It is like a drug
The desire to be admired.
Hope for [this is good].
So many vox blogs,
So little time to read them.
I'll sleep when I'm dead.
Explore page is goal
That many seek and few reach.
Hint: write about food.
Know more about you
Than I know about myself:
Blogging TMI.
On every page,
Mandatory cat pictures
Grace the voxosphere.
Originally posted on my old blog on February 14th, 2006:
Despite living in the city, we live in a fairly well-wooded area, and there are numerous deer that co-habitate our neighborhood. They also have very little fear of humans. Here's one I saw this morning. There were three, but they were all leaving by the time I had my camera out and ready.
Vox isn't mentioned in Wikipedia's article about Blogs. Anyone with a Wikipedia account out there want to set them straight?
Strangers on a Train is another classic Hitchcock film, released in 1951, in which a man commuting on a train is approached by another man who suggests that the best way to commit murder is to make a pact with a total stranger. In essence, he says, I'll kill yours if you kill mine. If this sounds familiar to those who only watch more modern movies, that could be because they've seen the dark comedy Throw Mama from the Train. The premise is the same, though they take different routes from there. In this original, the oddly ambitious lay about Bruno Anthony makes good on his suggestion by killing the estranged (and then strangled) wife of Guy Haines, the man on the train who has unwittingly stumbled into this horrible mess. Anthony then lets Haines know that he's expected to return the favor by killing Anthony's father.
It's a little slow at parts, as one expects from older movies made before attention spans shrank (like mine), but it bears all of the Hitchcock signatures. As a point of trivia, the "teenager" Barbara Morton was played by Hitchcock's own daughter, Patricia.
The Haiku 575 group has posted a challenge to write Oscars-related haiku. Read the following at your own risk. It should be noted that I didn't actually see the Oscars this year.
Forest Whitaker
Takes home the golden statue.
Lazy eye my ass.
Crotchety old coot
Seems to work for some actors.
Alan Arkin wins.
Hopeless out of touch
Which actress should win the gold?
Didn't see a one.
Abigail Breslin
Didn't win Sunshine pageant,
Lost the Oscar, too.
Tap dancing penguins
Herald the coming of doom
And acceptance speech.
He held on to life
Awaiting this one moment.
Scorsese can die.
Al Gore doesn't dance
But he does dress like penguin.
And talks global doom.
Red carpet posing
Flash bulbs sparkle and dazzle
Blinding all of us.
Celebs dress like freaks
It is expected of them.
More money than sense.
The limo pulls up.
Who is behind the dark glass?
And now we're all fans.
Okay, some of these are fairly lame, but I think I successfully met the challenge.
Originally posted on my old blog on January 5th, 2005:
Christina's parents came up New Year's Eve and we all went to the symphony to hear the pops orchestra play with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. If you don't know who BBVD is, you are chronically uncool and you need to go to a different web site. They were outstanding, of course, although the acoustics in the auditorium seemed off, somehow, possibly from all of the extra amplifiers they had brought in. After the concert, we hung out in the lounge and listened to a local but very good swing band called Swing Nouveau. We watched fireworks being fired from the top of the parking garage from inside the sky walk, then finished the night. It was a hell of a lot of fun.
No pictures were allowed during the BBVD concert, but Stina took some pictures of the party in the lounge afterwards.
This trumpet player is blurry to simulate a couple glasses of champagne.
We look flushed and sweaty here because we are. We just finished dancing.
Originally posted on my old blog on Dec 30th, 2004:
This may very well be the best merlot I've ever tasted. It's so velvety smooth, so rich, and so clean that its enough to make me thumb my nose at anyone who's ever been snobby about California wines. This is even a blend, making the irony as rich as the wine.
So this morning we went back downtown and did some more sightseeing, but first we went to breakfast, for which we went to the French Pastry Shop, which is in the La Fonda hotel. They served crepes of various sorts, and it was both filling and delicious. In hindsight, I think I should have gotten one of the fruit crepes, simply because it wouldn't be as filling as the ham, egg, and cheese breakfast crepe I had.
We started by going back to Loretto Chapel to go inside. It's a very historic building and has a famous double-spiral staircase that draws a lot of visitors. It was modelled after Sainte Chapelle in Paris and was built between 1873 and 1878.
A relief of the last supper on the altar.
After leaving Loretto Chapel, we headed toward the San Miguel Mission, another famous church in Santa Fe.
I just took this picture to show a stretch of some of the buildings in downtown Santa Fe.
San Miguel Mission is the oldest church in the United States, built circa 1610.
Detail of a beam at the front of the church with writing using an alphabet and language that I am not familiar with. The plaque on the wall said that the beam dated to 1710.
In the alley between the San Miguel Mission and the Oldest House. The photo on the left shows the adobe and rock supports to the outer wall. Adobe doesn't stand up well when it goes very high, so the supports help keep the wall in place. Strix is standing there for scale. The picture on the right shows where someone drew grafitti on the church and it had to be painted over. Yes, someone drew grafitti on the oldest church in the United States. Sad.
Just across an alley from San Miguel Mission is the oldest house in the United States, which dates to circa 1646. The picture on the right is of a hearth inside the oldest house.
There is a legend associated with the Oldest House. The legend was posted in the House, and it goes like this:
The Legend of Juan Espinoza
During the late 1600's, two local brujas (witches) collected herbs, brew their potions, and practiced black magic in the Oldest House. A young Spaniard named Juan, hoping to win the favor of a beautiful lady, asked the brujas to mix a potion to help in winning her affection. In exchange, the brujas demanded a fee paid in gold and guaranteed results. Juan gladly agreed. Despite the efforts of Juan, the love potion and the brujas' magic, the girl married someone else.
Juan demanded the return of his gold according to the agreement. This impudence infuriated the brujas, who refused to refund the payment. Juan, humiliated and angry, drew his sword and attacked the brujas. One shot out her foot and tripped Juan. The impact of falling to the floor jarred the sword from his hand. The second bruja, as quick as a wink, snatched up the sword and separated Juan from his head.
The brujas were charged promptly with murder. But, the governor, another hopeful lover under the witches' spell, summarily dismissed the case. Neither woman was ever tried. Juan's body was preserved by the brujas in the Oldest House as a warning to others who would oppose them. His remains disappeared mysteriously with them.
It is said that on the anniversary of his death, Juan's head can be seen rolling down Vargas Street; as if just flung there by the bruja. Should you happen to be lucky enough to see it, say a prayer that he may rest in peace.
Yikes. Now I'll have nightmares.
Finally, we went to the Roundhouse, which is the capitol building for New Mexico. It's round (thus the name), and somewhat kiva-like, making it culturally relevant, architecturally speaking.
The state seal above the entrance.
The center of the Roundhouse is the rotunda. The photo on the left shows the stained glass skylight of the rotunda, while the photo on the right shows the mural on the floor with the state seal.
A view of the floor of the New Mexico House of Representatives, as seen from the gallery.
Part of the walkway to the annex.
If you are ever in Santa Fe, check out the Roundhouse. Not only is the architecture neat, but the entire place, from the Roundhouse itself to the annex and even the walkway to the annex, is just full of art. It's a bit disturbing that even in this modern era, Christina and I just walked in with our cameras and everything else and didn't have to go through any security or metal detectors. We wandered into the House Chambers and walked past all of the offices unchallenged and generally ignored. In a way, it's refreshing, but I would hate it if someone took advantage of such public trust for mischief.
We weren't really hungry, yet, due to the very filling breakfast we had, but we knew we wanted to eat before we headed back home. Because you can't get East Indian food back home, we decided to eat at the India Palace downtown before heading out. We each had the buffet, which was good, though could have used a little more variety. The seasoning was mild and delicious.
Strix and I came to Santa Fe today to check out the art and food fest, "ArtFeast." We're not so much attending the festival, since most of the events cost too much per person for us to afford right now, but it is more accurate to say that we are co-habitating the city with the festival. Strix had never been to Santa Fe before, and wanted to see it. I have to say that I have been to Santa Fe more times than I prefer, but every time was on business. This is the first time I've been here for the purpose of visiting art galleries and eating high-dollar food, and I have to say that I am enjoying myself so far.
We spent most of the afternoon just wandering around downtown Santa Fe, taking pictures. Here are a number of pictures I took of St. Francis Cathedral:
The picture on the right was an attempt to get the moon in the frame with the cathedral. As usual, the moon looked a lot bigger to the naked eye than it did in the frame, but I still like the shot.
Detail of the carving work on a pillar and detail of a panel on the front door.
A plaque on the side of the cathedral, describing its history. The first church on the site was built in 1610, and the current cathedral was built in 1886. It is also the home of La Conquistadora statue, which the plaque translates as "Our Lady of Peace." Actually, La Conquistadora would translate as "The Lady Conquerer." Translating it as "Our Lady of Peace" is somewhat inventive.
The left and right photos are both of a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, one at night and one during the day. The middle photo is of a tile mosaic of the saint.
The tilework on the ground in front of the cathedral includes a labyrinth that is a replica of the famous labyrinth at the Cathedral of Chartres in France. The plaque on the left describes the history of the labyrinth.
More photos of the cathedral at night, all lit up.
A statue of Tekakwitha, the first sainted Native American. The plaque on the left tells a little (very little) about her.
Historic hotels in downtown Santa Fe include the Eldorado and La Fonda.
I just took a picture of this door found on a building in downtown Santa Fe because I liked the big, ominous-looking lock.
A building that now houses The Lensic Theater.
The Loretto Chapel. We will probably visit this again tomorrow, as it has a famous spiral staircase in it that Christina is wanting to see.
Some motion sculptures next to the Loretto Chapel.
A life-size mountain-lion sculpture outside an art gallery in downtown Santa Fe.
A marker across from La Fonda Hotel documenting that this used to be part of the Santa Fe Trail.
I was a lot colder than I look here.
Restaurant review: When I got too cold to wander around aimlessly in downtown Santa Fe, we went to a restaurant called the Rooftop Pizzeria. They had gourmet pizza, an extensive wine list, and wonderful deserts. We did a custom pizza with shrimp, roasted garlic, mushrooms, and roasted peppers, and it was wonderful.
On the way back to our parking spot, we stopped in a leather good shop called Overland, that had some absolutely wonderful things that I will never buy. The first thing that caught my eye was a fur-lined leather overcoat that had a price tag of $2,695. Nice, but no thank you.
I did buy a hat, as I wanted one to go with the duster that I've owned for years now, and a bracelet for Christina, probably the two cheapest items in the store.
Me, back at the hotel room sporting my spiffing new crushable Stetson.
We'll be taking more shots tomorrow, so stay tuned.
Originally posted on Bookcrossing, December 2004. It is about the miniseries that had recently aired on the Sci-Fi Channel, adapted from the first two books of the Earthsea cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin. Every other post was negative toward the movie:
Granted, it's not as good as the books, but what is? No, it doesn't follow the plot of the books scene by scene, but it does include many of the more powerful scenes. Except for Isabella Rossellini, the acting was stilted, as it usually is from movies made by cable channels - they're on a budget-induced time table, you know. Also, budget-stunted were the special effects, which aspired for big-screen greatness but were distinctly less than Industrial Lights and Magic.
Most disappointing was the fact that the "feel" of the books didn't make it into the movie. I haven't read the second Earthsea book, yet, but the first one almost read like scripture, or fable, or some oral tradition that had been handed down over centuries. It read at once like a standard fantasy novel, but also like you were reading the mythology of some other culture. That is what I liked most about the book, and that is what was most painfully missing from this cable adaptation.
That being said, I found the movie mildly entertaining, and I believe that if I had not already read the first book in the series it might prompt me to pick it up. In fact, the release of this movie has prompted me to purchase the rest of the series, not because I loved the movie so much, but because watching the movie reminded me of how great the first book was. I think any movie that might help prompt new readers to pick up a series is well worth the time the channel spent to air it.
Finally, I read LeGuin's complaints about the movie on Slate, and I'm afraid I just don't get it. Her primary complaint seems to be that her characters aren't the right color. They cut out important scenes, they rearranged the plot, they added Hollywood plot devices, they completely missed the allegorical style of the text, and her complaint is that the actors aren't the right color? What race would she prefer? Should we remind her that Earthsea is fantasy, and as such the people in it can't really be said to be human, let alone members of races that exist on our version of Earth? What is an African-American, in a world where there is no Africa (edit: or America, for that matter)? What is a Caucasian, when the Caucasus mountains never existed? I think she has a right to be miffed, but I don't understand why this is the focus of her anger.
