Thoughts on Roman Polanski

I'm a little annoyed by this whole Roman Polanski thing. The fact that so many people want to let him go isn't a surprise to me, that's what always happens when a celebrity gets caught, but the reasons are just pathetic!

1) He suffered a lot in his life and therefore has paid his dues: I won't deny that he's been through a lot in his life, but give me 10 prisoners in any state pen. and I will find 9 of them that have suffered equally. They have lost mothers, friends, brothers, sisters, whatever and many of them have lived extremely hard lives. Were they let off the hook? Certainly not. Anybody who suggests such a think would be laughed off the stage.

2) The victim has forgiven him and wants to move on: of course she did and of course she does. She had to for her own sanity, much in the same way that families of murder victims often forgive the killers. It's too hard to hold a grudge and easier to forget and move on. That doesn't make it right for society as a whole, however.

3) Suspect timing: ok, I'll concede this one. I don't really understand why they decided to proceed with this now. Polanski has been moving around Europe for 30 years now and it seems highly unlikely that this is the first time they knew where he was going. Hell, it wasn't even the first time he went to Switzerland. L.A. County is cash strapped, so it is a bit of a mystery why they would decide to go after him now.

4) Suspect prosecution: honestly, I don't know much about what went on at his trial. I only casually watched the Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired documentary, but I don't know that that should even matter at this stage. Many people in the system have had suspect prosecution and/or defense. Some get exonerated, some don't, but they all go through the proper channels within the system. Just because he is a great director doesn't mean he should get a free pass.

My overarching point is this: all of the reasons why Polanski should be freed could apply to almost any convict that they would never dream of letting go. But he is different, he directed Chinatown, after all.

Ultimately, I seriously doubt anything will happen to Polanski at this point. Somebody will step in and let him go free. I hate the idea, though. A guy commits a horrible crime, runs away to Europe like a little girl, then, because he's made a few good movies, gets a Get Out of Jail Free Card. Ah, what a country.

Mad Men thoughts:

* Don Draper's attitude towards is beyond confusing. It seems as if he is completely ambivalent towards the man who can take his career to a whole new level.

* It looks like the story is finally starting to go somewhere. It's about freaking TIME!

* Surprised to hear absolutely nothing about lawnmower-toe incident that happened last week. It seems like that would be a major event, but it was as if it never happened.

Sunday September 27

I'm still fighting with finding the right template here in Blogger. I've always had this problem with Blogger, their choice of templates SUCK, but I'm having a hard time leaving one of my precious Google products behind. It will be ok, it's just a matter of finding the right one.

I saw Annie Hall for the first time last night and I can't believe I hadn't seen it sooner. It's one of the greatest movies I think I have ever seen. It's actually funny. Comedies are hard for me because I have a very narrow sense of humor, but this one got me in the right way.

My favorite scene is the one where they are standing in line at the movie and in front of a guy who is, rather negatively, discussing the works of Fredrico Felini and Marshall McLuhan. After a while, Allen leaves the line and talks directly into the camera causing the guy behind him to do the same in his defense. The brilliant part is when Allen pulls McLuhan himself out from behind a poster to settle the issue. Brilliant.

Friday September 25

Super productive day today. I got both econometrics and most of my micro homework finished. I will work on the rest tomorrow as well as my water regulation homework, which is going to be a bit of a bitch.

I contemplated not going to the gym this morning, just getting up, coming here, and getting things done, but I was up super early today, 5:30, so I decided to just go ahead and go to the gym. I had never worked out at 6ish in the morning before, so it was kind of a strange experience. I almost never workout when it is dark out, morning or evening, so it all had a different feel. I figured I was going to be dragging ass in there today, but not really. I was pretty sharp.

Eh, who cares.

Tuesday September 22

A few random things today:

First, the Emmy's. When will this humping of 30 Rock end? The show is awful and not even in the same stratosphere as funny. The Academy's love for this show is pure and simple vanity, it is a somewhat popular show that is about them, so they eat it up. Pathetic. But I always thought the comedy awards were a joke anyway (no pun intended), so I guess it doesn't matter.

I thought Outstanding Drama was fiercely competitive this year. I think all the shows were equally worthy, but I was hoping that Breaking Bad would sneak in there a beat out Mad Men. It was not to be, though. On the flip side, though, I was hoping John Hamm (Mad Men) would beat Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) for best drama actor. Would somebody please give John Hamm an Emmy already! I was thrilled to see Cranston win last year and he was certainly worth this year, but comon already.

I was also not surprised to see Dexter get shut out again this year. Great show, but maybe just a tad too edgy for a major stage just yet. Maybe next year.

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One more quick note on Mad Men season 3. I was thinking about this the other day and, as of yet, a season story arch hasn't really developed yet. Basically, just a bunch of random things have been happening that don't really impact the story as a whole. This week, however, was a pretty amazing episode and one I think COULD be the start of this season's arch.

First, there is Don's meeting w/ Conrad Hilton. People saw this one coming when they first met each other a few weeks back and the then strange person mentioned San Antonio, NM, but not it has finally come to pass. What is going to happen w/ this relationship? A deal like Hilton could be huge for a place like Sterling-Cooper.

Second, there was the incident with the foot and the lawnmower. A British executive from Sterling-Cooper's corporate ownership had part of his foot cut off in a drunken office party involving a lawnmower IN THE OFFICE. Corporate had a particular, and not very interesting, re-structuring plan for Sterling-Cooper, but now needed to "re-evaluate". That's never good.

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I missed about half of the season of House last year because of a change in my school schedule, which made me sad, because I guess I missed a lot. No matter. I'm starting this season anew and don't foresee any interruptions. The 2 hour season premiere was interesting to say the least. You always kinda thought House belong in a crazy ward but you never 1) actually thought he would get put there and 2) actually co-operate to get out. Part of the charm of House is his misanthropy and if he really is changing his attitude, as the first episode suggests, it could be an entirely different show. Perhaps one that isn't as good. The show is in its 6th season, though, and you have to figure it won't be on much longer anyway.

Cineacation # 3 Ace in the Hole and After Dark My Sweet

After several name changes, I decided to go with Cinemacation as the title for my series on Roger Ebert's Great Movies list.

Ace In the Hole

A story about corrupt journalism and a public who eats it up, Ace in the Hole is an indictment of everybody. Part of the movie's problem when it first came out was that the critics found it a bit too far fetched. I can't help but wonder, though, if it would get that same knock were it to come out today. Corrupt yes, but does it really seem THAT far off, especially considering the low esteem journalists are held in these days? The story is still relevant 50+ years later.

After Dark My Sweet

This whole movie I couldn't help but think that Jason Patric looks like Dennis Miller. That aside, though, his character, Collie, was amazingly complex. Was he crazy? Was he stupid? Was he both? It's hard to say. He spent the whole movie claiming he wasn't, but you have to wonder. In the first place, he'd have to be stupid to agree to a role in a rich kid kidnapping scheme (not sure where the film took place, but it definitely was NOT Juarez) to begin with. On the other hand, he was always two steps ahead of the other schemers and almost made the whole thing work. A very subtle performance by Patric and was very well done.

Thursday September 17

I have had a reasonably easy week. Some classes got cancelled, which gave me more time to work on the classes that weren't.

A somewhat annoying issue, though, is the fact that I still haven't been able to sleep particularly well. No matter what I take, 10mg of melatonin yesterday, it is still hard to fall asleep. My body is tired, exhausted, in fact, but my brain just won't quit. Part of it, I'm sure, is the fact that people have been calling me and sending me text messages later than usual. Last night, for example, right as my head hit the pillow, one of my brother's called me. Nice.

It could be stress, but I honestly don't feel particularly stressed. Yeah, I have a lot to do, but I think I have a good handle on things and am managing my time well. I don't have anything terribly pressing coming up either. I don't know what it is. Probably just overstimulation.

In other news, tonight is a big night for t.v., The Office seasons premiere is tonight and a new show that I'm curious about, Community, comes on as well. The thing about The Office, though, is that it is on the downward slide of its run. I thought last season was AWFUL. That whole thing with the Michael Scott Paper Company I thought was very annoying and gimmicky. Of course it wasn't going to last, so what was the point of it to begin with?

Tuesday September 15

Woke up this morning in a royally terrible mood. I didn't get a text message all day, but suddenly, at 11:30, when I'm trying to sleep, everybody has something to say. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter, not like I was sleeping anyway. My body was tired, but I think my brain was a little overstimulated and refused to shut-down. That happens from time to time. Damned Facebook will be the death of me.

But I also got caught in that dangerous self-pity web that I've been doing a somewhat better job of staying out of, but not entirely. I get so obsessed with thinking about things that I don't have, I forget to appreciate what I do. I forget that trying to dramatically alter myself and my personality is a losing battle. This isn't the movies, you can't really change who you are. Little things here and there, maybe, but ultimately it's all about acceptance. The truly successful people aren't those who are perfect, rather, those in who believe in themselves and have confidence, despite their flaws.

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NFL week 1 was bitter sweet. The Cowboys won, and played pretty well in the process. I have hopes for this team. I think they are in a better position this year because: 1) they got rid of some of the fluff (I'm looking at you T.O.) and 2) they went relatively unnoticed this off-season. The last two seasons they have suffered from the terrible curse of high expectations. When you build a team up so much, odds are they will disappoint. A large percentage of the best teams the last few years have been those that have gone under the radar (think Arizona Cardinals). Two promising developments.

On the other hand, however, my fantasy team stunk it up. To be fair, in both leagues I was going against the guy (same guy, actually), who got lucky enough to draft Adrian Peterson, who is nothing short of a fantasy machine. But generally, my teams just stunk it up. Part of it was my fault, I made some ill advised line-up decisions in WR area, but other parts were just crappy play, most notably by my quarterback Kurt Warner. Quarterbacks have been the bane of my fantasy existence the last few years and so far, it looks like history is repeating itself once again. Kurt is my ol' reliable, though, so I'm hoping he will pull through. If not, I got a hungry Trent Edwards waiting in reserve.

Saturday September 12

I've always been a big eater, but my problem with binge eating started in the Fall of 2005. It was my sophmore year at NMSU, I was living in the student apartments (i.e. not the dorm, but still on campus).

Something about that year was different from before. I seemed more detached and more alone. I think my freshman year was still an adjustment time, and I lived in the dorms where there was always something going on. My sophmore year, however, I was away from everything (literally, at the very edge of campus), as adjusted as I would ever be to college, and very very alone. I filled the void with food. I was beyond miserable and unhappy that whole year and I started to gain weight with my binge eating.

The next year was my first at UNM and I naturally thought that a new environment would help. As I learned, however, you can't run away from your problems. If you don't actually address them, they will simply follow you, which mine did. My first year at UNM was probably my worst year for binge eating. Most weekends I would eat about 4 pints of ice cream (2 on Friday and 2 on Saturday), a whole pizza, and whatever else I could get my hands on. We are talking 3,000 calories in one little sitting. It would always make me sick and I'd tell myself that this was the last time, but of course it wasn't. This first year was also a problem because I was no longer working out. So not only was I eating a ton, but I wasn't getting the exercize to help control my mood. Naturally, I gained weight faster.

My second year at UNM was much better. I started working out again and some of my self-destructive behavior was mitigated by the fact that I now had a roomate. It's amazing what kind of stuff you won't do when you know somebody else is watching. But the problem really didn't go away, though, because my roomate was frequently gone and when he was, I'd fall right back into my self-destructive behavior.

I'll address the weight issue in a seperate entry, but that's of course part of the story.

Where am I now? I would say that I'm 100x's better than I was when I first left NMSU and my first year at UNM. I still have the urge to binge eat every week, but I'm better at controlling it. It's similar to alcoholism, you just have to attack it one day at a time.

You Know What Grinds My Gears?

Wal-Mart has this commercial in which a somewhat cute looking Italian (or some kind of Spanish) chick is talking about how Wal-Mart has recently lowered the fees on their check cashing service to 3$ and how those savings, calculated to be about 200$/year by her rather dorkish looking husband, could be used to buy goodies such as an LCD t.v. I find this commercial profoundly annoying as it promotes the very essence of fiscal irresponsibility.

First, it implies that the best thing to do with a check is to cash it right away instead of putting it in a bank and saving it. I know out of necessity some poorer people do have to do this, but the family in this commercial seems very middle class. What about savings? Hmmm? Nah, screw that. Spend all the money you save at Wal-Mart on stupid things such as LCD t.v's! What well-off or upper middle class person cashes checks at Wal-Mart anyway when you can do it for free at a bank?

Second, what they suggest buying with the money you save on their check cashing service, is an LCD t.v. In the first place, I'm not sure how you can buy an LCD t.v. off of a 200$/year saving unless you finance it (which is a whole other issue) and second, is an LCD t.v. something you should really be buying when you don't have a bank account and/or saving? Seriously people. Who buys an LCD t.v. in that scenario?

I know I'm reading way too much into this commercial, but it annoys me more every time I see it. They stopped airing it for a while but have recently starting again.

Thursday September 10

Really, really busy the last few days and I haven't been quite as on top of things as I normally am. My Netflix deliveries have hit a bit of a snag, which I think is a blessing in disguise because otherwise I would have never had the extra motivation needed to get my backlog of work done. I'm just about caught up now, though.

I spent the last two nights doing homework. Nights! Doing homework! I haven't had to do homework in the evening for going on a few years now and I have to say that I don't like it. I'm doing school stuff all day and the last thing I want is more school when I get home. There's just no other way to cram it all in, though. Just busy busy busy.

Note to self: don't discuss algebra problems with ag. econ graduate students. They can do them much better than traditional econ grad students and are considerably more smug about it. I'll take my advice from the engineering major who agreed with me that the equation we had to solve was a total bitch. Yeah. That makes me feel better for not being able to solve it.

Tuesday September 8

Really really dragging ass today. It's not even 9 yet, so hopefully I will come to life, but the day is not off to a promising start.

I came to campus a bit early today, but I don't really know why. Mostly I use this time to clear a bit of the homework backlog, but I can't really do that now. I don't quite have everything done, yet, I'm sort of stuck at this point where I just can't do the rest of it. It's not a mental block or a matter of motivation, I've just reached the limits of what I know how to do. This keeps happening and it is really becoming bothersome. But I guess that is what graduate school is for, right, pushing through and giving things the "old college try"?

I finally got around to watching Casino Royale last night, the first 007 movie with Daniel Craig. I was unimpressed with how it started. I thought, "aw crap, another mindless action flick", but it actually got a lot better as it went a long. It was really a very interesting interpretation of the Bond character. We tend to think of 007 as this rather cold super agent unencumbered by emotion, but in Casino Royale, he's really just a big sap. Hard to imagine a past Bond character who almost gets killed by a woman he was in love with (not just a woman he wanted to make love to). I suspect this was how a real Bond would be.

And Daniel Craig is just plain ripped...

Cinemacation #2 Aguirre, the Wrath of God

I admit, I wasn't nearly as impressed with this movie as Roger Ebert was. He writes:

Werner Herzog's “Aguirre, the Wrath of God'' (1973) is one of the great haunting visions of the cinema. It tells the story of the doomed expedition of the conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro, who in 1560 and 1561 led a body of men into the Peruvian rain forest, lured by stories of the lost city. The opening shot is a striking image: A long line of men snakes its way down a steep path to a valley far below, while clouds of mist obscure the peaks. These men wear steel helmets and breastplates, and carry their women in enclosed sedan-chairs. They are dressed for a court pageant, not for the jungle.

The music sets the tone. It is haunting, ecclesiastical, human and yet something else...

Something else indeed. The music was one of the things that struck me as interesting about this film. It is similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey in the sense that the music you would expect for a certain shot is not what you got. This was particularly interesting when somebody was killed. There was something very non-chelant about it. No change in music to indicate that something interesting was even happening. He was there then *poof* he wasn't. There is something that struck me as very real and haunting.

The one point where we disagree is Klaus Kinski's portrayal of Aguirre. Ebert portrays it as something magical, but I just thought it was strange. I still don't understand why he was hunched over all the time. Did Aguirre have back problems?

From what I read, though, the making of this film has become legendary. The setting, for one, has a lot of steep hills and fast rivers making filming difficult on a limited budget. Also, Kinski's was a royal douche. Actors throw a lot of tantrums, but to throw some that have been legendary in Hollywood? That is saying something.

Monday September 7th

I don't know why the paragraphs on this blog come out so goofy so often. I guess it doesn't really matter, but hey, aesthetics are important, right?

Anyway, it's Labor Day. One of the things that I've been thinking about for the last few days is how this Labor Day compares to last year. This one has barely started, but I feel quite confident in saying that this year is going to be considerably better. Labor Day 2008 I was at San Juan Regional Medical Center getting chemo. My second round. I remember that particular treatment well because I didn't usually get my treatments there, but had to because of the holiday. I was reading Andrew Jackson's biography, ironically, a book I quit reading only got around to finishing this summer. I was fighting the fatigue really, really hard towards the end, but I actually liked getting treatment there because they were more willing to mix some of my drugs and get me done faster.

It feels like I've written this entry 3 or 4 times already, but it is an issue that keeps coming up, how important are grades in graduate school? I wonder because I struggled on some work this weekend and it took up way more mental energy than I feel it should. Intellectually, I know that they aren't as important as they are when you are an undergraduate, but I have a really obnoxious perfectionist streak in me and it rears its ugly head when I hit a difficult spot with my work. It eventually passes, as it has, but I need to condition myself out of this mind set. Grades have been my path to approval and given me my sense of self-worth and that's a very unhealthy attitude.

Cinematic Exploration #1 12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men works because of a key irony. Herny Fonda's character, juror 8, is sure, sure that he is unsure, which is important in a capital murder case. And with his confidence and cool temperament, despite the hot temperatures outside and the rising tempers inside, eventually persuades the other 11 members of the jury to become unsure as well.

The movie starts out as a murder case goes to the jury. The initial vote is amazingly lopsided, 11 guilty to 1 nonguilty. At the first hashing of the evidence, it seems incredible that juror number 8, the lone no, could possibly vote that way and at first, his reasoning is uninspiring. He simply isn't sure. No real explanation and leaves the viewer asking "is he crazy?" Throughout the course of the movie, however, the viewer takes the same evolution as the rest of the 11. One by one the initially rock solid evidence begins to break apart. The switchblade. The L-train. The lady without her glasses. All reliable at first, yet, with a little bit of scrutiny become flimsy.

As the evidence falls apart, so does the confidence of the rest of the jury. By the end, it has all come full circle and there is once again one lone dissenter, this time, the one guilty vote and after a painful self-realization, he changes too. One man, unwavering and confident has ruled the day and saved the life of a (likely) innocent kid.

Rather simply and boringly shot (in black and white despite the availability of color), there is one subtle camera trick that had an interesting impact. As the movie progresses, due the the use of different lenses and camera angels, the jury room slowly gets smaller and smaller. The noose tightens as the tempers flair. Excellent and creative way to add tension.

Thursday September 3

Finally, I'm starting to make some progress in this joint. The last few entries I've been bemoaning (to put it nicely, more accurately would be bitching) about my job and how I've basically just been doing busy work for the last two days. That changed yesterday. It started out like a normal, waste of time day until I got some much clearer instructions as to what I'm supposed to be doing. Basically, I'm trying to replicate the US News & World Report college rankings using their data and their formulas. The trick, however, is that US News doesn't release ALL the data. Some of it we have to get from other sources.

I went over their methodology and it's surprisingly involved, with lots of formulas and z-score calculations. I think it is doable, but on only a 10hr/week schedule, I will need to make the most out of my time with it.

I didn't mention this before, but I feel that, as an aspiring movie buff, my historical knowledge of film is, well, pathetic. So I decided to undertake a project to educate myself on the history of film. I'm starting with Roger Ebert's great movies list, about 100 or so important movies, then I might (stress might) dip into the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List, but that's a ways down the road.

Today is going to be a bitch. 4 classes in one day. I'm usually pretty brain dead by the end of it and pretty much good for nothing the whole rest of the night. But oh well, Thursday is my last serious day of the week anyway, with the rest of the days left to just clean up what I didn't do before.

Cheers!

Tuesday Sept. 1

I haven't been able to write much in here for the last few days because I've been so craptacularly busy. Look at me, I'm a big, bad, graduate student now huh? The problem isn't so much school, rather, this job in the policy analysis center. It's a time suck to a degree I wouldn't have imagined before. I basically do nothing of importance for 10 hours a week. There's so much more I could be doing with that time. I keep hoping that eventually they will have me doing something a bit more involved than data entry, but so far, that's the best I've got.

I'm having more school frustrations, but really, it's the same old crap from the same old people. No biggie. Funny how nobody can seem to get a website fully operational when they say they will. But, I do have a new frustration that is quickly making it's way up to the top of my list: parking. In the past, parking was the huge advantage NMSU had over UNM. You could always find a spot in a good area. This year, however, the parking situation has totally turned to shit around here. Some mornings I'm on campus before 8 and I still can't get a desired spot. When I come around noon on work days, forget about it. I might as well bring my hiking boots and tent (if I had those things, that is)!

The problem is that they are letting the school get too big, bigger than it can handle. I was disgusted when I read the reports about dorms being overcrowded. That should NEVER happen. Both dorm population, parking, and school admissions are completely controllable. How about some standards about who gets in here, rather than any shlub who can open the door?

Ah well, I can dream... I've decided that I've wasted way too much energy in my life being frustrated with this stuff. It's exhausting and not worth it anymore.

I meant to comment on Mad Men yesterday. I read an article in the NYT that summarizes where this season is going well. It says:

Is it just me or is “Mad Men” slowly
turning into “The Sopranos”? No, the men and women of Sterling Cooper aren’t
violently offing each other or hanging out in seedy New Jersey strip clubs.
(Though an illicit visit to the office roof was almost made this week.) But
increasingly, Matthew Weiner, a former “Sopranos” producer, and his “Mad Men”
writing staff seem to be so enamored with their characters that they are content
to assemble them in potentially interesting settings, let the cameras linger on
them and hope that an interesting scene emerges.

Basically, there is no arch emerging for this season so far and it's true, there isn't. A few things here and there that may portend to things to come, but so far, nothing is really happening. That was my complaint about season 2 of Burn Notice and Mad Men is doing the same thing. Yeah yeah, I know it's a character driven drama, but comon, it still needs to have some sort of story arch.

More on this later...