hiroshima and Nagasaki;
an interview w/P.J. O'Rourke.
and jessferdahalibut...      
amazing what being freed from the bonds of lobbyists &
"party loyalty" can do to a guy like Dick Armey
now, if only more of these guys would do the right thing regardless...

slow, but steady as she goes...       8.13
what a pleasure to be able to breathe unhindered by coughing,
nasal congestion, inflamed sinuses. Oh, & to sleep soundly, restfully...
by the way, a recent addition to Get Your War On

some unpleasant news for many of us...      
Galen Rowell & wife Barbara perish in plane crash
added 8.14: An Appreciation, from LA Times On-line,
The Sky Was His Limit;
Mountain Light Photography;
G. Rowell, googled;
L.A. Times obit/news story

wish us luck...       8.12
having spent the better part of the last week laid up with
horribleness (how can one body produce so much snot?),
we are somewhat glad to announce our return to the j-o-b &
will be pacing ourselves there for a long Monday on the phones.
perhaps we'll be back up to speed hereabouts later in the week,
but in the meantime, you'll find lots of good stuff at wood s lot,
as well as at the sites of many folk on this list
ciao, bambini!

a rip-snorter of a summer cold...       8.10
has laid yourstruly low these days, my chillun', only reason why we not
currently flat on our back is the inspiration provided by dedicated blog-folk,
like C.J. over at BookNotes, then S. Baum's mention of same,
be sure to visit Craig's BookNotes & seek out the 'Money' linkage...
s o   . . .
here's two contributions from somebody
who should get back in bed soon...
certainly Top 50 material:
Money, The Beatles;
here's Barrett Strong hisownbadself;
okayokayokay,
even better, dis is Top Ten stuff,
Working My Way Back to You,
Frankie V & the 4 Seasons, c.1966;
the Detroit Spinners show Frankie & the 4 how to get it on, c.1977;
then a reminder that when the Rev. Al gets his hand on a tune,
no matter whose it is, the Reverend usually takes the upper hand...
extra added beatle related linky goodness,
Money, Live.
one other thing then, in passing along the following link,
thanks to G.A. at Open Brackets, for these words
‡

we may be illin' . . .       8.5
but we not be chillin'...
our disdain for that smirking chump in the white house
remains at its usual fever pitch.
Hey George, howzabout a pretzel?
for added good measure, & since the meathead's on vacation,
perhaps GWB is considering making it a part-time gig;
ohohoh, the dubya diary? (NOT, but what the hey, eh?)
alright now, we rollin' huh, and even feelin' better!
some miscellaneous quotations re the genius in the white house;
from hard working wage slave, GWB-Scorecard of Evil;
a little reminder re the background of a certain infamous tejano;
what really drives yourstruly crazy, especially now,
is that we knew all this shit back then, so WTFH???;
well, laughter can barely conceal my actual tears,
we're heartily & royally fucked as long as this fool
is in the white house. Last up: www.shrubbish.com

hiya, yourstruly's been illin'...      
so, ahhhh, without further ado,
from S.F. Chron, H. Sorensen,
Oil Instead of Blood;
and then, we offer up a hearty & heartfelt B R A V O !
to Ms. Jackie Goldberg, fighting the brave fight in the California Legislature.
Ms. Goldberg, should you need a legislative assistant, or at the very least
someone at home to cook, clean, vacuum, etc, let us know, ok?