“You, flock of seagulls, you know why we’re here.”

“Belief and seeing are both often wrong.” – R.S. McNamara

I spent the better portion of Friday night watching The Aviator. It was not necessarily worth it; the Academy has confounded me. Cate Blanchett did impress though. As disappointing as that film was, I came home tonight and watched The Fog of War. I was blown away, the insight into power was one of the most fascinating things I have ever witnessed.

I am on a rant tonight.

If, in 1976 my father emigrated to France and sired me in 1978, I would be a French citizen; yes? So being a French citizen I vote in French elections and receive all the benefits of being French. But being French, I have been really pissed off lately about how the United States has been acting in the world. So I decide to do something about it and you know what I do? I vote in the 2004 US presidential election. Makes perfect sense doesn’t it, I’m glad that the French have a say in choosing a president for a country that they do not even live in, nary they never may have set foot in.

I wonder what its like to be Iraqi?

XXXXX SUNDAY, JANUARY 30 XXXXXFreeze Tag on Wall Street

Freeze Tag on Wall Street. Fight the yearly hibernation inclination ofJanuary in New York. The Inaugural statue of General George Washingtonwill be home base, the triangle between the Old U.S. Customs House, TheStock Exchange and the Bank of J.P. Morgan will be the playing field,and you (if you're lucky) will be it. No tag-backs, white magic, blackmagic, get off my apple tree tricks, chains, or chainsaws allowed.However, cleverly concealed flasks of firewater will be applauded.

Wall and Broad streets, Manhattan4,5 trains to Wall Street12:30-1:30p; $freeactiondirection@hotmail.com

I like that the snow can kill you, but the cold will only give you frostbite

Severe Weather Alert from the National Weather Service

...BRONX NY-KINGS (BROOKLYN) NY-NEW YORK (MANHATTAN) NY-QUEENS NY- RICHMOND (STATEN IS.) NY- 327 PM EST THU JAN 27 2005

... WIND CHILLS BELOW ZERO AGAIN TONIGHT...

TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS TONIGHT. THIS COMBINED WITH NORTHERLY WINDS WILL CREATE WIND CHILL VALUES BETWEEN 5 AND 10 DEGREES BELOW ZERO INTO FRIDAY MORNING. WINDS WILL DIMINISH FRIDAY MORNING WITH TEMPERATURES RISING INTO THE TEENS. THIS WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILL VALUES CLIMBING ABOVE ZERO BY MIDDAY. USE COMMON SENSE... DRESS WARMLY AND IN LAYERS. COVERING ALL AREAS OF EXPOSED SKIN WILL HELP TO PREVENT FROSTBITE....

They are round and when you put them together it makes an 8

I’m not sure if I ever posted this and I’m not sure when or where it was written, but it was written on the back of a rotating gallery list from the Met. Here it is:

Three days, two nights, and a red robin

Its gone upside down,
The inside of my head, it has
Around and disappeared the lining
Of subtle cerebralness
Displaced with the idiotic
Ramblings of
A bottomless blue bottle
Where did the delicacy and
Beauty of my former self go?
The green of a muggy
Jack-hammered day
The empty soul of regret
And me
Together in our humanity
Its quiet when the fear
Subsides,
The pores exuding the
Meaningless of it all
Then there is you
The haunter of my thoughts
The dictator of my action
My inaction
My eyes close and you are there
The slave-master who never was


The green refreshing cool water of
An urban oasis is muted by its occupants
The sounds of city echoing off the
Spring leaves of awakened trees
A nest burrowed deep and high and
In an older tree who has seen more
And listened longer than you or i

A dog barks, a child cries, and the breeze
Surrounds, saying somewhere, victory
Is near
What is the battle being waged but other
Than one of sensibilities
Reason’s valiant efforts against complacency.

when will i become the perfect misanthrope

The History Of One Tough Motherfucker
Charles Bukowski

he came to the door one night wet thin beaten and
terrorized
a white cross-eyed tailless cat
I took him in and fed him and he stayed
grew to trust me until a friend drove up the driveway
and ran him over
I took what was left to a vet who said,"not much
chance...give him these pills...his backbone
is crushed, but is was crushed before and somehow
mended, if he lives he'll never walk, look at
these x-rays, he's been shot, look here, the pellets
are still there...also, he once had a tail, somebody
cut it off..."

I took the cat back, it was a hot summer, one of the
hottest in decades, I put him on the bathroom
floor, gave him water and pills, he wouldn't eat, he
wouldn't touch the water, I dipped my finger into it
and wet his mouth and I talked to him, I didn't go any-
where, I put in a lot of bathroom time and talked to
him and gently touched him and he looked back at
me with those pale blue crossed eyes and as the days went
by he made his first move
dragging himself forward by his front legs
(the rear ones wouldn't work)
he made it to the litter box
crawled over and in,
it was like the trumpet of possible victory
blowing in that bathroom and into the city, I
related to that cat-I'd had it bad, not that
bad but bad enough

one morning he got up, stood up, fell back down and
just looked at me.

"you can make it," I said to him.

he kept trying, getting up falling down, finally
he walked a few steps, he was like a drunk, the
rear legs just didn't want to do it and he fell again, rested,
then got up.

you know the rest: now he's better than ever, cross-eyed
almost toothless, but the grace is back, and that look in
his eyes never left...

and now sometimes I'm interviewed, they want to hear about
life and literature and I get drunk and hold up my cross-eyed,
shot, runover de-tailed cat and I say,"look, look
at this!"

but they don't understand, they say something like,"you
say you've been influenced by Celine?"

"no," I hold the cat up,"by what happens, by
things like this, by this, by this!"

I shake the cat, hold him up in
the smoky and drunken light, he's relaxed he knows...

it's then that the interviews end
although I am proud sometimes when I see the pictures
later and there I am and there is the cat and we are photo-
graphed together.

he too knows it's bullshit but that somehow it all helps.

I love it

learning to deal with all types of annoyances (p)...

Make sure to check out mnftiu.cc periodicaly

In case you missed it

Leave it to the Daily Show to do the counting and click on "Stewart: Inauguration Speech Rundown".

Fun times.

Severe Weather Alert from the National Weather Service

...BRONX NY-KINGS (BROOKLYN) NY-NASSAU NY-NEW YORK (MANHATTAN) NY- QUEENS NY-RICHMOND (STATEN IS.) NY-SOUTHERN FAIRFIELD CT- SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER NY- 600 AM EST SAT JAN 22 2005

... A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING...

SNOW WILL MOVE IN LATE THIS MORNING. THE SNOW WILL BECOME VERY HEAVY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING..AND MAY MIX WITH SLEET TONIGHT AS WARMER AIR MOVES IN ALOFT. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE 14 TO 21 INCHES BY SUNDAY EVENING. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW... NORTHEAST WINDS WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON... AND WILL BE QUITE GUSTY TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING. WINDS MAY GUST UP TO 50 MPH LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING... ALLOWING VISIBILITIES TO DROP TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. THESE WINDS WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW AS WELL AS POWER OUTAGES. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL BE BELOW ZERO AT TIMES.

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS THAT SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OR FREQUENT GUSTS OF OVER 35 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH CONSIDERABLE FALLING AND OR BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. VISIBILITIES WILL BECOME POOR... WITH WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AT TIMES. THOSE VENTURING OUTDOORS MAY BECOME LOST OR DISORIENTED... SO PEOPLE IN THE WARNING AREA SHOULD STAY INDOORS.

ANY TRAVEL IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED. IF YOU LEAVE THE SAFETY OF BEING INDOORS... YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR LIFE AT RISK.

THIS IS A LIFE-THREATENING WINTER WEATHER SITUATION! PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD COMPLETED BY NOON TODAY!

this sounds like fun

http://www.precisionaccidents.com/

I might try to round up a posse. Interested? Let me know.

a relatively amusing blog -- Pataaao Chaachaa

Pataaao Chaachaa

Sometimes the "Next Blog" button comes up with some funny shit.

The winter of the lazy ovis and a malcontent

Dateline: Thursday. Well at least today is the beginning of the end. This is one of those times when I love the twenty-second amendment to the Constitution. Now there is at least a time and date to look forward to—Noon, January 20, 2009. The clock started not long ago.

As mentioned the other day, the weather has been less than warm and as such, may have affected my spirits and motivation—it might also be the living room. Its either ritualism or bi-polarism that afflicts for the motivation to do much of anything has waned so dramatically that its only the habit of responsibility and hygiene that allows for some continuity in R’s rhythmic pulmonary and cardiac functions. OK, that might be a bit dramatic, but the point should still be ruminated on.

There is of course a patriarchal solution for this which I believe may have come courtesy of G.H. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger: exercise. The solution is rife with problems; so many in fact that the time it would take to detail and catalogue each, then respond to counterarguments, and finally draw diagrams, would be much better spent with a dry London gin distilled from a variety of fragrant botanicals and a Dunhill. But in the spirit of generosity, I’ll leave you with the main problem caused by the repetitious exertion of non-existent muscle mass: health.

The way I see it (cuál a propósito, is the way that most should, I do, however, encourage sparse amounts of dissent just for the sake of argument and confrontation) the supposed benefits to exercise can all be obtained by living a normal life. In fact, I’m in the throes of writing the diet guide right now which based on early copies of the draft distributed to industry and medical professionals I expect to be overwhelmingly successful; so successful in fact that Miami’s South Beach will cease to exist—this will drive cartographers nuts—and that Atkins fellow will rollover in his customized extra-wide grave.

For those of you who want a head-start on the road to wellness I will leave you with these nuggets of wisdom from The Fountain of Youth—A Guide to Epicureanism, Diet, Exercise, and Attitude by Juan Ponce de Leon, XXVVI (Juan Ponce de Leon, XXVVI is the pseudonym that I will be publishing this title under). Oh, and another thing before the nuggets of wisdom—the new food/drink chart that I have co-created with my bartender and chef, but sans a medical professional or dietician, is going to be revolutionary, people will die, people will die I tell you. Vive le hedonism!

And now without further adieu I’ll give you a sample daily diet.
Breakfast: one citrus, one banana, one grain, two coffees and three cigarettes.
Lunch: nobody has time for lunch, have another coffee and two cigarettes.
Light Evening Snack: an appetizer of sorts (i.e. Parmigiano-Reggiano or Locatelli Romano and a well aged pancetta), not inconsiderable glass or a bold red and cigarette.
Evening workout: walk to local grocery/bar—whichever the evening dictates*
Evening meal: Multi-course and fine preparation are a must. Nothing fast qualifies, in fact if it is fast you will not be here tomorrow. Water or appropriate wine with different courses of meal (one of which should be of the leafy variety), Copious amounts of Cabernet-Sauvignon accompanying the chocolate desert tray, espresso and three cigarettes (trust me, you’ll need them).
Post consumption beverage: Your choice imbibe away and sleep well.

*workout may be supplemented with opening the front door of your building, followed by the opening of a taxi-cab door, the closing of said door, and finally its opening and your exit.

WD-40 stops cocaine use

Wed Jan 19, 8:28 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - The makers of the handy spray lubricant WD-40 proudly list 2,000 uses for their product, from unsticking rusty screws or squeaky bicycle chains to polishing frying pans.

But police have found another -- keeping the public from snorting cocaine off toilet lids in bars.
Police in Bristol said on Wednesday they have been advising pub and nightclub owners to spray the colourless lubricant on toilet seats and other flat surfaces in the lavatory that customers often use to snort drugs.
Apparently, cocaine and spray lube don't mix.
"A chemical reaction takes place with the cocaine that causes it to congeal and become a mess so it's unusable," a police spokesman said. "It's one very small, very cheap way in which you can very seriously restrict the amount of drug use in your premises."
Constable Graham Pease, a liquor licensing officer, said he discovered the trick a few years ago while discussing with pub owners how to reduce drug use on their premises.
"We were discussing with licensees how we could keep cocaine from being snorted from surfaces," he told Reuters. "It came about that we wanted to spray something on surfaces that cocaine would stick to. And somebody mentioned WD-40."
The new use seems to have taken its makers by surprise.
"Its not meant to be ingested. It says so clearly on the can so we wouldn't advocate it for that purpose. But people will use it how they will," said a British spokeswoman for the San Diego, Calif-based WD-40.
At Bar Excellence in Bristol, deputy manager Julian Barraud said it was part of the drug fighting arsenal.
"It does work. It's one of the tricks that we've got to try and tackle the problem," he said.

Scheiße ist es kalt

stupid cold...stupid cold

Cold champagne, strawberries, cream and what else…

Oh the fun never seems to end. I think that I might write a book, or at least a novella. The title: My Life in the Living Room. It should be a real barn burner. It is great to hear people coming down the hall, getting out of the elevator and the alarm clocks of everyone. It is also great to see the sunrise, even when you went to bed only an hour before it got up.

Oh how wonderful…

What is it like to be trapped inside one’s own mind?

01102005—12:30am

I often wonder and then periodically the question is reinforced. They forgot to paint the edge of my window sill.

I love the entire concept of On Demand television. I finished watching Igby Goes Down this eve. It was a well done film with an ending that is not up to par with the rest of the piece. In an odd way it reminded me of my own briefly started and far from complete work but with a decidedly blue blood feel to it.

Being that it has passed midnight, today is tomorrow and I will once again embark on my continuing academic journey. I find it odd that I both crave and loathe it. I realize though that I crave that which is right and detest that and those utterly beyond my own control. Remarkable it is how the academic experience can be made so trivial by the human component. Interrupt—

The moment is lost—maybe more then…

Happy Birthday J___

Hope you heard the dolphins in you comatose state and everything is everything.

Thank god I don’t drink peach schnapps

Back in New York, somehow visited Antarctica and then said Grace.

And I heard dolphins.

telephone wires and Catalina in Laguna

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I was asked yesterday what my new year’s resolution was—I don’t have one, don’t believe in them and see absolutely no point to them. Why should I strive towards the unattainable?

I have been in California for a couple of weeks now and am struck by the same conundrum that affects me in New York. Where exactly am I? In New York, it is always about California, about Orange County, the nice weather and the interminable television shows. Here it the same, just reversed conversation is always about New York. Geographically, the two couldn’t really be more opposite, but from my self-centered place in the world, they are the same for everybody else involved. I hear a train whistle in the background and realize that it is merely in my ears via the iPod.

My New Year’s celebration was quite mellow and enjoyable. Whatever grandiose plans may have existed gave way to relaxing, laughing and the invention of a new vomit inducing drink—The Miracle on Sable Street. This one requires some explanation. I have a friend who has invented some grand drinks which require either alcohol induced moxy or no taste buds. Take for example the Slippery Sheep a concoction consisting in relatively equal parts cottage cheese and vodka. Foul, most definitely, but it possesses a subtle brilliance that few can appreciate. Here now is the Miracle of Sable Street, which is strictly holiday aperitif which originated on Sable Street, amongst close friends. The beverage consists in mayonnaise and Yeagermeister, stirred, not shaken. I tried to drink it but alas I could not, C__ however had no difficulty. If there ever is an alcohol themed Fear Factor, this should definitely be a part of it.

Prior to the Eve, I also attended another holiday/birthday party in the beatific and obnoxious Laguna Beach, Pictures should follow shortly.