recent tracks:

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1) Well my computer is (relatively) happy again after some time off. We got a little flash drive for important docs, pending a much-anticipated new arrival. Perhaps in response to the computer working, the car is giving some trouble again. I think it's just the recurring battery contact problem, but I'm keeping a close eye on things.

2) The Descent was much better than expected, albeit still a fairly cookie cutter scary movie. Issues included an eminently unlikeable protagonist who suffers a ridiculous tragedy at the beginning which is basically a red herring for the rest of the film. Strong points included an excellent use of natural claustrophobia and other fears I would associate with caving to heighten the supernatural scariness.

3) The Island was laughable. Rampant product placement, so-absurd-as-to-be-boring action sequences, and bad acting in the face of what could have been a somewhat interesting moral dilemma (see Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, which was so good that I will leave you thinking of that instead of the movie and implore you not to associate the two).

4) The Crane Wife by the Decemberists. Awesome. We got it yesterday (the release date), and I've listened to it three times today. Not sure I get all of Colin Meloy's stories, and I particularly want to look up the story behind the title track(s), but the language is enticing as always and the music fantastic. Folk-inspired, as usual, with bizarre instrumentation and a pervasive sense of theatricality. The second track is a ten minute prog track complete with three distinct sections, arpeggio-style keyboard, and my favorite line of the album: "Go to sleep now / little ugly. / Go to sleep now / little fool." Anyway I highly recommend the album.

5) SEA and I are looking into potential concerts for the fall. These include: Islands, Jolie Holland (while SEA is gone), Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, Beirut. Also contending: Badly Drawn Boy, Broken Social Scene/Do Make Say Think, Fiery Furnaces/Deerhoof.

6) I suffered my first fantasy defeat of the season this past weekend, thanks in part to the late scratch of Brian Westbrook. As long as the Eagles keep winning, I will not mourn losses by the Hearts.

7) Hopefully meeting with Prof to discuss some work in representing a GTMO detainee this week. The recent legislation, of course, calls into question the relevance of the work, but I think the pervasive view of legal academia is that the court will, eventually, strike down portions of the bill as unconstitutional. Or perhaps I misinterpret hope and faith in government as confidence.

8) Other projects in something of a rut. Hopefully they'll get moving again.

9) Wedding planning is moving along. Prototype Save the Date cards are printed, and another major decision should be complete within a couple of days.

10) I butchered the banana nut bread I tried to make this weekend, but made some killer brownies from scratch tonight. Mmm mmm. Hopefully this coming weekend we'll do some good fall stuff, maybe go apple picking or just play in the woods. Even though the past couple of days have felt like summer, it is October, and should be a good time for romping.

11) Some songs you might not have noticed I'm currently enjoying:

• "Under the Milky Way" by The Church


• "Source Tags & Codes" by [...] Trail of Dead


• "The Way You Move" by OutKast

12) By the way I find the extremely partisan discussion of former Rep. Foley equally interesting. The talk radio hosts are extremely busy trying to reframe the debate: democrats do bad things, too! Remember Clinton? And this whole incident is distracting from the fact that the Florida Republican party has found a replacement candidate! Meanwhile I've read lefties trying to extrapolate this to the entire Republican party, either on the common suggestion that the rampant homophobia common to the right, as well as its tendency to assume gays are pedophiles, might just be indicative of a larger trend among members of the right, or alternatively that the whole of the Republican party was complicit or at least complacent in Foley's actions. Well, lefties do bad things, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of repression of lots of tendencies among politicians, and the culture of corruption seems to me to be pretty rampant among elected officials regardless of party affiliation. So congratulations, you're all right, commentators. And in all this flurry the media seem to have decided not to pursue further commentary on the legislation I recently commented on, which is surely deserving of more detailed analysis.

13) Bill O'Reilly today discussed an incident from CBS news (I think I got my station right) where Ms. Couric has brought about a regular "free speech" segment. Recently she/her producers brought in a parent of one of the victims of the Columbine student, to comment in the wake of the recent school shootings. He blamed the recent violence on (a) removing religious indoctrination from public education, including the teaching of evolution, and (b) abortion. Ms. Couric later stated on her blog that, although she was prepared for some of her audience to find this man's position "repugnant," she nevertheless thought it important to give airtime to different viewpoints. Mr. O'Reilly, you might be able to guess, lauded the man for his courage and lashed out at Couric for her comments. He also took the opportunity to mention once again how much he despises the ACLU.
(A) I laud Couric for arranging for the "free speech" segment, though I don't watch tv news and have no idea how praiseworthy it is. The idea seems to me to be deserving of support. (B) I think it is fascinating that this man's beliefs were presented as something of an "alternative view" given that it is such a prevalent one in this time and place, however shocking that may be for some people. (C) I have no idea how anyone could then turn around and attack Couric for defending the importance of presenting different views, even if she did cede that some people would likely find a viewpoint espousing government religious indoctrination of children, claiming that teaching science rather than religion in science class helps lead to such a degradation of values in youth that killing sprees become rational and morally acceptable choices, and favoring the restriction of a[n arguably] Constitutionally protected personal choice (not, as O'Reilly claimed was the "secular progressive" position, the right to abort a fetus up to two minutes before delivery, no doubt intended as hyperbole but nevertheless a truly repugnant claim) repugnant. (D) The ACLU would support Couric's, her guest's, and O'Reilly's right to say all this, however absurd some of the positions. What is important is only that people hearing each person's statements think and rebut where necessary, remain informed, and make up their own minds.

14) I don't know why I bother to comment on things I hear on the radio, but I think right now I am still feeling disgust with both parties. Disgusted, but still soaking up information. Vigilance is a safeguard.