The Shield: The Math of the Wrath - TV Squad: Nothing else on TV is as well-written, layered, and intricate as The Shield.'
-I know it's your opinion, but seriously The Wire is the greatest TV show ever, let alone the greatest 'cop' show ever. Of course, I love The Shield too. Enormously tense and entertaining. posted by Borat.
-Borat beat me to it.
-I love the Shield, and you won't find many bigger fans than me, as I watched every episode since day 1. I would say that the Shield is superior entertainment. However, the Wire is truly superior storytelling. I feel like the Wire is truly special, as it is much less accessible, but has far greater depth. That said, there are few shows that have held their quality as well as the Shield.
-The Shield's great, but put me down for the Wire also: It's the best thing on television, but the Shield's close behind. I put the Shield above Sopranos. Makes me wish the Unit was on FX or HBO.
-The Wire is just as good as The Shield; only in a completely different way. It draws you in slowly, while The Shield suckerpunches you in the gut.

The Watcher | Chicago Tribune |category: The Wire
like Tim Goodman, Mo Ryan's blog posts on The Wire begin with 4th season (did tv critics only all start having blogs last year, fall 2006?) September 2006 posts: A riveting education on 'The Wire'. then, 'Battlestar' and 'The Wire': Hard to watch, in a good way. Hooked by 'The Wire': If you have only one hour a week for television, give it to “The Wire.” ah ha. not the Shield. (see below on dlww, her praise of the influence of The Shield seemed to me to beg the qstn, more than The Wire?)

Calling "The Wire" critically acclaimed is like saying the Bears are having a pretty good season -- it’s an understatement, to say the least.

The Wire” has been renewed by HBO for a fifth season.This is sensational news. “The Wire” is not just one of the best shows on television, but one of the best dramas in television history.
If you need any confirmation of that, check out the collected reviews of the show at Metacritic.com, which assembles and scores the reviews of dozens of critics from many different publications. “The Wire” got an overall score of 98 points out of 100, and the word “masterpiece” comes up a lot in reviews.
“We are delighted -- though not surprised -- at the initial critical response to the new season of ‘The Wire,’" said Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO Entertainment, in a statement released Wednesday morning. "David Simon and his remarkable team have created a riveting and thought-provoking series that's unlike anything else on TV."

Looking ahead to the final season of 'The Shield' | The Watcher| Chicago Tribune:
Whatever else 2008 brings us in the realm of television, there’s already a reason for a degree of sadness: We’ll see three great series begin their final runs next year. “The Wire” and “Battlestar Galactica” kick off their last seasons in early 2008, and some time during that year, we’ll also see the seventh and final batch of episodes of “The Shield,” the gripping series about a group of morally challenged cops in Los Angeles. thought I'd noted this alrdy, seems not.

It’s not too early to begin to assess what “The Shield” has done for television: Aside from “The Sopranos,” there isn’t a cable series that has been more influential on the medium in the last decade. huh! not The Wire ??
It’s not just that “The Shield’s” documentary aesthetic on dvd commentary of The Wire director of 3.11 said walking line btw pure documentary style (wh said was used on Homicide) and elegance and its innovative directors have migrated to a number of other television shows, it’s that the taut, rollercoaster storytelling and the indelible character studies that creator Shawn Ryan and his writing staff have given to the world are still – five years after the show debuted – the gold standard that many new dramas aspire to equal. again, not The Wire ??

Laura Holden said she watched all the previous seasons of “The Shield” in the space of a few weeks in order to understand where her character fit in.
“I was blown away on every level -- the acting, the directing, the cinematography,” Holden said. “They’re so daring with the subject matter and where they choose to go. … I feel like I’m watching a fabulous independent film every week. So I feel very honored to be here.”
And the makeup requirements aren’t onerous, she noted with a laugh.“A lot of other shows have a tendency to try to glamorize the characters,” Holden said. “Working on this show, they like it if you have circles under your eyes. They like the gritty camera angles. It’s all real. There’s nothing ‘pretty’ about it, which is what makes it so cool.”

--The Emmys have looked over tons of shows and though The Shield won early awards it has been glossed over for The Sopranos. In my opinion, and we all have our own, this show is far superior, the plotlines all come together, every character, even the minor ones all have a part to play in, and you can feel the tension that builds every week. The only other shows that does this for me are The Wire and Nip Tuck.
--By far the best show on TV. There has never been a character like Vic Mackey, so evil to bad people, good heart when it counts, break the law to help someone break the law and kill to save himself and his team.

David Simon in The Wire dvd feature q&a says only HBO, no other channel incl FX would do The Wire. is The Shield less dark, real, demanding? or did it come later, after the raves for The Wire changed readiness at FX? David Simon also said that Oz was really the important show for making possible new things on telev ~ first original programming HBO ~ did he say first? was it before The Sopranos? wh was the first I knew about, followed by Six Feet Under, I think.

Oz (TV series) - Wkp: Oz was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by HBO. The show, which aired for six seasons (1997-2003), was created by Tom Fontana and produced by Barry Levinson. who also did Homicide, right? on NBC, based on book of same title by David Simon.
Barry Levinson - Wkp: producer of film and television. born 1942, grew up in Baltimore. attended Amer Univ in DC. began his career as a director with Diner (1982), for which he had also written the script and which earned him a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination. Diner was the first of a series of films set in the Baltimore of Levinson's youth. The other films in this series were Tin Men (1987), the turn-of-the-century immigrant family saga Avalon, more recent Liberty Heights (1999). All four movies were written and directed by Barry Levinson himself; for the last two he also acted as producer.
Other notable films in his directing career were The Natural (1984), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and Toys (1992), both with Robin Williams, and Bugsy (1991) with Warren Beatty. His biggest hit, both critically and financially, was Rain Man. He also has a television production company with Tom Fontana (The Levinson/Fontana Company) and served as executive producer for a number of their series, including Homicide: Life on the Street (which ran on NBC from 1993-1999) and the HBO prison drama Oz.
is a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

The Shield - Wkp: Season 1 premiered March 12, 2002. The Shield has finished its 6th season. Although this season was supposed to be the last, The Shield has been renewed for its 7th and final season. so, premiered a few months before...
The Wire (TV series) - Wkp: The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002, with 50 episodes airing over the course of its first four seasons. HBO has ordered a fifth season, which Simon has said will be the show's last.

Tim Goodman. The Bastard Machine : The Wire

"Wire" Ep. 3 [4.3]: "Hey, yo, it's Omar!"

Omar brings a level of gravitas and intrigue to the show's thugs that is hard to top. But this was a great episode of 'The Wire' and there's much to discuss. The main point being that all the real beauty of 'The Wire' at this stage of the season rests with the youngest kids, completely on the verge. They could go one way or another. Some are leaning already. What David Simon and his writers are doing in these first three episodes is not merely capturing innocence a few frames before it's lost, but instead looking at all the institutional obstacles that beat back its chance to blossom. It's clear so far that the point is, well, it's over before it starts. And blaming the kids after the fact is merely pointless police work. All the saving needs to start earlier. Showing us that is where the real heartache begins.
nicely writ.
rg has now watched all of first three seasons on dvd, thr netflix. and passed on to me the last disc, with final two episodes of season three. and, my dream come true, watched the penult 3.11 with me last nite, pausing & explaining who's who & what's going on, without me even having to ask. just what I wanted, in order to get into The Wire, someone to say to me what I am seeing.
so now I know Omar.

and do Tim Goodman's posts here go back to season three? no. starts at beginning of season 4:

Wire" Ep. 1: "There ain't a Barksdale left. You on your own out here."

That's what Slim Charles said to Bodie, not only restating for viewers what transpired since Season 3, but confirming again the idea of change in "The Wire." In David Simon's relentless pursuit of various stories from Baltimore (though the lessons could be for and from any big city), he has now moved on to the school system and, under that microscope, a bigger picture - vulnerable youth at a crossroads, failed by the education system, family, law enforcement, politicians and, finally, a course of history too big to change.

If you haven't already read it, I previewed "The Wire" in the Chronicle a before the season. I'll be deconstructing the whole season here, episode by episode (though probably not as minutely focused as I was on the intricacies of "The Sopranos" and shorter than my "24" breakdowns, which someone at Fox once said were longer than the actual scripts to the show).

Simon, in Season 4, has deftly started weaving back in characters from previous seasons here (when nobody could suss out how he was going to continue telling stories at the end of Season 3, which had so much storytelling closure and character separation). And yet, what he manages over the course of this season is truly amazing, an intricate reintroduction of familiar faces.

David Simon. Thank this man for brilliant television.

this last disc of season three has features including a panel q&a at Museum of Radio & Tv, and one with just Simon at a NY school with journalism students. at MR&T introducer (a curator of tv for the museum) says The Wire is in his opinion the most sophisticated, intelligent, and compelling drama on television.
oh and Simon says that though the "it's not TV it's HBO " tagline is old enough now that we might laugh at it, still it is sort of true. they do what no one else does. says no other channel including basic cable FX would do this. wh is int. would they now? did The Shield start a bit after the wire, in a space prepared by it? or is The Shield less consistently dark? Simon said that when Homicide was on NBC (where he was not involved at first. had simply sold his book of that title to them) they were asking if there cldn't be more life-affirming moments. my impression is that the shield does not have more of that sort of deliberate softening, but I don't know.
I like that NBC and FX are the two mentioned, these are who I feel a fan of.
also int that Simon said in West Baltimore everyone has HBO. so it may come down to, do I pay BG&E or do I pay Comcast, and they'll pay Comcast, so they can see The Wire. (of course I do pause over that, bcs thy are going to need electricity in the first place for the tv right). but that wld be my guess that the people living lives of a sort depicted here would appreciate the show. and Eric Burns (is that right name? cowriter, 20 yrs with Baltimore police, 7 yrs in school system) said that he thinks the rank&file of the police like the show. then, higher up you get, the police dept authorities, they have a problem with it.
and so what was mcorbin's complaint? not to get to full of praise, not to forget that the show is still not actually their story? I don't think I understand why he was critical. does he think the show is good, and just think there is too much reverence for what is good, and his voice is useful as a critic?

Howard Hughes - Wkp:
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. (24 September 1905 – 5 April 1976), was an American aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer and director, and one of the wealthiest people in the world. He is famous for setting multiple world air-speed records, building the Hughes H-1 Racer and H-4 Hercules airplanes, producing the movies Hell's Angels and The Outlaw, as well as owning and expanding TWA.

Howard R. Hughes, Sr. patented the tri-cone roller bit, which allowed rotary drilling for oil in previously inaccessible places.
Hughes grew up under the strong influence of his mother, who was obsessed with protecting her son from all germs and diseases. From his father, Hughes inherited an interest in all things mechanical. Showing great aptitude in engineering at an early age, Hughes erected Houston's first wireless broadcast system when he was 11 years old. At age 12, Hughes was supposedly photographed in the local newspaper as being the first boy in Houston to have a 'motorized' bicycle, which he had built himself from parts taken from his father's steam engine. He was an indifferent student with a liking for mathematics and flying, taking flying lessons at 14 and later auditing maths and engineering courses at Caltech.
Hughes' parents died within two years of each other, while he was still in his teens.
Their deaths apparently inspired Hughes to include the creation of a medical research laboratory in his 1925 will.
Because Howard Sr.'s will had not been updated since Allene's death so? otherwise wld not have left money to his son?, young Hughes inherited 75 percent of his father's multi-million dollar fortune, which included the increasing amounts of cash flow generated from oil drilling royalties.
Hughes dropped out of Rice University shortly after his father's death. In June 1925, Hughes married Ella Rice. Shortly thereafter they left Houston and moved to Hollywood, where Hughes hoped to make a name for himself making movies.

Hughes was a notorious ladies' man who spent time with many famous women, including Billie Dove, Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Ava Gardner, Olivia de Havilland and Gene Tierney.

Hughes' ownership of and plans for TWA may have been the real reason he was investigated by the Senate following the war. Pan American World Airways chief Juan Trippe sought to monopolize international air travel and had influenced powerful Maine Senator Owen Brewster to propose legislation securing Pan Am as the sole American airline allowed to fly overseas at a time when Hughes planned TWA service to Europe with the Constellation. Dietrich wrote of the investigation that Hughes beat the Senate committee by turning the hearings into an attack on Brewster. Hughes successfully exposed Brewster's dealings with Pan Am and later helped defeat his re-election bid by pouring considerable funds into the campaign of his opponent, Frederick Payne.

Although Hughes lived in his own home in California for many years, he later came up with the idea of living in hotels as this enabled him to not have a legally declared residence in any state which would require him to pay personal income taxes. His extremely creative efforts to avoid taxes were successful; even after his death, the states of California and Texas were unable to collect inheritance taxes since it could not be proven that he was a legal resident of either state.
The wealthy and aging Howard Hughes, accompanied by his entourage of personal aides, moved from one hotel to another, always taking up residence in the top floor penthouse. During the last ten years of his life, from 1966 to 1976, Hughes lived in hotels in Beverly Hills; Boston; Las Vegas; the Bahamas; Vancouver,London; Managua, Nicaragua; Acapulco, Mexico; and, others.
In 1966, Hughes arrived in Las Vegas by railroad car and moved into the Desert Inn. Refusing to leave the hotel and to avoid further conflicts with the owners of the hotel, Hughes bought the Desert Inn in early 1967. The hotel's eighth floor became the nerve center of his empire and the ninth-floor penthouse became Hughes' personal residence. Between 1966 and 1968, Hughes bought several other hotels/casinos. Hughes wanted to change the image of Las Vegas from its mobsters in gaudy silk suits and thousand-dollar-a-night call girls to something more glamorous. As Hughes wrote in a memo to an aide, "I like to think of Las Vegas in terms of a well-dressed man in a dinner jacket and a beautifully jeweled and furred female getting out of an expensive car." A chronic insomniac, Hughes bought several local television stations (including KLAS-TV) so that there would always be something for him to watch in the early hours of the morning.

just now in the movie, at the end, sees himself as a boy telling his mom, "When I grow up, I'm going to fly the fastest planes, make the biggest movies, and be the richest man."

The Aviator (2004):
Ambitious, Impeccably-Acted, DELIVERS, 6 December 2004 Author: gmorgan-4 from New York, New York
Martin Scorsese's most recent ambitious project does not disappoint. I just saw this film in a special preview for NYU film students, with Martin Scorsese there to discuss and answer questions after, and I must say, it was pretty phenomenal. It is Martin Scorsese's best work since Goodfellas (this is obvious) and most probably his best work since Raging Bull. DiCaprio's character study of Howard Hughes, and his devotion to this role, is exquisite and reminiscent even of Robert De Niro's in Raging Bull. The film is lengthy, but this compliments it, for the story is riveting and the production is practically flawless (even the combination of computerized processes and more traditional photography was smooth and effective). The presentation of the film, in an evolving color (from two-tone Technicolor, as Martin explained it to us, to three-tone, to modern by the later sequences) is absolutely stunning, and the cinematography by renowned Robert Richardson, ASC, is some of the best I've seen (and, in my opinion, deserving of an Oscar). Cate Blanchett was impeccable as Katharine Hepburn, though, at times, I felt that the complexity of her character was never really deeper than a surface analysis. Alec Baldwin portrayed one of the flattest villains I've seen in a major motion picture, but,Alec Baldwin portrayed one of the flattest villains I've seen in a major motion picture, but, again, this is about Howard Hughes, and DiCaprio's performance is worthy of an Oscar nod at least, and perhaps an Oscar Win (certainly the best performance I've seen all year).

The Aviator (2004) - Plot summary:
Phenomenal public success contrasts with private behaviors close to madness: Howard Hughes from the late 1920s to the late 1940s, from "Hells Angels" (spending a fortune on details) through the only flight of the Hercules, a huge, money-losing transport plane. Along the way, the public Hughes sees the big picture - in movies and in aviation, building TWA and leading it through a fight with Pan Am and the US Senate. In private, phobias and compulsions threaten him with self-imposed solitary confinement. How long can his imagination, drive, and the sympathies of Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, and the men who work for him stave off these internal disorders?

Focusing on his early years (from the 1930 production of 'Hell's Angels' to the 1947 test flight of the Blue Spruce, when he was 42), this is the story of how young Howard Hughes transformed a small fortune into a massive one. The son of the Texan inventor of an amazing drill bit who died when he was 18, leaving him with 75% of the "Hughes Tool Co.", Howard Hughes (DiCaprio) quickly moved to Los Angeles to become a Hollywood film producer, where he helped launch the career of Jean Harlow and other starlets, and produced such classics as Hell's Angels, The Front Page, Flying Leathernecks, and Scarface (the 1932 original), eventually owning RKO Pictures.
Hughes' legend came not just from Hollywood. He simultaneously branched into industry after industry, including aviation in 1932 (including TWA Airlines), and during WWII, defense, leading to the creation of the (infamous) Spruce Goose, a flying boat of immense size. After WWII, Hughes' expansions continued, with an electronics company that was integral to the evolution of the satellite, and Hughes' several Las Vegas casinos (though this film may be ending before he moves there). This film will also focus on Hughes' romances with Hollywood stars like Katharine Hepburn (Blanchett) and Ava Gardner (Beckinsale). Huston plays the president of TWA; Baldwin plays the president of their competitor, Pan Am).

House episode 3.22: Resignation
my previous posts on this episode, found by searching dlww for 'piper'

tonite, on as repeat. very very good episode. not only Wilson & House dosing each other and Wilson on speed. not only Piper Perabo. also the case: patient not curious why she is dying. House: she was no different than she's ever been. realizes: that's bcs she wanted to die. tried to kill herself by taking kitchen cleaner. she asks him not to tell her parents. House: Legally, all you have to do is promise not to do it again, and I can't. girl: I promise. House: Yeah, sure.
he does tell the parents.
mom: Can we call you, if we have questions? House: No.

Exbiblio: Exbiblio is introducing an innovative hand-held device - the 'Qi™' - and related services that will connect the paper and digital worlds.
We are planning to introduce the first version of our product as a limited-distribution Beta release later this year. More information about this release, including opportunities to participate in the Beta, will be available here at Exbiblio.com.

about: Exbiblio™ brings the rich interactions you have on a daily basis with Web pages on the Internet — such as saving and sharing what you read, linking to expanded content or related information or learning about or purchasing products — to any paper document wherever you are.
Once you can link a paper document to its digital version, the paper you hold is transformed into a physical Web page. The question then becomes, "How much of a paper document do you need to 'capture' in order to identify the digital version of it unambiguously?" The answer is quite remarkable. In most cases, instead of scanning and processing every page of a document, you only need to capture about six words. In short, any snippet of already-existing text in a document becomes an identifying barcode. Because the capture involves only a small amount of text, it identifies both the document and a location within that document. This can all be accomplished with an optical capture device that fits in the palm of your hand and connects wirelessly to the Internet. Selecting the snippet of text with the device becomes the equivalent of clicking on it with a mouse. In this way, Exbiblio brings to the world of books, newspapers, magazines and other printed materials the dynamic, interactive capabilities we all have come to expect from a Web page.

Exbiblio- The Paper Renaissance
exbiblio starts telling
to z0510 web a

I think some of what is in that pdf document (to which I do not readily find a link on current site) is here about: Uses:The following are examples of what is possible in the world of Exbiblio.
...In the world of Exbiblio, you use your portable, hand-held scanner to "capture" sections you may want to use in the paper or to electronically highlight sections of the books you are reading. And when a thought of your own comes to mind, you capture the idea with your Exbiblio scanner because it is not only a scanner but also a voice recorder. The system then uploads your scans and voice and highlight annotations into your computer (automatically converting the voice notes to text)

reminded of this in part bcs of Here Is Your Pen Scanner, Mr. Bond - New York Times via Paper Bits. in part, bcs also I'd tht of this recently, maybe bcs of Paper Bits (jazzmasterson).
did not remember name. searched dlcs marks for "paper" and found above pagemark.

washbar ...
an eudæmonist: apparatus

the links

· splagkhna · wood s lot · pseudopodium · ftrain · waggish · geegaw · metameat · simultan · laputan logic · 7 roads · the nonist · early modern whale · erasing · plep · riley dog · giornale nuovo · languagehat · Idiocentrism · notebooks · grass is greener · mis · del.icio.us ·

------dlcs link there is to dlcs/mfcorwin as I think is flickr elsewhere, so seems that is of this person, and I guess dlcs/eudaemonist is someone else ~ makes sense bcs taste seems less highbrow or so. but librarything/eudaemonist is the same person. nd the language hat link supports feeling I've seen this name on metafilter? or metachat maybe not. came here via splaghkna who said was going to blog an exchange w eudaemonist about a book tristes ~ strauss. it's all began to seem over so to me, maybe just a mild headache hours away from coffee and food of this afternoon. I so liked splaghkna and am thrown that flickr of that name says male when seemed a her, a her like me, I suppose. could it be wrong? on a personality post, says can not resist a cosmo quiz - this is a him talking?
anyway through the other eudaemonist on dlcs came to the waschbar photo


Waschbär ist müde / Raccoon Is Tired on Flickr and remembered this:
Raccoon - Wkp [Were those 2 big black cats or cld I just not see the markings?] on june 18
Waschbär in German, mosómedve in Hungarian, vaskebjørn in Danish & Norwegian, tvättbjörn in Swedish, wasbeer in Dutch, pesukarhu in Finnish, araiguma in Japanese, huànxióng in Chinese all mean "washing bear."

back at wkp, this picture makes me think
ok maybe those two cats I saw were raccoons. which feels scary. and was it that I saw one bathing that made me note that raccoons bathe too and that's why called washing bear? bcs I thought the bathing showed it was a cat. but it didn't. but still I think it may have been two black cats. but then why were they two together and sort of menacing and flanking me. but maybe they were just cats. I don't know.








03.24.07 Tristes Tropiques:
Blogs collect unfulfilled projects. (It’s a form of internet lint.) Why should this one be different? One more thing I plan to use this site for, another thing I get to avoid doing in avoiding coming here, I won’t notice it. So let’s announce it: We, Mfc and I, plan to read Lévi-Strauss’s Tristes Tropiques, a couple chapters a week, for the next however long, and blog an exchange about it.

Flickr: About pamccf: I'm Male and Taken. splagkhna

that's startling. I was sure, it was a her. ... omiewise said 'her' lists of books read were impressive. ... not a her? I am disappointed?

via Flickr: mfcorwin I'm Female and Taken. eudaemonist Portland, OR

...ok yes settled. I thought pamccf might be saying male on flickr but really not.
but no. pamccf seems to be pk and eudaemonis to be mfc in each other's photos.
mfc resembles me, I think, in face. eyes. forehead. ~small mouth.

read her comments on books (2007 list has comments, as does some of 2006)
an eudæmonist: reading: 2007

David Allen. Getting Things Done. New York: Viking, 2001. [48]

So you think about what all you need to do you and you write it down. And then you look at what you’ve written down and this is where people split off: some people do what they’ve written down and everybody else tries to find some new widget to make what they’ve written down look cooler and more organized. And the people who’ve done what they’ve written down (and have written down more stuff and done that, too) live in poverty and obscurity while the folks with the color-coordinated widget (matches their shoes, you know) take the credit.

oh. that was unexpected. so this synopsis wins me over to this writer. as does this 2007 list (and some of 2006) of books read having comments, which makes it personable.

mfcorwin flickr 4 July

splagkhna »» Stray thoughts:
I used to think: faces are like characters, or they match them. It might seem that people don’t look like who they are, but you think that because you haven’t understood yet what they look like. very nice. I also used to think (and I’ll still say it, if I’m feeling pressured) that people aren’t who they are: because people are only what they aren’t yet (they shine brighter where they’re living on their own boundaries, where they’re claiming new territory mmm) or what they haven’t been for some time (long enough for that part to be calcified, solidified enough to see). Now I would say, I’m like this: I bear in mind the relation between my appearance and my actions, and I try to keep a counterpoint between them; and I don’t like to show who I am, but who I might still be, and who I comfortably am not.
I never had any real interest in or understanding of politics until this last year or so.
That’s one side. Another: I’ve never, before the past few years, wanted something from a group of people that I couldn’t get and couldn’t make myself not want. that's me very m. (That makes me young in mind, I know. Or soft in skull.) At work, I want money and responsibility; I can’t get it as fast as I want; it’s taught me a great deal about power to try to get it. The power structure lit up, once I failed to bend it. right.
That’s stream number two. Following current politics, I think I see a little the forces moving behind the scene: the dwarves changing the scenery while the light show on stage distracts the audience, their hunched bodies coming too close and bulging out the curtain as they scurry out of sight. a little descrip-y for my taste but the dwarves are nice. (That simile’s off good: I can read motivations better than? than y cld see the dwarves? here I am not sure what you, conscious motivations and intentions.)

splagkhna: Sketch of character: I’ve never liked the idea of writing about people. It seems somehow disrespectful. People are large, and mostly invisible.
I don’t mind writing about: my state of mind, which is complex and which I’m constantly misrepresenting (except of course I’m in collusion there); what people do, actions being just as complicated as the actors, and just as misrepresentable; or books, which ditto with a multiplier effect. nice sentence.
The happy suggestion was to write short, separable pieces about people I have known. (To be added later: stuff that happened.) Toss them out onto the graph paper you write on graph paper?. Let them define a field between them. Then try to navigate within that field. One’s one - a field? in the works. (Really, I need to use this blog for something.) Feel free to comment on them as they come. (You should always feel free to comment, unless you are spam.) ok good I may want to comment.
and though the comments from three others do not ring for me, she still replies in a way that does:
Julia - yeah, that’s pretty much what I wanted to say. It’s icky. I used to throw away bank statements without opening them, for the same reason. (”I’ll just guess,” I would say.) clear memory of sth like learning: mc saying 'throw it away' - about an unopened bank statement. you can do that? now I hardly ever open them. and it never feels good, why does it feel bad to open any business envelopes I get?
Mike - it’s true. The center fielder on the office softball team doesn’t need to feel like Kirby Puckett to enjoy themselves. Why does this hobby have to bear so much of a burden? (And who wants to read anything by somebody who has so little grasp of reality as to think they have a chance of being Kirby Puckett? and is so spoiled that they’ll give up playing if they can’t?) Unpleasantly, that’s how it is. I’m struggling for a sense of reality, but it is a struggle.
Pete: thanks for the encouragement. As far as the theoretical future self goes, I’m managing pretty well to avoid reading anything I write, which helps make me less anxious. Next step of course, is to learn to assess it realistically.

Seeking Encouragement About the Fate of My Teeth | May 31, 2007| Ask MetaFilter:
I had a long period of poor dental hygeine as well, and I finally went back to the dentist this year. I wasn't brushing for a variety of reasons, one of which was shame for having bad breath (ha ha). And I had never flossed regularly, due to the opposite problem that you have: my mouth is pretty big and I couldn't reach all the way back in there to get all the teeth. Well come to see I had six cavities that I didn't know I had. A wisdom tooth was pretty well rotted in the back. But they popped that one out, and filled the holes in the others, cleaned me right up and put me back on the road. It was all pretty painless (terrifying, paralyzing, but not painful), they were 100% cool with me. Now I brush and floss regularly. I'm 29. posted by pamccf
I better go to the dentist. I better.

omiewise 19Apr07 : pamccf—splagkhna
pamccf (User #33823) has a weblog called splagkhna. The sacrificial guts.
It's a series of dense but elliptical posts about living. I'd like to describe it more fully, but I think that would do it a disservice.
It's good, but not at all light.
dense, elliptical, not at all light. sounds like a possible friend.
This post on Performance Anxiety is perhaps indicative. *

It's well worth scrolling down to find her lists of books read and movies watched, they're impressive. yes, first I see is H Laxness the icelandic author whose book ~ People I expect is v good though there is for me some barrier to entry. The rest of the list seems all the more obscure, fine.


*Performance Anxiety
It’s always best to begin with questionable etymology, no matter what the subject. (See, Heidegger did teach me something after all. Heidegger.) Wikipedia says (today) that the word sin ultimately comes from the Proto-Indo-European *es-, to be. Provocative! - to be is to sin. Even better: the word(possibly) (maybe) comes through an unattested intermediary, whose meaning is “it is true”. Truly, to be is to be in sin.
...The empty, worn out feeling is uncanny. I wriggle with panic in the grip of it. It seems larger than any energy I could have the use of, and I vanish in comparison while my uncompleted tasks only grow. It’s large, and dark, and heavy, and turning my eyes to it makes me furious with terror.
Also funny: the reaction that calms me down fastest: the kind of backstage banter that acknowledges the anxiety but shows its other face. It’s all a performance; the eyes that watch me from the dark don’t have power over me; I can relax and take off my mask. It’s a particular knack to this kind of banter that both affirms my sense of the immensity of the dark, but that also deprives it of ultimate reality. God is only my father, I don’t have to do anything I can’t, just dip this sponge in water and those painted lines come right off the face.

oh wow.
I don't exactly relate ~ feel that I know what she is naming ~ and I do not (seem to) feel that I have disappointed, that I should... but the terms seem close: terror, mask, banter.
and I admire the writing. exacting. cadence.

Published:

04.03.07 / 6pm

Some things this has to do with include:

self, personality, psychology, shame, writing, heidegger, thinking, drained, fear, failure, future, currency, unfinished, rhythm, mood, pace, time, ambition, fatigue, anxiety, performance, sin

so where the difference I feel: shame. failure. ambition. (religion?)
very close to: personality (several posts w this link). heidegger. thinking. rhythm. mood.

a comment to the post sounds like andrew (it's not): I like the sponge metaphor. I sort of closed my eyes after reading it.
and this, in comments from her: I don’t know if its psychological or psychological, if you follow the distinction (did she mean to type the same word twice? elliptical), but I just don’t do well with written records that intend to be true. Especially if I’m making them for myself. (Who’s he? Oh, he’ll remember.) he? not capitalized. did she mean, 'oh I'll remember'? which is unlike me. I am always writing for myself who does not remember. as if I will not remember. in case. sake, keep.

so fall 2007 tv:

Bionic Woman. premieres Wed Sept 26 on NBC. I continue to see NBC having the highest quality shows, pretty much without competition. I'm an NBC fan. I liked Bionic Woman the tv show a lot as a kid, the eighties I guess it was on. just saw ad that played Sia Breathe Me which seems ~ unfair ~ but is effective.

Gossip Girl. also Wed I think. on CW. yes imdb thread: Premieres Wed. Sept. 19 @ 9pm. seems will be fun rich-kid teen drama. narrated by Kirsten Bell, so. and one of the stars is the girl who played Carrie Bishop on Veronica Mars. I think she's got potential. prtty girl, sort of a darkness in her smile. there, she's listed second at imdb for the show: Leighton Meester Blair Waldorf. and listed first is Blake Lively, from sisterhood travelling pants (grief for mother who killed herself) who I also like and think has potential, pretty in a way that is interesting, could be dark. Blake Lively Serena van der Woodsen. hmm I think Gossip Girl might be the one teen book series I browsed at Borders once.

ah these two shows are opposite each other, Wed 8c.
and on Friday, my post-veronica-mars-int Moonlight is opposite FridayNightLights also at 8c.
Tuesdays have House, then Boston Legal which I have lost enthusiasm for.
and well maybe I'll try Heroes again, Monday, bcs I do want to watch the arc with Kristen Bell.
that leaves Thursday, where there's Greys eh but prob wld watch. the spin-off looks not even worth watching as soap. Men in Trees is not that night, too bad, it's Fridays.

so, all at 8c huh:
Mon - Heroes. nbc. watch in fall for Kristin Bell... Chuck before, Journeyman after. good NBC lineup.
Tues - House. (Boston Legal following). fox, abc and Reaper and Cane, opposite respctvly. CW, CBS.
Wed - Bionic Woman. Gossip Girl. * nbc , cw. probably not good but fun to watch... afterw: DirtySexyMoney, Life. abc, nbc.
Thur - Greys eh. abc The Office at 8c NBC, don't forget that. first few are hour long.
Fri - Moonlight, FriNightLights. * cbs nbc Nashville (fox) was bad, d n appeal on premiere.

on bastard machine did others mention Bionic Woman, Gossip Girl, Moonlight as of int? yes, no, and no.
The Bastard Machine 8/14/07 : A bloody battle: Fall scheduling trainwreck ahead. TiVo's on stun!: Here's a link to a pretty accurate fall 2007 television schedule Which nights have the best shows and what night(s) are you most looking forward to?
not much looks good, say several people.

The Bastard Machine 7/25/07 : Death March with Cocktails: The Buzz Meter.
Here's my first ever-in-flux Buzz Meter on the fall shows.
1. 'Pushing Daisies.' ABC. I'd look at this. but it's on 7c Wed I think.
2. 'Reaper.' CW. Tue 8c.
3. 'Aliens In America.' CW. Mon 7:30c.
4. 'Chuck.' NBC. Mon, before Heroes? so 7c. and Journeyman follows Heroes. saw preview, he works with a geek squad sort of thing at a store, inadv ends up viewing a video that conveys to his brain govt secrets ~
So far, there really isn't a number 5. Sorry. And yes, this list includes two series from the CW. That's two of four if you're keeping track at home. Listen, nobody's more surprised than the critics.
oh and note, in comments: > When is Sunny in Philadelphia coming back?? -- Sep 13. I read about this (Arr Dev style shooting, Friends in a Cheers setting, awful selfish characters) and thought, it sounds like some show I saw where guy went to anti-abortion rally to meet girls then liked a girl who was pro-choice and so switched position, or sth like that, what show was that? and, I am pretty sure it actually was an epsisode of Always Sunny. did not love it, too mean maybe, but I might like other episodes. I like the name, like a poem. It's always da-duh in da da da duh.

The Bastard Machine 8/30/07 : The Buzz Meter
1. The War. PBS. only addition to list. and next two switched rank:
2. Reaper. CW.
3. Pushing Daisies. ABC.
4. Aliens in America. CW.
5. Chuck. NBC.
Aliens in Amer is probably good. Mo Ryan likes it a lot, says has heart. did not appeal to me much, just as I did not much like Wonder Years. but - Tim Goodman says in this post that they're recasting the dad (Scott Patterson from "Gilmore Girls" is in - let's hope he's funny) so now I am int at least to see Scott P in a role other than Luke, see if he seems different.

keep eye on this category on Mo Ryan's Chicago Tribune The Watcher blog: New shows for the 2007-2008 season

updating 9/24 Monday of big premier week (Gossip Girl started last week, Nashville the week before, some start in October...).

and another reference, with page for each new show: TeeVee.net - Fall 2007 New Premieres

101 Dalmatians (1996): As a very young child, I grew up on the 1961 101 Dalmatians. I loved the show, and I remember thinking that it was one of Disney's best. So when the 1996 live-action remake came out, I had my doubts that anything could be as good as the original. I was wrong. This movie is absolutely fantastic! It is beautifully written and the dogs are so cute and loveable... but I think the thing that ties it all together is the casting. yeah I knew about Glenn Close. but not that Hugh Laurie is in it. and that's Joely Richardson, totally different from her Nip/Tuck Julia. here kind and maternal. and British. speaking with English accent right? The characters were brought to life in a totally believeable way--from Jeff Daniels as the Dalmatian-loving, Cruella-hating Roger Dearly, to Ms.DeVil herself, played to perfection by the unbeatable Glenn Close. All of the actors fill the shoes of their characters, the comic timing is just right, and everything about it spells a Disney masterpiece.

Miss Teen USA tonight... kinda icky, but still a pageant! - FSUniverse:
South Carolina's answer to why can't a large percentage of Americans find the US on a world map - 'I believe that a lot of people don't have maps . . . ' I couldn't quite follow the rest of her answer, but somehow this country full of mapless people are supposed to use our education to help Africa, and maybe Asia too.
that seemed really bad...
is colorado the one w the sophie's choice of a question - who do you prefer paris lindsey or nicole?
Yes, the audience applauded when she said none of them are her role models.That's why she won! good for the judges then, that was a good reason. she spoke by far the best.
and then she said something, like, well Paris, because she faced reality, or something like that. If she had to pick one, great answer. she said that at the end Paris showed she knew the diff btw right & wrong
and then W Va said she tht you wee an adult when you cld tell right & wrong without parents' help. which seemed too much of an echo, wld have been good to use at lst slightly diff words, when you know what the moral choice is. or sth. which is not a bad answer, I guess. you're an adult when you've internalized the outside influence on you to do good. superego.
I expected New Jersey (red head, wanted to be an actress) to be the best spoken, tht she seemed intelligent. but no, not that great. Colorado spoke the best, seemed most real. so when these two were the final two, winner and 1st runner up, I thought they picked well.
but not in the earlier eliminations. I liked Illinois, who made top 15 but not top 10. she was tall, very pretty, healthy and real seeming. and two people here mentioned Montana, who I think was the *only girl* without long locks. shorter, above the shoulder curly blond. she did not make the top 15.
I liked Kansas, who said in video clip that she is shy and has had to come out of her shell. I thought she seemed much more real than others. and looked like Sasha who I knew in Annapolis. but I was not surprised when she did not make top five.
was surprised that Alabama did not. she looked like a movie star. and I think I placed who specifically: Reese Witherspoon. but with long coiffed hair. glamourous.
the other one who looked famous, I think N Carolina, maybe resembled Tiffany Amber Thiessen. but did not speak well. I think she's the one who said the biggest risk she took was snowboarding somwhere where the hills where very different from at home, that was "definitely a risk for me" when of course seemed like an un-profound thing to say. but better, I'd say, than a hocus pocus stagey profound answer. and this girl looked so nervous when they were calling the runners up that I was endeared to her, seemed so young.

Miss Teen USA 2007 - Wkp:
Miss Teen USA 2007: Hilary Cruz (Colorado)
1st runner-up: Alyssa Campanella (New Jersey)
2nd runner-up: Kaitlin Coble (North Carolina)
3rd runner-up: Caitlin Upton (South Carolina)
4th runner-up: Chelsea Welch (West Virginia)

Contestants who placed in the top ten and competed in both swimsuit and evening gown: Canden Jackson (Alabama), Vanessa Vonbehren (Minnesota), Emily Bruce (Virginia), Rochelle Rose (Rhode Island), Jaymie Stokes (Kansas).
Contestants who placed in the top fifteen and competed in the swimsuit competition: Mollie Smith (Wyoming), Liz Kranz (New Mexico) looked like?, Victoria Davis (Illinois), Serena Karnagy (Hawaii) she was fun , Macy Erwin (Tennessee).

Amazon.com: Reviews for Columbo - The Complete Third Season: DVD:
June 11, 2007 wdanthemanw "wdanthemanw" (Geneva, Switzerland) - See all my reviews Vera Miles, Vincent Price, Martin Sheen, Donald Pleasence, Julie Harris, Jackie Cooper, Robert Culp, Jack Cassidy, José Ferrer, Johnny Cash, Ida Lupino and Richard Kiley are the most known guest stars of this third season. The quality of this season is not as constant as in the first two seasons but if you'll find here average episodes, you'll also find in season 3 the best Columbo episodes so far :
Columbo: Lovely But Lethal : **** Great performances by Vincent Price and Vera Miles. An episode that will make you quit smoking.
Columbo Collector's Edition: Any Old Port In A Storm : ***** In my opinion, the best Columbo episode so far. Donald Pleasence portrays a wine connoisseur who will finally be relieved from his guilt by our hero. If you want to see only one episode, take this one !
CANDIDATE FOR CRIME : **** A story by Larry Cohen. Columbo in the middle of a political campaign.
Columbo Collector's Edition: Double Exposure : **** Directed by Richard Quine. Columbo uses the same methods than Robert Culp's in order to confound him.
Columbo Collector's Edition: Publish Or Perish : ***** One of the best episodes of this season. With Mickey Spillane and a brilliant use of the split screen technique by director Robert Butler.
Columbo Collector's Edition: Mind Over Mayhem : ***** Lt. Columbo among the super talented. Curious but great episode with a child prodigy named Steven Spelberg and the comeback of Robby The Robot.
SWAN SONG : **** With Johnny Cash who sings two or three songs. Brilliant description of the peculiar world of the evangelists.
Columbo Collector's Edition: A Friend In Deed : **** Two murders, two different murderers. No problem for Columbo !
A DVD box set that should already be in your library.

these links? there were collector editions for single episodes. no longer available new, looks like.
cool - another source, along with imdb, for rxns to & reviews of a specific episode.

az- Columbo - The Complete Third Season: DVD: Peter Falk...

Amazing, July 18, 2005 M. Olender (San Juan, PR USA) - See all my reviews
What can be said of Season 3? Let's break it down, shall we?
yes ok! just the game I was playing in my head last nite
after watching Double Exposure, wh I was thinking was a favorite. Robert Culp is very good and doesn't try to play innocent, so instead he & Columbo tarry. "Right or left? you didn't tell me where it happened. Nice try, though." Columbo: "Can't win 'em all." and geez what a classic idiot asshole. correcting Columbo to call him Dr not Mr. correcting the complement that he revolutionized advertising in three not five years. and! telling Columbo that 70% of homicides are committed by the spouse, it's a fact, look it up. He's talking to a homicide detective!
but did I like each the best after seeing them? sorta...nah. my other favorite is Johnny Cash bcs of Johnny Cash.
and then there were two where I really liked the smaller scenes though not esp the villain & investigation:
Mind over Mayhem, for the likeable boy genius "Guess what I wanted to be when I was three." "That's easy, you wanted to be a cop." "How'd you know?" "All kids want to be cops. Plus, I could tell by the way you asked me. And me being a cop and all" and esp for the sweet dog who Columbo had to pick up from obedience school bcs "he demoralizes the other students" aw. and Columbo asking the mechanic to watch the dog "He's alright, he just doesn't like to be alone. he likes to be with a human person."
Publish or Perish for the somehow pleasant writer's office and interaction at the beginning with the other cops & the night guard who brought the victim his coffee. Columbo: "Someone say coffee? You still have any?"
Nightguard: "Well yeah but it's probably cold BY NOW." I love how he says that.
Columbo: "That's alright, I'll drink anything. ...(to others of the police on the scene) Know how much sleep I had the last two nights? maybe five hours. 2 in the morning last nite, my wife wants to watch Bettie Davis. so we're watching Bettie Davis, 2 in the morning. now she is some actress, that Bettie Davis. Forget about it. ...(drinks coffee) Oh this is brutal."
ok! back to your review, M Olender!

3.1 Lovely But Lethal
Not my favorite episode, but still features some great moments. And who can deny Vera Miles her beauty, charm, and sophistication? Did you know that Miles was Alfred Hitchcock's first choice to play Madeline in Vertigo? yeah I did not like this one that much, the look of it, kind of like how I don't like Ugly Betty, the future-y design of beauty businesses, weird. but this wasn't a bad episode, no.
3.2 Any Old Port In A Storm
This is held by many Columbo fans - including those who frequent the Ultimate Columbo Site - as the all time best Columbo episode ever. While its not my personal favorite, it is within my top 3 and I can easily see why this would get top ranking by some. It is a masterpiece. Falk is absolutely amazing, Donald Pleasence is just as good. And the story makes you want to go out and pick up a bottle of port! oh my gosh. this is the only one I have not watched yet. and might have just not watched. a masterpiece! well wow.
3.3 Candidate For Crime
Ah, Nelson Hayward and his camel hair sports coat. Jackie Cooper makes an excellent Columbo killer, as well as a great politician! He schmoozes everyone, including his wife and girlfriend, like a pro. As usual, Columbo is great in this, and his pestering gets under the skin of Hayward like no one else, pushing Hayward to tell him that he likes Columbo a lot, but that he's a busy man and doesn't have time to fool around. Great moments are when Columbo goes to the shop to get fitted for a coat and later when, during the taping of a political commercial, Columbo absent-mindedly makes too much noise by clanging the victim's watch against an umbrella poll to prove how indestructible it is. Classic! does seem like a classic episode. high stakes like the last one below, A Friend Indeed, re the police commissioner. by the way I did not get why there were police checking Columbo's car at some sort of checkpoint, what was that?
3.4 Double Exposure
Can you say, double your pleasure? This is definitely one of my top favorite 3 episodes. yes me too. Robert Culp is back as Doctor Kepple, a highly organized and anal retentive research scientist specializing in cognitive science, and gives a stellar performance. But aside from the top knotch acting and tense character relationships (which includes one of the relatively few times where Columbo comes right out and tells the killer he believes they're guilty of homicide well even more to the point rare that the killer comes right out and says they believe they are being accused of homicide) is the story itself: subliminal cuts, mind games, and beating the killer at his own game make for some intriguing story here. Top knotch all the way. The ending is second to none, perhaps the best one yet. Doctor Kepple is so proud of his abilities, he is almost proud of having gotten caught by his own method! oh right. the ending is another bit of how he is such an asshole for wanting to be brilliant. This is a must see episode.
3.5 Publish Or Perish
Jack Cassidy is back! The second victim (who is the first killer) is creepy with a capital "c", but it adds to the nature of his character. right that hired bomber guy Vietnam vet, he was creepy, made it int, more so than the Cassidy character. Cassidy himself is on fire the whole time, playing a great drunk in one scene and a charming gentleman caller in another. The ending is pretty good, not my favorite, but good. yeah. I am remembering that I liked how strategic the villian was, how he acted afraid that he was guilty and had committed the crime in a drunken blackout, but oh look what a relief an alibi.
3.6 Mind Over Mayhem
This isn't my favorite story but the cast boasts of a favorite of mine from my childhood - Robert Walker, the little guy who played the "bad" Hulk twin in the Incredible Hulk TV series. huh. The victim's wife is a knock-out, which isn't a bad deal, either. the young psychologist. Jessica Walter ~ name was familiar, and it turns out: she is Lucille Bluth from Arrested Development. son of a gun! I do like the killer's method though... very good alliby! robot was at his controls. the robot made by the lovely sweetheart boy genius.
3.7 Swan Song
Ahh, the one and only Johnny Cash, God rest his soul. If there was ever a killer for whom you could feel bad, it is Cash's Tommy Brown. yeah that's what I say. Cash plays music, wears black, and kicks back as a killer who was caught in a corner and gave it to a woman who deserved it! yeah she was mean. (though I guess the death of the young girl should be sad) This is one episode I know a lot of people treasure. oh and this is where Columbo says, when Cash says the happy singing and gathering must look bad, "Oh no, sir. It's refreshing. You see in my business somebody's always dead. They don't even call me unless somebody is already dead."
3.8 A Friend In Deed
This is perhaps my all time favorite episode. Columbo nabs his boss! It happens to be the first episode I ever saw. Richard Kiley is fantastic as Commissioner Halperin, John Finnegan is top knotch as Lt. Dryer, Michael McGuire is chilling as Hugh Caldwell, and Val Avery is second to none (not even Falk) as Artie Jessup. yeah the best part to me is the thief with honor Artie Jessup. The characters in this are so well developed, it makes for great TV right there. But the story itself is great and the ending... I can't give it away. He nabs him SO BAD its not even funny! Fantastic! Classic lines: "Are you crazy, I ain't goin' to no roller derby" - Artie Jessup.

Columbo: Oh, uh just one more thing... - TWoP Forums:
A few of my favorite episodes, many of which have been mentioned here:
Swan Song (featuring Johnny Cash): Cash gives a marvelous portrayal, and the way Columbo sets him up in the end is great. Yet another episode where Columbo has a great respect for the villain (or, at least this time, of his talent).

I liked Johnny Cash v much in it. sympathetic villain. sad eyes. nice smile. tall. nice ending scene, Aren't you afraid to be up here alone with a killer?, No I think you'd have confessed even if I hadn't caught you. A man who can sing like that can't be all bad.

"When you say where you are, I can only assume you don't mean on trial for corporate malfeasance." Damages. lawyer to Frobisher. nice drawl - triaaal. malfeeasance.

thedayislikewidewater: what I favor

the distinctions among these not clear? that's okay, maro. whatever seems to work for me.

thedayislikewidewater: happy makes me happy. (about the same as 'hap' on dlcs)

thedayislikewidewater: fvr pleases me. posts I like, whatever reason. maybe more intllctly than 'happy'. so, some overlap with essay? writing I like. (probably 'on dlcs 'fvr' tend more tws the light-wit, below)
thedayislikewidewater: fvr-wit light-wit, wh I like but sometimes could be almost too ~
thedayislikewidewater: fvr-converstn conversation, live.

thedayislikewidewater: essay longer pieces of writing that I put here to engage, or just to admire. so overlap with fvr ~


thedayislikewidewater: a of current interest. (about the same as on dlcs)

thedayislikewidewater: my personal. (here mostly my offcuff typing re own, so diff fr dlcs both here & dlcs re anyth I feel close to, remember, eg Fame tv show. on dlcs more of anyth re people I know, or whatever personal)
put a as well if wanting to come back to, other than just when reading 'my' for own sake...



________________________________
I do fuss with distinctions, classifications.
thedayislikewidewater: dlcs both: 1--my notes, fussing, re what using my tags for on dlcs. (and here, why not?) and 2--exploring, others' notes on dlcs, from note to dlcs linklog to site to...

The Swedish word of the day is tänkande. It means, of course, thinking.

The Swedish word for the day is djurriket. It means animal kingdom.

The Swedish word for the day is pyjamas, spelled exactly as the British spell it, pronounced more like pu-YAW-mus, however, with the u being like the German ü, a sound we don't use in English.

I walked 13,327 steps yesterday, according to my step calculator - I don't even remember what these things are called properly in English, so I just translated it directly from the Swedish: stegräknare.
...You already got your Swedish word for the day in the first sentence, in case you've forgotten.

Summer has come, all in a rush: It never quite gets dark out, and as I wander through the apartment turning out lights before we go to sleep, the deep dusk outside means that it never gets quite dark in the apartment either. Dusk has always been my favorite time of day, and the long drawn-out dusk of Swedish summer mmmmm is a bit romantic, a bit fantastical.
The other sign of the rush of summer is the panic of getting the balconies ready for the short season when you want to sit on the front balcony in the full sun to watch the world go by with a drink in hand, or on the shady back balcony for a bit of quiet breakfast or dinner with something juicy to read.
The priest and the policeman and our goddaughter Signe helped us get plants: ivy and tiny yellow petunias and some kind of purple sedge-like plant, clematis, and hostas for the back balcony; for the front balcony it was lavender and what could be a big mistake, polygonum baldschuanicum, which supposedly grows like mad (although I guess it can only grow so much in a pot). Then everyone, even Signe, helped plant everything, emptying the pots of the current dead plants and filling them up with fresh dirt that stank pleasantly of cowshit, and with new plants.
After we'd cleaned it all up, and Signe was finished coloring with crayons and we'd sipped the dregs of the coffee sounds nice, and they were on their way out the door, the priest said as she looked at the three garbage bags full of old dirt and sticks and dry leaves and plastic pots and spindly wooden stakes, and then out towards the front balcony: "It's so strange about plants, isn't it? They're living things, you have living things sitting on your balcony right now."
I wonder what the plants are thinking now. Do they mind sitting on the windy balcony, listening to the busses going by, waiting to seduce a passing bee, hoping for rain, looking at the church at the end of Odenplan, or the library at Sveavägen, wondering if they'll make it through the summer with our horrible track record of watering?
The Swedish word for the day is törstig. It means thirsty.

When A. the TV producer was a little girl, she was cast as an extra in Fanny and Alexander, which I saw in Toronto when it was first released in 1983 - I suppose it was one of the only things Swedish that ever stuck in my mind in all the years before I moved here, the part in the movie when the whole family dances through the grand apartment hand in hand singing "nu är det jul igen."
But A. wasn't in the movie because she got the flu, and Bergman didn't want her on the set. Still, she remembers talking with him before she got sick.
Me, I've never met him, I've just seen a couple of movies and a play... I suppose one of the few advantages of knowing this obscure language is being able to see Ingmar Bergman pieces and not need subtitles.
But now there won't be any more plays, since Ingmar Bergman died today. I guess he's gone to the big green room in the sky where difficult and demanding directors go.
The Swedish word for the day is geni. It means genius.

Rummaging around in the refrigerator, I noticed that we have 18 jars of jam.
Well, actually, I took them out and counted them: one rhubarb and ginger jam, one rhubarb and vanilla conserve, one cherry jam, one lemon marmalade, one blueberry jam, one blackberry jam, one black raspberry jam, one strawberry jam, one raspberry jam, one Countess' jam (which is apple and elderflower), one cloudberry jam, one apricot and pinenut conserve, one fig conserve, two lemon curd, two ginger marmalade, two orange marmalade... not to mention one jar of cranberry sauce and one jar of jellied lingonberries.
It makes me think of the film Hope and Glory and the scene when the father comes home on leave from the German front and hacks open a can of German jam that he's somehow gotten hold of. The mother doesn't want any of the children to eat it, because she thinks it's been poisoned. "They know we're mad for jam," she cries.
The Swedish word for the day is sylt, which means of course jam.

When I was 13, my parents flew the whole family from Chicago to the West Coast of the U.S. for a holiday, where we spent three weeks travelling.
One of the highlights of the trip was visiting family friends, who lived in a house in Portland, Oregon that had almost everything I ever would have wanted in a house: front and back stairs, a secret room behind a set of sliding bookcases, and a dumbwaiter.
The only thing missing was an elevator. Of course now I live in an apartment building with a tiny elevator big enough for four people at the most, as old as the building itself - 100 years - with a gate that you pull shut, and wooden panelling, a mirror, and little leather seats that fold down if you feel faint on your way up to your apartment and simply must sit down. mm. Eloise.
Some people find old elevators a bit scary, worried that they'll break down and leave you stuck between floors.
They don't worry me. I love them. I feel like I'm in an old movie.
The only thing missing is a little old man in a cap at the controls, who doesn't even have to ask me which floor because he already knows.
The Swedish word for the day is hiss, which is Swedish for elevator, of course.



most recent top elevator August 19, 2007 - least recent bttm thinking May 20, 2007
from current frontpage. How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons

Why do you use del.icio.us? (check all that apply)

yes:
To help me remember Web sites I want to return to
To store my bookmarks so I can access them from multiple computers
To keep a log of Web sites I have visited *this is main use for me*
To find interesting stuff I v much like reading people's notes and going from there.

no ~
To share my bookmarks with friends
To share my bookmarks with a group of people
To publish a stream of the Web sites I read ~ well, not to publish, but as above to keep, for me, yes, as a log, or stream - esp tele-v - a diary stream of what I looked at, was int by.
None of the above



If you have any other thoughts or comments regarding del.icio.us, please enter in the box below. (This is optional):
Thanks for all your work on a great site!
--I very much like the look of del.icio.us, which I find simple & clean. My hope is that this is safeguarded. If the page views became cluttered, less easy on my eye, I would probably stop using del.icio.us.
--The main thing I have found myself wishing for: improved search and bookmark navigation tools (for instance, the ability to jump to a view of bookmarks made on a certain date).

e - my notebook #5 - fxn: wganotify, nortonantiv, jcrew, dlcs, etc... Google Notebook: "del.icio.us survey" Note created March 31, 2007

As reported in my right-hand column, 2004’s Rhodes Scholars have been announced … reminding me there’s nothing harder to relate to than success.

Wen Shi: Outside the classroom, Wen has taught other immigrants English, volunteered at Hopkins Hospital AIDS clinic and responded to medical emergencies on campus.

Nathalie Chicha: In her spare time, she sleeps, plays with her hair, and phones in delivery orders to nearby restaurants.

Cup of Chicha: (I Do, However, Respond to My Own Medical Emergencies Occasionally.):

rude truth: December 2005
One of my favorite perennial Christmas classics is that edition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer where Burl Ives narrates as Sam the Talking Snowman and sings. You know, the one where the little figurines move around jerkily but endearingly. (For some interesting info about this classic, click here.)

My favorite character in this thing is Hermey, the Elf who wants to be a dentist. Herbie reveals this sick unnatural ambition in a conversation with the Elf Boss, who lectures him threateningly:
Hermey, miserably: Not happy in my work, I guess.
Head Elf: WHAT??!
Hermey: I just don't like to make toys.
Head Elf: Oh well if that's all...WHAT??!! You don't like to make toys?!
Hermey: No.
Head Elf, to others: Hermey doen't like to make toys!
Others: (repeat it down down the line) and in chorus: Shame on you!
Head Elf: Do you mind telling me what you DO wanna do?
Hermey: Well sir, someday, I'd like to be...a dentist.
Head Elf: A DENTIST? Good grief!
Hermey: We need one up here...I've been studying it, it's fascinating, you've no idea, molars and bicuspids and incisors--
Head Elf: Now, listen, you. You're an elf, and elves make toys. Now get to work!

via "Not happy in my work, I guess" - Google Search

after seeing in my dlcs tag 'my': rudolph "she thinks i'm cute"" - Google Search *blushes* *giggles* To quote rudolph..."She thinks I'm cute!! She thinks I'm cute!! SHE SAID I'M CUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!" incl hit -TheRageDiaries w cmmt: "She thinks I'm cute!!!!" &"Not happy in my work, I guess" are my two favorite lines. The Rage Diaries: A Christmas Story ... Or Ten

also.. Admin Worm: Who's News...sort of.: given that it’s Christmas week, I thought I’d do something special. The following are actual letters sent by actual children to Santa Claus in care of an unnamed Twin Cities newspaper. They've been printing them all week.
Hermey claimed disability, but my attorney and three expert witness say "misfit" isn't included in the DSM IV, so I've got Mr. "Not Happy In My Work, I Guess" by his elfen short hairs. aw that's not nice.

mcassimatis' bookmarks tagged with "site" on del.icio.us

fuss fuss fussin. so tag site = a personal site. blog. voice.
to read around archives. maybe start following.

from twop: M Giant's Velcrometer. drunkenbee. sobell's Rage Diaries.

elsewhere: Catherine Skidmore. jimwelp. How to Learn Swedish.

This blog sits at the intersection of Anthropology & Economics.

things magazine. Crooked Timber.

from dlcs: Paper Bits (jazzmasterson). idlethink.

___________________
cld subdiv art, so that the comics, drawing pages (not all art - pretty) are separate. but why? not doin anyth with it. just fussin.
maybe wld be satisfying to subdiv my --- & maybe replace cmmnt --- have a tag just for things I like, another one in additn to hap. .... mmm: fvr. yes done. comments I like now get "fvr" as does anything else that wld have put in my not bcs esp personal but just bcs I like it. so,

fvr = sth I like. maybe more for sth finite, rather than ongoing which wld get * if want to check regularly or a if sort of a possible project. projection of interest.

and, remember, site is for personal sites. basically blogs but I guess I d n like that word.
whereas, if it is a site about art or books or whatever, that seems worth checking regularly, give it a * in addition to whatever other tag. (so, could look for books + * if wanting to read book sites. eg: conversationalreading.com formerly esposito.typepad.com.)
...some of the above, eg This Blog Sits at the.. cld be * instead I suppose, we'll see after I look around some. for now I just want to look around for own sake, for the voice, so it's site.

oh and ps: tele-v + web = re twop "convergence: great writing on the internet", & esp re Bravo deal.

The Rage Diaries: What I read TWO weeks ago: little ghostwriter on the prarie edition:
In terms of YA collections, few offer the jarring coda that Laura Ingalls Wilder's The First Four Years gives to the Little House books. What begins as a cozy set piece in the Wisconsin woods -- Pa, skilled at working the land, yet gentle enough in spirit to make music for his five-year-old Laura -- should end as a cozy set piece on the South Dakota prairie, with the 19-year-old Laura married to Almanzo, skilled at working the land, yet gentle enough in spirit to relate to skittish horses. And then, one book later, there's four years of unmitigated disaster.
The explanation given in the book is that it was merely a raw manuscript that hadn't been polished yet by editing. The truth, William Holtz argues in The Ghost in the Little House: A Life of Rose Wilder Lane, is that Laura's daughter Rose actually rewrote the books, and thereby deserves credit for establishing both the books' beautifully plain voice and their underlying theme of optimistic self-determination in the face of adversity. It may be the truth, but unfortunately for Holtz, the way he depicts his subject made me root against her. Part of the problem is a lack of a fine dramatic sense. When you consider the long odds Lane had to conquer in rising from a barefoot country schoolgirl to a well-heeled Harper's writer in the early 1900s, the simple "howdunit" would have made a compelling story. Unfortunately, Holtz adds a villian. His choice of antagonist is Laura Ingalls Wilder, whom he argues was a pitiless control freak and master manipulator of man. According to him, Rose was lucky to have emerged from childhood intact. An early chapter is given over to her travails as a sensitive child being raised by two rural parents; what made my sympathy evaporate was the casual, one-sentence mention that Laura worked as a seamstress 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for a dollar a day, so that she could rebuild the family's farm stake. That monster!
The personality differences between parent and child fuel a lot of creative agita, and I don't blame Holtz for trying to answer the question "How does a sensitive, educated girl handle her dramatically different parents?" What I blame him for is his approach in the answer: practically swooning from empathy over every wrong the exceedingly emotional Rose recorded in her diary (things like her mother's casual comments, for example), he inadvertently paints a picture of a narcissist who wonders why the world can't see things her way. And the way Rose writes about Laura in her diary, one suspects her personal credo was "If it's not one thing, it's my mother."
I don't know if we'll ever know the truth about the working relationship Laura and Rose had; despite reading excerpts of Rose's letters and journals documenting the collaboration with her mother, I couldn't shake the sense that I was reading an unreliable narrator.
So in the end, there is still that troubling coda, a tidy eight-book collection and its ninth sullen sequel. Digging in to the backstory behind the books reminds me of the Raymond Chandler quote "If you liked a book, don't meet the author." In this case, readers might wish to avoid the author's family as well.

very nice.
shld read this blog regularly... it's via twop, I think, sobell or mrsobell's bio linking to it...
(am putting things here as I go thru dlcs. fussing with tags. always my motivation - not to forget. but to what purpose, if rather than enjoy I again worry how to not to forget? how to keep.)