I want to take out from by busy school schedule, which found me behind various books all weekend. A news item caught my eye today that touches on all three principles entitled in this blog.
Roman Polanski, who must be acknowledged as one of the greatest filmmakers ever to live, was arrested today in Zurich. The charge against him is 32-years-old. He is charged with drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl, a crime to which he offered a full confession.
Child rape is not in the title of this blog, but truth is. For some disgusting truths on a legal proceeding's total corruption, I recommend the documentary film Wanted and Desired. I won't try to produce the details here, but suffice to say, Polanski fled not to avoid prosecution, but to escape from a justice system that had gone completely off the rails. The girl (now an adult woman) in this case has come forward and voiced concerns over the case; she appears in Wanted and Desired. Is it therefore reasonable that he should be arrested 32 years later? Is that considered the exaction of justice?
This pisses me off so much. I almost hope that he is extradited back to LA; at least I hope that people will get really pissed off if this happens. Watch the documentary, its really interesting in its own right.
Back to the books.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Flagship
Since I look on TRJ as my flagship blog, I wanted to remind readers that I have two others which I am going to be updating regularly.
Decadent Indifference is my "art" blog that never really got off the ground. Well stand by for liftoff. I have a Netflix account that is totally controlled by my cinemaphile friends and they are going to be sending me cool, probably "arty" movies that I haven't seen before. I am going to be doing review of each of them, or at least as many as my sanity permits. My membership is only good for three months and I will be getting one at a time. I would like to be able to blow through them as quickly as possible, but if you read the previous post you can see how that may be difficult. There might be a few other film, literature, and music perspectives that end up there also.
Unrelenting Change is my new blog which will chronicle my schooling. My class writings that are reasonably lengthened (less than 10 pages) will be there, (plagiarists beware) and I might also do some responses to some of my shorter readings. I will also do some venting there on the depth, breadth, and sheer fucking volume of all the work I will have to do over the next two years.
So once again, thanks for reading.
Decadent Indifference is my "art" blog that never really got off the ground. Well stand by for liftoff. I have a Netflix account that is totally controlled by my cinemaphile friends and they are going to be sending me cool, probably "arty" movies that I haven't seen before. I am going to be doing review of each of them, or at least as many as my sanity permits. My membership is only good for three months and I will be getting one at a time. I would like to be able to blow through them as quickly as possible, but if you read the previous post you can see how that may be difficult. There might be a few other film, literature, and music perspectives that end up there also.
Unrelenting Change is my new blog which will chronicle my schooling. My class writings that are reasonably lengthened (less than 10 pages) will be there, (plagiarists beware) and I might also do some responses to some of my shorter readings. I will also do some venting there on the depth, breadth, and sheer fucking volume of all the work I will have to do over the next two years.
So once again, thanks for reading.
24
I just added them all up. Between now and the last week of November I have 24 books to read. That's not really true because actually I will have to read a lot more than that for my research seminar, in which I have to formulate a plan that will serve as a springboard for my thesis. 24 also doesn't include the dozens of articles that I have to read in addition. I have something like 15 books requested at the library and it is only the third day of the quarter. I am also reading a book right now for fun. We'll see if I can finish it this weekend, otherwise I am hanging it up until December.
I don't even want to think about what the cumulative length of all the writing I will have to do is.
I plan on spending the entire day at the library tomorrow.
I am almost entirely broke until my student loans come through. They tell me that should be on Monday. They better be right. I probably have enough food to last until then. I don't get a paycheck until October 1.
It kind of sucks to watch all the undergrads running around all crazy carefree. As much fun as I had in undergrad I probably should have had a lot more.
I don't even want to think about what the cumulative length of all the writing I will have to do is.
I plan on spending the entire day at the library tomorrow.
I am almost entirely broke until my student loans come through. They tell me that should be on Monday. They better be right. I probably have enough food to last until then. I don't get a paycheck until October 1.
It kind of sucks to watch all the undergrads running around all crazy carefree. As much fun as I had in undergrad I probably should have had a lot more.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Return
I've taken several months off from the ol' blog. I really should have kept it up, but I ran out of bullshit. I just ran out, you see. Not really. I had a pretty fun and active summer. Here are some of the highlights.
My friends and I revived our old high school hangout (re-christening it "Arrakis") and in the process revolutionized what it means to live with your parents. I effectively stopped living with my Dad. I would like to think that I was the only person keeping that household together, but it was never really together. Arrakis, however, is the great, uncelebrated hangout of its time.
We also transformed Arrakis into studio space and revived a very old video project, in fact taking it to new heights. It was unspeakably fun to shoot and has somewhat revived my interest in acting, not to mention exhibitionism. If anyone is interested in a copy of this, drop me a line. It's pretty special.
I got a car! My first ever. It really is something else. The drivers side door handle fell off the first day I got it. I suppose that is to be expected. It's over seventeen (17) years old. Also it's a Geo Prism, so it has a fair amount of giddyup. It also has a manual transmission which I had to learn how to operate. That was an experience, let me tell you. The car sucks but, well, it's mine.
Mostly I was drunk all summer, which was fine. Hell, I had a blast. Couple of friends visited which is always fun.
I watched a lot of great movies, which is pretty typical. I hope to have some profiles and review of them on Decadent Indifference in the near future. My friend Nick and I are pretty close to being leading American authorities on Italian director Dario Argento.
In that same vein I saw Tarantino's new movie "Inglorious Basterds" a couple of times. If any of my readers haven't seen it yet (assuming I still have any potential readers) I cannot recommend it highly enough. I intend to make a pest of myself until everyone I encounter has seen it.
Through all of this I managed to get an apartment in Athens, OH and generally get all my shit together in preparation for grad school, which begins in two days. I am writing from my new apartment now actually, which isn't so bad. I have my own bathroom, which I have never had before, always sharing with family, thirty other men, roommates, roommates, girlfriend, family, and co-residents of Arrakis in that order. Athens is pretty cool so far. I think I will actually like it once I have some money.
Well, hopefully some people out there are still checking on this. If not I am probably going to explore some ways of getting the word back out. I hope to do a post at least weekly, and I still have a lot of back-posts to do. I think I will do one grand comprehensive COTA Chatter (kind of lost my inspiration once I got the Geo) and then my agent will begin negotiations with Random House for a book deal.
My friends and I revived our old high school hangout (re-christening it "Arrakis") and in the process revolutionized what it means to live with your parents. I effectively stopped living with my Dad. I would like to think that I was the only person keeping that household together, but it was never really together. Arrakis, however, is the great, uncelebrated hangout of its time.
We also transformed Arrakis into studio space and revived a very old video project, in fact taking it to new heights. It was unspeakably fun to shoot and has somewhat revived my interest in acting, not to mention exhibitionism. If anyone is interested in a copy of this, drop me a line. It's pretty special.
I got a car! My first ever. It really is something else. The drivers side door handle fell off the first day I got it. I suppose that is to be expected. It's over seventeen (17) years old. Also it's a Geo Prism, so it has a fair amount of giddyup. It also has a manual transmission which I had to learn how to operate. That was an experience, let me tell you. The car sucks but, well, it's mine.
Mostly I was drunk all summer, which was fine. Hell, I had a blast. Couple of friends visited which is always fun.
I watched a lot of great movies, which is pretty typical. I hope to have some profiles and review of them on Decadent Indifference in the near future. My friend Nick and I are pretty close to being leading American authorities on Italian director Dario Argento.
In that same vein I saw Tarantino's new movie "Inglorious Basterds" a couple of times. If any of my readers haven't seen it yet (assuming I still have any potential readers) I cannot recommend it highly enough. I intend to make a pest of myself until everyone I encounter has seen it.
Through all of this I managed to get an apartment in Athens, OH and generally get all my shit together in preparation for grad school, which begins in two days. I am writing from my new apartment now actually, which isn't so bad. I have my own bathroom, which I have never had before, always sharing with family, thirty other men, roommates, roommates, girlfriend, family, and co-residents of Arrakis in that order. Athens is pretty cool so far. I think I will actually like it once I have some money.
Well, hopefully some people out there are still checking on this. If not I am probably going to explore some ways of getting the word back out. I hope to do a post at least weekly, and I still have a lot of back-posts to do. I think I will do one grand comprehensive COTA Chatter (kind of lost my inspiration once I got the Geo) and then my agent will begin negotiations with Random House for a book deal.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
COTA Chatter
I like to sit in the back of the bus. There are usually more seats there. I get a nice long gaze at everyone who steps aboard. Also, I occasionally get an earful of some very interesting conversations.
So I sit down, back-most, passenger side bench. On this model bus the two last benches face each other, with one long bench along the back wall of the bus. So, I sit down. Five men along the back and opposite bench are already engaged in a conversation. I wish I could remember more lines from it all, but it quickly became obvious what they were talking about: guns. Buying and selling guns.
One of the men seated directly to my left had a gun for sale. I couldn't exactly determine what kind of gun it was, but I certainly caught his asking price.
"I can't take less than a bill for it, man."
This was repeated many, many times to a man to his left who seemed to want it for something less than a bill. I think that a bill indicates a $100 bill. My associates generally confirms this suspicion.
The conversation ran along these lines for a while:
"Hey man, how much you want for that piece?"
"I can't take less than a bill for it. I can't take less than I paid for it, man."
The man on the far side of bench and the man facing opposite me were having their own conversation. I couldn't really pick all of it up and, believe me, I really wasn't trying to appear interested. I had reflective sunglasses on (aviators, if you must know) and I was watching out of the corner of my left eye. Out of the corner of my left eye I was watching when the man seated opposite me pulled a loaded magazine out of his pocket to show the man next to him.
Whoa. Cool.
They kept "haggling" over this gun, dancing round that urban maypole. Then this precious gem was uttered:
"Hey, you know my boy Face?"
I don't know who Face is, but he must be the guy to know. Since that day I have seen his "tags" on a number of buses. My boy face. I love it.
That night, late, faintly, but not very faintly, I heard gunshots.
So I sit down, back-most, passenger side bench. On this model bus the two last benches face each other, with one long bench along the back wall of the bus. So, I sit down. Five men along the back and opposite bench are already engaged in a conversation. I wish I could remember more lines from it all, but it quickly became obvious what they were talking about: guns. Buying and selling guns.
One of the men seated directly to my left had a gun for sale. I couldn't exactly determine what kind of gun it was, but I certainly caught his asking price.
"I can't take less than a bill for it, man."
This was repeated many, many times to a man to his left who seemed to want it for something less than a bill. I think that a bill indicates a $100 bill. My associates generally confirms this suspicion.
The conversation ran along these lines for a while:
"Hey man, how much you want for that piece?"
"I can't take less than a bill for it. I can't take less than I paid for it, man."
The man on the far side of bench and the man facing opposite me were having their own conversation. I couldn't really pick all of it up and, believe me, I really wasn't trying to appear interested. I had reflective sunglasses on (aviators, if you must know) and I was watching out of the corner of my left eye. Out of the corner of my left eye I was watching when the man seated opposite me pulled a loaded magazine out of his pocket to show the man next to him.
Whoa. Cool.
They kept "haggling" over this gun, dancing round that urban maypole. Then this precious gem was uttered:
"Hey, you know my boy Face?"
I don't know who Face is, but he must be the guy to know. Since that day I have seen his "tags" on a number of buses. My boy face. I love it.
That night, late, faintly, but not very faintly, I heard gunshots.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Beef: It's What's Rotting in Your Colon
This post is going to be a post about me trying to not eat meat. I am not trying to reject carnivorousness as bad or wrong, nor am I promoting vegetarianism as enlightened or moral. This is just something I've been doing.
Last January Sarah and I didn't eat meat for a month. It was a planned challenge to ourselves but I can't remember exactly what prompted it. We bought a vegetarian cookbook and really stuck to it. Well, I flinched once. I was working at a hotel at the time and after a particularly awful banquet night the only food I could get my hand on was some gumbo with sausage. Other than that, meat free for a whole month. After the month was up I promptly ate a hamburger, but I think Sarah tried to keep it up for awhile.
I suppose I should clarify what I mean when I say "no meat." What I mean is no walking or flying meat. So I guess I have a Catholic view of what it means to not eat meat.
When I moved back to Columbus (almost exactly a year ago) I took the opportunity to tweak some personal habits. I tried to work out more, manage my finances, and I also decided to stop eating beef. I kept to this when I could. I wasn't (and still am not) totally in control of what I ate, and I do enjoy the taste of beef. So it was not a total conversion, but it was a shift in my gastronomic outlook. Gradually, and without any clear decision on my part, I phased out of eating meat regularly as well.
There was never any moral impulse in any of this. I have no problem with killing animals. And I fully enjoy eating them. I am mainly concerned with my own health and also with the effects of meat production on the environment.
Lets start with health. Most commercially raised animals are chemically treated in one way or another, hormones, antibiotics, steroids, and who knows what else. That can't be good for anything but the bottom line. Meat also is high in cholesterol, which isn't so good in large quantities, especially for someone who has not yet been able to quit smoking. There are also links to colon cancer, and probably some others. Now, I don't think that any of these are really good reasons to cut out eat meat entirely, but I have eaten a lot of meat in my life. Probably more than anyone should eat in a lifetime, really. So I think it might be time to lay off a little bit.
Since I have been a "vegetarian" I have thought of lots of ways in which I am saving the planet. I don't think that cattle themselves are a major contribution to global warming (I'm talking about farts here) but it is something. Also, speaking anecdotally here, it takes a lot more energy to bring meat to market than it does grains, fruits, and vegetables. Meat has to kept cold and quickly transported. Consider this, also. Say a community has a quantity of corn, for example. Now, that community has the option of either eating the corn, or feeding it to animals and then eating the animals. The loss of nutrients (this is according to my geography professor in college) is about 90%. I would humbly suggest that reduced consumption of meat will be necessary to feed the perpetually exploding world population.
So today I don't call myself a vegetarian. Just yesterday I ate some sausage gravy (it was delicious). But I do try. I have taken to making my own hummus, which I love. I order vegetarian dishes at restaurants and it is a lot cheaper. I get my protein from eggs mostly, but also cheese and mushrooms. I now know the meaning of "regular" when it comes to my digestive tract. It has been a haphazard journey, but it has kept things interesting.
Wallace's Hummus (measure ingredients according to taste)
Chick Peas - two cans
Tahini - about two tablespoons
Garlic
Cumin
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Lemon
Olive Oil
I think its important for the lemon and olive oil to balance each other out. Cayenne pepper is also a nice touch if you have a taste for that kind of thing.
Last January Sarah and I didn't eat meat for a month. It was a planned challenge to ourselves but I can't remember exactly what prompted it. We bought a vegetarian cookbook and really stuck to it. Well, I flinched once. I was working at a hotel at the time and after a particularly awful banquet night the only food I could get my hand on was some gumbo with sausage. Other than that, meat free for a whole month. After the month was up I promptly ate a hamburger, but I think Sarah tried to keep it up for awhile.
I suppose I should clarify what I mean when I say "no meat." What I mean is no walking or flying meat. So I guess I have a Catholic view of what it means to not eat meat.
When I moved back to Columbus (almost exactly a year ago) I took the opportunity to tweak some personal habits. I tried to work out more, manage my finances, and I also decided to stop eating beef. I kept to this when I could. I wasn't (and still am not) totally in control of what I ate, and I do enjoy the taste of beef. So it was not a total conversion, but it was a shift in my gastronomic outlook. Gradually, and without any clear decision on my part, I phased out of eating meat regularly as well.
There was never any moral impulse in any of this. I have no problem with killing animals. And I fully enjoy eating them. I am mainly concerned with my own health and also with the effects of meat production on the environment.
Lets start with health. Most commercially raised animals are chemically treated in one way or another, hormones, antibiotics, steroids, and who knows what else. That can't be good for anything but the bottom line. Meat also is high in cholesterol, which isn't so good in large quantities, especially for someone who has not yet been able to quit smoking. There are also links to colon cancer, and probably some others. Now, I don't think that any of these are really good reasons to cut out eat meat entirely, but I have eaten a lot of meat in my life. Probably more than anyone should eat in a lifetime, really. So I think it might be time to lay off a little bit.
Since I have been a "vegetarian" I have thought of lots of ways in which I am saving the planet. I don't think that cattle themselves are a major contribution to global warming (I'm talking about farts here) but it is something. Also, speaking anecdotally here, it takes a lot more energy to bring meat to market than it does grains, fruits, and vegetables. Meat has to kept cold and quickly transported. Consider this, also. Say a community has a quantity of corn, for example. Now, that community has the option of either eating the corn, or feeding it to animals and then eating the animals. The loss of nutrients (this is according to my geography professor in college) is about 90%. I would humbly suggest that reduced consumption of meat will be necessary to feed the perpetually exploding world population.
So today I don't call myself a vegetarian. Just yesterday I ate some sausage gravy (it was delicious). But I do try. I have taken to making my own hummus, which I love. I order vegetarian dishes at restaurants and it is a lot cheaper. I get my protein from eggs mostly, but also cheese and mushrooms. I now know the meaning of "regular" when it comes to my digestive tract. It has been a haphazard journey, but it has kept things interesting.
Wallace's Hummus (measure ingredients according to taste)
Chick Peas - two cans
Tahini - about two tablespoons
Garlic
Cumin
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Lemon
Olive Oil
I think its important for the lemon and olive oil to balance each other out. Cayenne pepper is also a nice touch if you have a taste for that kind of thing.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
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