"Any minute now I'm expecting to wake up from a dream"

So I've been away for over a month and a half. Sorry to be preoccupied and I'll post more often this fall. I was kind of driving around figuring things out, you know? Looking up the road for Tell Tale Signs, I suppose.

Is there anybody as cool as Harry Dean Stanton?

It's all about the craft (and the catering)

I highly recommend Tropic Thunder. Very well done satire (not a spoof - there's a difference) with teeth. Essentially, this is a heavily armed Christopher Guest movie. Robert Downey Jr. is having the summer of his professional life - Iron Man and now this controversial but ultimately very funny and deft role. (I wish I could see it with Russell Crowe and see what he thinks. I imagine he'd either be very flattered or very pissed off. Probably the latter; you don't hurl telephones around if you're inclined to thank people.)

And it's much, much better than Zoolander. Seriously, Zoolander? Am I the only person in the world who likes Ben Stiller but was considerably underwhelmed by that movie?

Welcome back to the game, Ben.

VP?

Mere hours after the official text message went out around 3am this morning, the Republicans have already distributed this ad:




I sure hope Obama's Brain Trust has a great counter for this very simple, very fair, and, unfortunately, likely very effective ad. Let's see what happens in Denver next week!

Put up or shut up

From the New York Times:

"Mr. Obama has run for the last 18 months as the candidate of hope. Yet party leaders — while enthusiastic about Mr. Obama and his state-by-state campaign operations — say he must do more to convince the many undecided Democrats and independents that he would address their financial anxieties rather than run, by and large, as an agent of change — given that change, they note, is not an issue."

" 'I particularly hope he strengthens his economic message — even Senator Obama can speak more clearly and specifically about the kitchen-table, bread-and-butter issues like high energy costs,' said Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio. 'It’s fine to tell people about hope and change, but you have to have plenty of concrete, pragmatic ideas that bring hope and change to life.'

"Or, in the blunter words of Gov. Phil Bredesen, Democrat of Tennessee: 'Instead of giving big speeches at big stadiums, he needs to give straight-up 10-word answers to people at Wal-Mart about how he would improve their lives.' "

"And Still Those Voices Are Calling From Far Away..."

So I dropped my usual amount of peyote the other night before settling down to watch the AL East. Around the third inning or so, suddenly I was seized with a transcendent vision. Transported away to a mystical land, I saw four mighty spirits towering before me:

Okay, two mighty spirits, one kind of nutty spirit, and a decent, very lucky session spirit. They spoke to me about the truth of life and challenged me with a great riddle. When I successfully answered, they solemnly nodded, then compelled me to chose one of their own as a sacrifice. I made my selection...

And popular music legend Don Henley was taken out to the desert to die. I'm sorry everyone.

Anyway, most of that was probably just the peyote. On a much happier note, I saw the Eagles live in concert a couple of Saturdays back. I and twenty thousand or so other folks enjoyed the show, though the Washington Post reviewer did not. It's his loss. After thirty-five years, they still know how to deliver a great show. My parents saw their Long Run tour in 1979 back in my hometown of Roanoke, Va. Might not be a big deal otherwise, but Mom and Dad hardly ever went out much less went to a full on rock concert. (I'm pretty sure I played the Parker Brothers board game Sorry! with the lady who lived next to us while my parents waved lighters back and forth at the Civic Center. We may have also watched an episode of Rhoda, too. Or maybe this lady, who babysat me sometimes, just looked like Rhoda. Possibly both. Hey, it was 29 years ago, c'mon.)

"Hotel California"


I was excited to see Don Henley's wistful, evocative solo single "The Boys of Summer" performed live before a black and white backdrop similar to this famous 80s video. This is one of the best in a considerably overrated medium. It's a legitimate piece of art. Plus it's pretty funny they stuck Henley on the back of a flatbed truck and drove around at 4 in the morning filming him...



And speaking of deadhead stickers, here's The Dude himself. Though he and I have somewhat different musical tastes, unfortunately, I've had a number of days all too similar to this.

Ears

Somewhere near the beach in Delaware...

"Zzzzzz..."

"Hey."

"Zzzzz..."

"HEY."

"Zzzz...What?"

"Did you hear something?"

"No."

"No? You didn't hear that? Are you sure it's safe here?"

"Of course it is. You worry too much. This is the life."

"Maybe I...Wait, did you hear that? Smell that? I think something is beneath us!"

"Quit overreacting. It's a beautiful day."

"But I just sense..."

"Quiet!"

"Zzzzz...."

"Hmm. I wonder what that dark shape is down..."

"AHHHHHHH!!"


"We're gonna need a bigger sink...!"

"What is that, a bazooka?"

Above: 1940
Below: 2008