Free speech

I've been having trouble finding things to write about lately but this just stood out to me. The NY Times told McCain that they wouldn't publish his op-ed piece unless he rewrote it to be more like Obama's piece. What? There are so many things wrong wit that. Isn't the point that you'd like for them to be different and have different opinions on things so you have an actual choice in voting? Isn't the point of an op-ed piece that it's your opinion? Isn't that the point?! I spent an hour just saying, wow, in disbelief. The editor wrote, "It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama’s piece." He also outlined what he'd like McCain to write in his piece. How about the editor just write it and he can put McCain's name on it? I'm so sad. Sure, they can print whatever they want. They can choose to not print something. It's their right to print whatever they want, blah, blah, blah. Seems to me that if they cry so loudly any time they feel THEIR right of free speech is being impinged on, they might want to allow other people to say what they want to freely too. It might be kind of cool if they printed one piece from Obama and one piece from McCain and then went on and on like that; weekly printing their positions on different topics; helping to educate the public on who they might vote for. How cool would that be to provide an open place for the exchange of ideas? How naive of me I suppose.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/21/mccain.nyt/index.html
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/07/21/mccain-campaign-says-new-york-times-blocked-op-ed-response-to-obama/

Ximena Sarinana

I get so annoyed with myself. I just found a new artist that I like. At my core, I am an insanely jealous person, competitive, spiteful. I know this about myself. So as they're interviewing this 22 year old artist from Mexico on the radio, I immediately think, she's going to be a lousy no talent hack. And then I liked her. A lot. A lot a lot. And I get mad at myself both for liking her and for being jealous of how awesome she is and how much I like her. And I rush back to my desk from my hour lunch break from my receptionist job and log on to my computer to find her. Maybe she'll be ugly. (Right.) She's not. She's cute and bouncy and just as awesome as her music is. And I'm even more jealous. Her name is Ximena Sarinana. She's awesome.

And I also begin to wonder, why do I find more artists that I like when I listen to NPR than when I listen to mainstream radio? Who knows. This artist was featured on The World. She sings in Spanish. I don't speak or understand Spanish. But then I hear her songs and think, piff, I could learn Spanish. Again, the bitterness boils.

Her music is a little jazzy and I think that's what I like so much. There are utube videos of her singing Volare and It Don't Mean A Thing. It must be the jazz vibe. I love old standards. This weekend I will play my monthly gig of songs from the Great American Songbook. Songs I love. Songs sometimes you hear once or twice in my longer sets. Maybe I should just give in to my jazzy side. Well, I'll at least buy her album. Even if it drives me nuts.

It's not available yet but you can pre-order it at amazon. Here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Mediocre-Ximena-Sari%C3%B1ana/dp/B001781JXQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1215725058&sr=1-1

http://www.myspace.com/ximecutecrewsite
http://www.myspace.com/ximenasariana678
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIi964kHRAw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2aSZqv9t-s&feature=related

Movies

As a follow-up to the tomato lamenting, the FDA has approved tomatoes grown in certain states safe to eat. California is one of them! But I'll probably wait just a little longer, just in case... You can see if your state is approved at http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html.

I love watching movies so I thought I might mention a few movies that I saw this weekend. Hint, I liked them all.

First up, the Hulk! Yes, I was there opening weekend to view yet another comic book movie. I like them so much. And, I needed to have my faith in the green monster restored after that terrible version just a few short years ago. I was not disappointed! Ed Norton, who just rocks anyway in just about everything, was able to carry off the scrappy scientist who's got just enough inner turmoil to freak out on you at any moment, even without being infected by gamma rays. The movie gave shout outs to the tv series from the opening credits with it's grainy, blue photography that made me feel like I was sitting in my living room watching my 13in tv way back when. And they continued to pay homage to the series throughout, replicating some classic scenes and dialogue. What was great is that they gave these nods without being campy and without deviating from the story at hand, which was filled with lots of action and a little bit of humor when possible. I really enjoyed it. Everyone is saying, well it's not as great as Ironman but still good. I suppose. Ironman tells a much more complicated story. The Hulk is just an ordinary man trying to control the rage within. The story is well told and a lot of fun to watch. I'd definitely recommend it to any action fan!

Next up this weekend was Lars and the Real Girl. The initial idea of it freaked me out a bit. A lonely, social outcast orders a 'Real Girl' online and interacts with her like a real person. While these dolls are mostly sold as sex toys (and to sneak into carpool lanes) his intentions are much more pure. He is in a delusion where he actually believes she is a real person. His brother and sister-in-law take him to a doctor who encourages everyone to go along with his delusion until he is able to work out the psychological issues he's long avoided. This extends to the entire small town in which they live. It was sweet to see how willing everyone in the story is to help him, how they accept his 'girlfriend' Bianca and treat her as an ordinary person. There care for her really shows their love for him and it's nice to think that sometimes people can be that loving towards another person. It was also interesting for me to see how his progress evolves throughout his meetings with the doctor and see his relationships change all around him. I'm a sucker and cry easily at movies and this one had me crying on early on and often as I was touched by many scenes. A very sweet story to watch.

Lastly, this weekend I watched Stardust. I did not want to see this in the theater because I felt that the casting of Robert De Niro was a really bad idea for the role. I also never felt that the trailers gave me anything different about this fairytale from others so I felt I already knew the story before I saw it. That right there takes it off the table as an $9 movie and onto the rental list. Which we did. Now my husband became very interested in the movie once he heard that it was based on the novel by Neil Gaiman who has also written many wonderful things, Sandman being one of his favorites. That inspired us to move it up on the list. The story was entertaining and imaginative. It is, at it's heart, a fairytale with witches, spells, love, kings, betrayal, hidden identities and a quest. Taken as a simple story with interesting twists then it is lovely. De Niro was an odd choice for his character. I think they thought it would be funny but the whole time I was thinking, this isn't really working, and it took me out of the story for his scenes. Other than that, I did enjoy it very much and a happily ever after ending will make me teary-eyed every time. It's a great fluffy movie with no great message, just the ability to take you to another world for a little while.

Don't Know What You've Got, 'Til It's Gone

Yes, I heard some Cinderella yesterday. But the title fits since I am so very sad. So sad that I cannot eat tomatoes. After a childhood of disliking them, I finally came around to their glories in the past couple of years. Now I add them to everything, especially my favorite sandwiches. Caprese, grilled cheese, burgers, hummus and pita. Sheesh. Lots of my favorite lunches. And now that they are gone, what's the point of a hummus, tomato and pita sandwich without the tomato? And what's the point of a caprese sandwich or salad without the tomato? Sigh (with my wrist to my forehead in despair) When will they be safe once again? A big, huge, fat slice of tomato to practically cover the sandwich... Sigh Of course, I wonder for a moment that perhaps this is an insidious start to some larger eco-terrorism. I can't help it. It's in my wiring to think such things. But though I wonder that, I will hope instead that it's a small, human error that will be easily traced and fixed. Allowing tomatoes to once again be eaten freely. Oh, yes, and I did buy a tomato plant this weekend in the hopes that I could eat some in just days. Yeah, right.

Wasted

I have completely wasted a full day. Well, 4 and a half hours at this point. I'm about to jump out of my skin. 4 and a half hours that I will never get back. It's not even like I'm avoiding work, there is no work to do. It's a Friday and in the first hour and a half of covering the front desk, the phone did not ring once. Not for another 20 minutes did the phone ring. For someone who doesn't even work here any more. I had a small assignment of work to do. I did it. Done. I've now read the Daily Variety, Geek magazine and Inc magazine - all which come through my desk for various people who no longer work here. I've read blogs, my horoscope, my email - answered everyone I needed to, wrote people I haven't written to in awhile. Ugh.

Mostly I'm upset because I didn't prepare properly for today. Most days I like to bring some sort of project to work on. A song I'm working on, maybe stringing a new necklace or making new earrings, filing, rearranging papers, researching websites to post music on, working on my webpage, I have do to lists! And I neglected to bring anything with me. Well I brought my monster KCRW bag with me but I just cleaned it out, the other day at work, and emptied some papers at home and didn't replenish. I rarely let myself be bored, let myself have nothing to do. But I did. And now I'm stuck.

And not only am I annoyed that I must find new ways to entertain myself today, I'm annoyed that I've wasted 4.5 hours...quickly approaching 5. Once we rented a movie that we absolutely hated. I think it was a strange movie version of The Tempest. I don't know if you can anymore but you could go to Blockbuster and tell them you didn't like a movie and they'd give you a free rental for something else. You had to fill out a paper and say something about why you wanted the refund. My husband wrote, 'Two hours of my life, wasted, that I will never get back.' Well then. I can't even blame it on a lousy movie. Just on myself.

I will go now. To write a brand new masterpiece. You will hear it on the radio soon.

Let It Go

I write songs in spurts which has always been fine with me. For a very long time I got into this 3 songs in a row pattern. I'd finish three songs and then not write for awhile and then write 3 more then not. It seemed to even out. And that doesn't really count all of the little pieces of songs that would come to me, a line here, a melody there, a chorus, an idea, I just mean finished songs came in threes. And then I went through nearly a year where almost nothing was finished at all. And now I'm back to writing some here and there but they don't necessarily come in 3s anymore.

Lately though, I'm in a huge rut. I have 5 songs I'm working on at the moment that have the chorus 'Let It Go.' That sucks. The songs go where they go and you land somewhere and I keep landing at 'Let It Go.' Some are upbeat, some are sad, one is angry. And you should just let the songs go where they go. Let them create themselves sometimes. I figure, I'll just keep working on them and eventually change up the chorus' or abandon the songs all together. Because really, what can I do with 5 songs with the same title? That's just weird. But it's more weird that that phrase keeps popping into my head. What can it mean?

Should I let go in my writing? Follow the muse instead of trying to lead her by the hand? Should I let go in my life and let things happen? Try not to be so controlling of my path? Really try to surrender to the sentiment in my song 'Thy Will Be Done' which I often have such trouble doing? Should I let someone go? One of the songs seems to be a love song to let someone go, even though my life doesn't reflect that situation, but it's another variance on the theme. Or should I be letting something go, like my songwriting? If every time I come to the well, I hear 'Go Away' is that a sign as well?

I like looking for signs, confirmation that I'm on the right or wrong path. Certainly 'Let It Go' is a sign from within. Even if I could let go, I wouldn't even know what to start letting go of first.

Bike Safety

How about a shorter post today? A rant perhaps? Okay then, a rant it is.

It really bugs me when bicyclists don't act like cars. They want other cars to share the road and treat them as equals, fine, I'm completely fine doing that. Then don't blow through stop signs just because it's a pain for you to stop and start! Yes it's a pain but if you don't want to spend the energy to stop and start, ride on a bike trail or drive your car.

Would I rather not have to stop? Sure I would; especially when I'm in a hurry. But I stop. And when I come to a four way stop, I expect you to stop too. Because it's the law! Because California Vehicle Code says: Bicyclist Rights (CVC 21200) Bicyclists have all the rights and responsibilities of vehicle drivers. If you want the rights, then you're stuck with the responsibilities.

This weekend I seriously saw a gang of 30 bicyclists ride into a left hand turn lane, bypass three cars and swarm around the front car. When the light changed, they all just moved out in front of the car and turned. Are they allowed to do that?! It was so dangerous! The poor car in the front couldn't move at all because the bikes were all around him, some sitting in his blind spot, some right in front of him. If a bicyclist is in front of me in a turn lane, fine, I give him space, I treat him like a car because he's behaving like one. We have mutual respect for each other. And yet there are bike gangs taking over the streets of LA. What can you do?