Monthly Archives: June 2009

Wishing Well

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It’s yet another rainy day. Woke up and it was pouring out. Last night it rained too. Rain rain rain. It’s tiresome. I hope it’s not like this when Annemarie and Earl come over from Arcata next month.

It’s always like this in Arcata and I think that coming east is an escape from that crappy weather for Annemarie and Earl. At the moment it has stopped raining but more is expected.

Last night was yet another mellow evening. Instead of the usual viewing fare, I watched The Public Enemy starring James Cagney and Jean Harlow.

It’s a classic, pre-code movie from 1931, the story of Tommy Powers rise to power in the world of criminal enterprise. I had never seen it before from start to finish and it was a good movie.

Just a little unbelievable was a scene where Cagney and his accomplice are running from a policeman who just shoots at them over and over while blowing his police whistle.

The chase goes around a corner where off camera the policeman is shot and Cagney and company run off.

It’s also the movie where Cagney smashes a grapefruit in a moll’s face. The moll by the way is not Jean Harlow but Mae Clarke. That is the classic scene.

As I watched the movie, there was a scene where Cagney and his buddy pay a visit to Putty Nose, someone who had done them wrong years before.

They want revenge and catch up with Putty Nose outside his home. They drag him in and Putty Nose realizes whats going on and tries to reason with them.

As I watched I wondered if that was where a line that was sampled by Coldcut on the remix for Eric B. and Rakim’s Paid in Full. ‘Back in the club, why you kids used to laugh at this song’.

Sure enough a minute later Putty Nose comes up with the line launching into the song and getting killed right before the chorus. I was surprised that I figured out where the line was from a moment before it was said.

Perhaps Tommy Powers mother was a little too loving, always willing to turn away when Tommy was up to no good, or when Tommy was getting the strap from his policeman father.

After that I watched some of Bill Maher from last week. I’m pretty sure that they use canned laughter a lot on the show since some of the jokes are just not funny at all.

And I’m not that fond of Bill Maher either, he’s too smarmy and way too fond of himself. PJ O’Rourke is another one I don’t get. He also laughs the hardest at his own jokes.

I’m sure he might have been funny back in the day when he was working at National Lampoon, but nowadays he’s merely a lampoon of himself.

The weather forecast is more rain. It’s supposed to be nice on Sunday, so no major bicycle ride on Saturday. Then again the weather forecast is wrong half the time but even that makes me wary. I suppose I will have to just wait and see.

Nothing to report on the work front. Nothing has changed. Still no info.

Tonight promises to be another quiet night. Which is better than pandemonium I guess. Bill just gave me the brush off, so maybe it won’t be so quiet after all.

Spellbound

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It’s Wednesday. Not much to report on that. Last night Bill was with some theater friends down by the South Street Seaport. Stayed out and had a few drinks. That’s something that I used to do.

Not anymore, not me. I stayed in, watched The Daily Show, Colbert Report, Keith Olbermann and even some Rachel Maddow.

I also watched a PBS documentary on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. How the armed forces are depleted but won’t take gays and lesbians. Other countries do, but not the US. Oh no, can’t have that.

They’ll take white supremacists and gang bangers before taking someone who can speak Arabic and could actually help out the situation.

They had some present day soldiers, faces blurred going off to Iraq, willing to die while living a lie for their country. Some sit ins were shown, gay & gay friendly college students who tried to enlist.

The police were called, complaining about how they had better things to do rather than deal with civil disobedience. A few clips of Bill Clinton who introduced Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) as well as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Both issues have been in the news lately and are also 2 of the main reasons why there will be a March on Washington in October. Obama made promises to overturn both, and yes he has a lot on his plate but these are matters that also affect families.

Of course he and the Democratic party don’t want to risk losing elections next year so the gays and lesbians are thrown under a bus once again.

In fact last week, the Justice Department argued against repealing the DOMA stating that Traditional marriage is between a man and a woman. No word from the White House on that, and the LGBT community has a massive flash of deja vu.

Today at work was really nothing special. I did very little work, not out of choice, just that there was not much for me to do. I do have some leads with regards to a new job. One is for a non profit staffing agency and the other is for another for profit staffing agency.

Greg Stevens told me he was putting out the word, asking if anyone needs a receptionist, which in a way is a step backward, but more than likely easier to get than an office manager position. Can’t be too choosy these days.

Good that I have some people looking out.

Today was like watching paint dry, and occasionally making a pot of coffee. And it crawled.

Now I’m home, got to the building the same time as Bill. That rarely happens. Even when we’re together I find a reason to hang back and let him arrive first.

No I don’t. Just being silly.

Another night of rain is promised. Can’t get enough of that wet stuff. Nothing planned for tonight. Bill is on a conference call in the next room.

I’m watching the Colbert Report, recorded from last night. Had a fun talk with Harpy. Less antagonistic than usual.

Only 1.5 sheets to the wind.