(dave e)

thursday update

Swamped with papers to be graded. Someday I'll be a more efficient grader. For now, forty-five minutes to an hour on each of forty papers.

Can't stop listening to that Yeah Yeah Yeahs song, "Maps." Thanks, KEXP. Thanks, JM.

Going to Seattle next week. I've never been to the Jet City before. I'm happy to note that, according to Delta's current information, we will, in fact, arrive on a Boeing. I suppose one doesn't proudly land at SeaTac all Airbus style. Natalie and I have not taken a trip together (excluding holiday visits to hometowns) without work involved in two-and-a-half years. And my man Brian has been singing the song of Seattle for so long... I imagine he'll be the best host ever.

The first days at the new job have been good. I'm going to be exhausted by the end of the semester, though.

Finally saw Dogtown and Z-Boys last night. I skated for most of my middle school and high school years but didn't really know the earliest history of the SoCal scene. I've always loved the skating genre, though. My friends and I could gape at Bones Brigade videos for hours, knowing we'd crack our skulls if we tried anything we saw. "Dude! Lance Mountain just pulled a McHawk! Christian Hosoi got 14 feet of air! Rodney Mullen sucks, and he can take his freestyle nonsense back to the playground! I'm totally getting the new Caballero!" Dogtown has plenty of vintage footage, but its emphasis is on the biographical and the historical. Plenty of nostalgic bravado, but enough thoughful reflection to let a good story make its way through the racket of sliding wheels tearing across empty swimming pools.

We saw 21 Grams at the AFI Silver a couple of weeks ago. I haven't been that rattled by a film since Dancer in the Dark. Go see Chuck's observations, which, as usual, are both graceful and reliable. I'd only add that the film's graininess reminds me of Robby Muller's work for Jim Jarmusch on Dead Man. Come to think of it, Stranger than Paradise has a similar aesthetic. Of course, both are black and white, unlike 21 Grams. I digress.

Buses and trains have been pretty reliable lately. The commute is down to an average of sixty minutes. I drove to campus the other day, only to find the garage I wanted blocked off for all but Job Fair recruitment types. Thanks, Department of Campus Parking.

And finally, I'll join the chorus of crazy leftists recommending a visit here. Look, I think Rumsfeld is the most articulate of the lot. Compare his stage presence with Bush, with Rice, with Powell (yes, the Powell who snapped at at Congressional staffer for shaking his head during the Secretary's testimony before the House International Relations Committee), and Rumsfeld wins handily. But he got stuck this Sunday.

I'm going for another glass of wine, now. I'd prefer a beer, but that South African Cote du Rhone is what we've got.

Posted by dave at March 18, 2004 9:08 PM | TrackBack