Midwest a wanderin'

Tomorrow I'm getting up bright and early for a winter's trip to the heartland. First, it's a night in Minnesota with Joe. On the schedule: chess and the big football game on a big TV.

Then Sunday it's a trip north. Like way north. Like to a small island in Lake Superior that--were I traveling there a month later--might have an ice road connecting it to the mainland. So it'll be cold. But I'm cool with that. 3 days on the frigid North Shore of Wisconsin (technically a little ways past the North Shore) for New Years Eve.

Then it's back to the Twin Cities, where we'll stay in St. Paul for three days. I'll be dang close to the Iowa caucus, but I've decided there's not much I can do to help Obama if I go, so I'll just be a news junky that day and mercilessly check online updates. He may not need my help: his new speech is really really damn good.

Then it's back to T-town next weekend and then 2008 gets underway.

Looking forward to it.

"Juno" is a really wonderful movie

If you haven't seen Juno yet, you really should. I say that after two viewings at the Grand now, and after my my Roger Ebert calls it the best film of the year (here's his review, I'll also link to ensie's review for a more local perspective).

The movie gets its heart by taking exceptional people and sticking them in a "garbage dump of a situation" if I can quote Allison Janney from memory. The dialog is incredibly sharp--so sharp that the first time I heard Juno refer to "Bleeker" I didn't know if it was a name or piece of slang I was unfamiliar with (fortunately it's a name, played by the wonderful Michael Cera).

It's not a movie where you say the writer has an "ear for language." Because people don't talk like this. Just like Quentin Tarantino has his own kind of dialog, so does first time writer Diablo Cody. Like when Juno is shaking her home pregnancy test which just came out positive and the convenience store clerk tells her, "That ain't no etch-a-sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, homeskillet."

But who cares if no one would actually say that?

The movie's really good laughs come from its honesty, with its secondary laughs in its witty dialog. Like Bleeker's response to Juno telling him he's the coolest person she's ever met and he doesn't even try.

I also have to nod to the soundtrack, which has its own funny dialog. Sufjan could have done the soundtrack--it has the same kind of cadence he achieves--but some of the songs written by Kimya Dawson are so fun you'll find yourself straining to hear the lyrics.

As I said, I've seen it twice now--the second time today with my parents--and the discussions about the characters, the story, plot and character developments, the dialog ... well, there was a lot to talk about ...

Go see it!

White Christmas

Live from West Tacoma, it's snowing! And it's sticking! And it's beautiful!

Update: It's slowing now, but here's a nice pic from when it was really going...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
I know the New York Times is a den of Godless socialists and all, but they know how to get into the Christmas Spirit.

Here's a short Christmas story by author Roddy Doyle (author of Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha, for those who had Brit. Lit with me in high school) called The Box. It's a nice Christmas treat.

And here's the NYT editorial on Christmas Morning (hint: they like it.)

Christmas is imbued with a more everyday hope as well, a recognition that the transition from sleep to waking always carries with it the immeasurable gift of a new day. The very premise is hopeful.

No one expects to wake every day as joyfully as a child at Christmas, or to sleep as badly the night before. The gift of possibility is there every morning.

Merry Christmas. I hope you make it a nice one.

Charlie Wilson's War

I saw the new movie directed by Mike Nichols and written by Aaron Sorkin tonight. It is a good movie with good drama and funny laughs. It is tellingly a Sorkin film, but not just a rewarmed West Wing, which is a good thing (see Studio 60 for that).

Tom Hanks was very good, but Phillip Seymour Hoffman stole the show, as usual.

But let us thank Nichols and Sorkin for one thing especially: making a movie about the current war. Starting as early as 2004, movies about the Iraq War started to emerge, many (read: all) of them strong critiques. 3 years later, we still have them, and most people are skipping them.

I greatly respect Robert Altman who, when he wanted to critique the Vietnam war (and all war, really), set his movie during the Korean War 20 years earlier. Nichols and Sorkin have taken the same lesson, by making a movie set 20 years ago that stands apart from the current war.

If you want to read into it something about today, go ahead, but if you don't, it won't beat you over the head with it. I think the problem with most of the Iraq War movies right now is that they are all too preachy, too similar to each other, and feel way too much like watching CNN Headline News. I've only seen a few: Rendition this year was very good because it had a narrow focus (and excellent story-telling, acting, and direction). Control Room in 2004 was good because you actually get to learn something you didn't know before, in this case about Al Jazeera. I may end up seeing In the Valley of Elah, but the rest just look the same.

Anyway, Charlie Wilson's War is insightful, funny, and a good political satire that still manages to hit all the right points. I liked it.

On Biodiversity

Thomas Friedman has his last column today until April, as he'll be working on a book about energy and the environment (his first since The World is Flat).

His column is on biodiversity, and says that we are living in a "Noah Age" where we are suddenly left with two animals left that preserve species. 150 species are going extinct every day is the estimate, and also by our hand.

Biodiversity is a funny concept for me. Can you ever have enough? How do you know what's just right? What is a single species of sea turtle worth?

I understand that if a forest is made up of just one kind of tree, then that forest is going to be very weak, because a single virus could kill it, which a forest made of up of a lot of different kinds of trees will be stronger.

But at the same time, what does it mean if we lose a sea-turtle species in China? Callously speaking, not much in the long run.

The best argument for preserving species, even a random species of Chinese sea turtles, is that ecosystems are fragile delicate things that evolved over millions of years. Really, they co-evolved. Species evolved together and the natural ecosystems around the world are a result of their co-evolutions.

Easter Island is the best historical warning: it used to be lush with vegetation, animal life, and natural resources. Its inhabitants, through overuse, destroyed the ecosystem and had nowhere else to turn, no way to recreate their environment. The island is now covered with grassland where there used to be great forests.

The society collapsed, nearly entirely because of environmental degradation. (Here's Wikipedia's entry on the subject).

I asked a Presidential candidate a question!

Who knew? But I only belated realized (ie, today) that in October of 2001, I asked Bill Richardson a question at Carleton. He was the Carleton convocation speaker, and just a month after 9/11 and during the height of the anthrax mail scare, I asked him what the UN's response would be in the anthrax had indeed come from Iraq (he's a former ambassador to the UN, if you didn't know).

Anyway, somewhere between then and now, I lost the connection between the Presidential candidate and the guy who came to Carleton. That puts me at about 2/14 for seeing this year's crop of Presidential candidates in person. Bill Richardson and my man Barack Obama. I'm still an Obama in '08 guy, but I thought was kind of cool that I got to ask Bill Richardson a question.

Art Walk and Dinner at Woody's

We had a good time visiting both Fulcrum Gallery and the Helm last night for Art Walk. Chris Sharp's work at the Helm was very cool and the Joe Miller "Lambscapes" at Fulcrum was also intriguing.

After checking out the two galleries, we headed down to the Thea Foss where we checked out Woody's on the Water. It's still got a Blue Olive feel on the restaurant side although the weird lounge on the other side is now full of tables.

I enjoyed my steak and Mary liked her chicken, but I couldn't escape the thought that the name Woody's doesn't entirely mesh with the nicer decor and presentation style of the restaurant. But it was nice to see the restaurant pretty full. I hope with the new projects coming onto the Foss the Esplanade will start to fill up.

Good God, Where Am I?

So it's been awhile since I've been really really appalled. ... But this seems like a good excuse.

Pretend you're a young, rich, Icelandic world traveler. You fly first class to New York for Christmas with your friends. You are detained, because in 1995, you overstayed your visa by three weeks. You are made to wait for hours. You are fingerprinted. You are not allowed to call anyone. Your family and your consul are lied to. You are chained and shackled at the wrists and ankles and then led through the airport like a criminal. You are taken to a prison in New Jersey and locked in a cell for 9 hours. You are forced to undergo a medical examination. You are eventually released nearly two days later, but cuffed and shackled again and led through the airport and kept handcuffed until you are on the jetway.

Welcome to the United States. Come back and spend your money here sometime.

Hat tip, Andrew Sullivan.

Quietish Week

Funny that the week before Christmas should suddenly get quiet for me. Last night, because of scheduling, the immediate Fam all gathered for dinner and a present exchange. There will still be a big family dinner at Christmas, but since we couldn't all be there, this was like Christmas coming a week early.

So now I look at my calendar and it's like ... umm, where's the holiday stress? It's going to be a pretty easy week. Mary and I will venture up to Seattle tomorrow night for a movie. And hopefully I'll hang out with some friends Thursday night. Friday night ... open. The weekend ... open. Christmas Eve ... open.

Crazy. Maybe I'll use some of this time to finish up the novel from last month (43,000 words and counting!)

Erik Update

So I haven't blogged since Tuesday (which is totally my bad, I'm sorry; I view every day without a blog post as a day I didn't do my job).

Since then I've been working on a few different projects. I have added another 5,000 words or so to my novel, and bumped that up to about 43,000, which is very exciting.

I've started and finished The Kite Runner, which was a good book that I would recommend. Looking forward to the movie.

I enjoyed a really great party at Suite133. The open house started at 5:00 and I left at 11:00 or so. It was a blast.

I also had the inspiration to write a sonnet about the Heidelberg Brewery for Exit133 on Friday. That was a great time, but took up most of Thursday night. I'm not sure I've actually written a sonnet before, so that felt good because it turned out none-too-shabby.

I might come off as a bit of a historic preservationist nut in it, which isn't true. It's just hard to get a complex development argument into 14 lines of rhymed iambic pentameter. I do like the Heidelberg and I would hate to see it go, especially because it has been a bad year for historic buildings (although the good news about the Luzon is pretty heartening). I don't really mind the Courtyard by Marriott although I know a lot do. But the impact it has on Tacoma is very high (thanks to my tourism days for better understanding how that works). What I don't like is another one that takes a cool old building with it.

If the new building created a cool new design concept, possibly with historic tax credits that might be available, I'd be all for it. (See why it didn't all fit in the poem?)

And this weekend I headed out to Ephrata, WA, in the middle of the state for a night with the extended family. I do find Eastern Washington to be very beautiful, but judging by how good it felt to be back ... well, this is a pretty good side of the mountains too. After the trip Mary and I had lunch in Seattle with our friend, Deborah, who was visiting the area from Utrecht in the Netherlands where she lives. So a good weekend!

I'll try to be better about blogging this week ...

Obama in Seattle Blogging

Tonight's event in Seattle with Barack Obama was very cool. It was me, him, and 1,100 other people in the very cozy Showbox SoDo venue near Safeco.

I took the 594 north very early but my promptness was rewarded as I got a good spot in the long line. Unfortunately it was deathly cold on the street and I was illl prepared for that. We got inside at 7:30 and then stood around for awhile, as seems to be pretty common at political events. Then there was a musical guest, the Dusty 54s followed shortly thereafter by a band called Brad which I think is kind of a stupid name for a band. But ah well. I really liked the sound of the Dusty 54s and they had one of the more showstopping moments I've seen in a long time when the lead singer stood on the side of the bass (the instrument) and played a flaming trumpet. Never seen a flaming trumpet...

I did have some fun Twitterimg the event prior to Obama coming on stage.

When he did the crowd went wild. It was very cool to be less than 25 feet from the guy I've been reading about so much and watching on YouTube. He had great control over the crowd. His speaking style was great. Even though I'd heard a lot of the speech on YouTube, he delivered it really really well. His manner is great and he had some good quotables.

"I'm in Seattle and I'm sleepless."

And the best example of him not pandering: "Being against George W Bush is easy."

It was dang cool. I was happy to go. And I now have a good Obama 08 cap for the trip to Minnesota in a couple weeks. Yeah for a great, albiet long, night in Seattle for this cool event.

Obama Tonight in South Seattle! Yeah!

Heading north for the 7:30 fundraiser for Obama tonight in South Seattle (re: lovin' the 594 bus to Royal Brougham). Anyone else going?

If you're interested in these kinds of things, he's polling really well in Iowa right now ... He's likely to be first in Iowa or a very very close second. Here's looking ahead to a very nice Jan. 3!

The Golden Compass

I had ZERO interest in seeing this movie when I first saw the trailer.

Then I read the very fascinating article in the December Atlantic about its origins as an anti-religious book and how New Line had turned it into a family film "just in time for Christmas."

Then it got good reviews from most everyone, including my man Roger who gave it 4 out of 4 stars. Mary and I went to see it and came out rather happy to have seen it.

It's way better than Narnia, I'll say that right off. And the effects are good, the acting pretty good, and the story interesting. It made me want to read the book, which is apparently the problem a number of church groups have with the movie. Even though the anti-religious content has been removed from the film, it's going to make kids want to read the book.

I understand that the leader of a church here in Tacoma forbade his congregation to go see the movie. I'll quote Roger Ebert:

The books have been attacked by American Christians over questions of religion; their popularity in the U.K. may represent more confident believers whose response to other beliefs is to respond, rather than suppress.

A similar question has been asked by Andrew Sullivan about strict fundamentalists--are you that insecure in your own belief that you must oppress or kill those who believe something different? (that's my paraphrase, btw).

All in all, I thought it was a good film. I will read the book and I will be ready for the sequel, which I'm sure they'll film at the same time as the final film, thus following in the footsteps of The Matrix, Back to the Future, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Blowing Glass Is Fun

So someone else did all the hard work. I picked out my colors and described what I wanted the glass Christmas ornament to look like. And when it was getting close I got to do the actual blowing into the ornament to fill it up. It was a fun morning at the M Space Hot Shop. And very festive! I'm excited to see my ornament when it's done.

The four of us started out at PSP and saw everyone there. Truly. Roxanne Murphy, Daniel Blue, Paul Sparks, Jamie Chase, Alexa Folsom Hill ... Puget Sound Pizza was the place to have breakfast this morning.

Looking forward to the Midwest

Yesterday Andrew Sullivan published a picture of Lawrence, Kansas, in his "View from Your Window" series.

It's a typical light snow scene that looks very much like certain snowfalls I remember from Minnesota and made me very nostalgic for a good Minnesota winter.

Fortunately, I'll be in the Midwest for a full week. A few nights on Madeline Island in Lake Superior (for New Year's actually) and then a few days in Minnesota. Since the Iowa Caucus is on the 3rd this year, I'll actually be just a state away for the big day.

Maybe I should haul an Obama sign down there and wave it around for the day.

Poker Night!

I hosted a fun poker night last night. 8 of us crowded around my expanded dining room table and threw down our big bucks in some good ol' No Limit Texas Hold 'Em.

I finished $20 poorer. A lot of that came out on a single hand, when I had a straight flush draw that I wanted to see on the river that I shouldn't have been chasing, but that was too tempting to pass up. Ah well.

Good fun.

Open House at Suite133!

Next Friday I'll be at Suite133 for a cool open house in our new space. Come check it out and see what we've got going there! More info at Exit133. But it will be a swingin' party.

By the Numbers ... Really?

I don't know about all y'all, but I've found the Mountain's "By the Numbers" feature this month really irritating. This from the station that came up with the addictive and awesome Rock of Ages feature. But By the Numbers is just kind of stupid.

These are the numbers supposedly "behind the music." But they don't really tell me anything.

For example, #399: The number of hours between the time the Temptations’ biggest hit ‘Just My Imagination’ was released in January of 1971 and the Temptations’ last televised performance (on the Ed Sullivan Show) with co-founder Eddie Kendricks. In March 1971, while "Just My Imagination" was on its way to becoming the number-one song in the United States, Kendricks officially received his release from the Temptations and signed a solo deal with Motown's Tamla label.

Or #360: The number of degrees the stage revolved in Peter Gabriel’s 2003 “Growing Up Live” tour. Literally central to a memorable show is a revolving stage that sees Gabriel going for a cycle ride in a circle for the entire performance of 'Solsbury Hill,' performing 'Growing Up' inside a Zorb ball, and delivering a gravity-defying sky walk in 'Downside Up' with daughter Melanie.

Uh huh.

Here's a number. 103.7. The call sign of a radio station stretching to find a program.

Obama in the Seattle!

Next week I'll be taking off Tuesday night to see Barack Obama in Seattle. He's going to be at the Showbox SoDo (I didn't know they had a SoDo location).

It's a fundraiser, but not the $2,300 per plate kind. $100 will get you in for a concert and then Obama. If you like him, too, maybe I'll see you there.

There's a local group meeting at PLU this Saturday morning for activism and stuff. If you've been watching recently, Obama has pulled ahead in Iowa and is really gaining some momentum. Oprah is going to be campaigning for him this weekend in Iowa and New Hampshire.

I Want My NBC

So I stole a line from Dire Straits. Sue me.

But the writer's strike is annoying, because all the really good television isn't happening. I think there's one more Office left (maybe two). I haven't gotten to Heroes from last night, but the season has been disappointing (so much, the creator apologized for it, but I think he missed the problem with the show even in his apology).

Lost starts up next year, and they've got a good start filmed from what I can tell, but the writer's strike needs to end so they can finish up Season 4.

I also finished Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica this weekend. Yes, I'm a nerd. But man that's some good TV. Although that Season Finale was ... surprising, to say the least. All along the watchtower, huh? Makes me excited for Season 4 (the final season).

I've also watched the first two episodes of Rome Season 2. I think it's going to be a good season. When that's over I'll get to The Wire.

That's my TV update for the week.

The 2007 Christmas Tree

Since the Christmas of 2004, I've been creating theme Christmas trees at my condo. I was inspired by my parents (who were in turn inspired by the Festival of Trees) to do a theme tree.

Unlike the trees at the Festival of Trees, my trees have been rather cheaply produced, but that's part of the fun of it.

In 2004, I took film from the Grand, movie tickets, and boxed candy and created a film tree (that was really really awesome, if I do say so myself).

In 2005, I created an Olympics Tree, since I was going to the Olympics within a month. I created Olympic rings out of Styrofoam for the tree topper, and then created medals out of chocolate coins and red, white, and blue ribbon. The bulbs were gold, silver, and red (red was as close to bronze as I could get).

Last year, it was a poker tree. I bought a lot of decks of cards in a variety of sizes and hung them together in poker hands. Then we lodged chips throughout the branches.

This year, Mary had the good idea of an Office Supplies Tree. Since she's now working from home and I am working with Suite133, a cool office in downtown Tacoma, the office supplies tree was a good fit. Here's the tree:



Note the index cards, the post-its, the 3-ring binder rings, and you can even make out the paper clip chains that substitute for tinsel. We hung pens, and there's a few staplers and scissors in there too. We'll still keep adding to it, I think, as we think of more things to put on it.

We even flocked it (kinda) with hole punches, which you can see in this picture.



The Christmas season is here!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Here in downtown Tacoma we're getting a nice bit of flakes. Right when "Let It Snow" started on the stereo ... while decorating the Christmas tree.

If that's not a good December 1, I don't know what is.