RASHOMONIC.com

Thursday, July 31, 2003

mother

Guy Trebay reports on fashion at Lollapalooza:

"When I started getting tattoos, my mother was freaked a little," said Lauren Suchovic, 23 ... "She was, like, Why don't you stick to henna?" said Ms. Suchovic, whose skin was imprinted with fairies and death's-head moths. "Now, my mom thinks they're awesome."

Reminds me of my mom.

:: 12:40 AM [+] ::

25 egos

Kevin Millar talks about teamwork:

You have to be able to have fun with each other ... you can put 25 guys on this team, 25 different egos, 25 different salaries, 25 different places you're from, but just look at the chemistry we have in this clubhouse and the laughter.

:: 8:38 PM [+] ::

taxi driver

Saw the movie last week. Raphael Lewis reports:

the Boston Police Department has begun an intensive effort to vastly upgrade the city's cabs and ensure that taxi drivers have no links to terrorism, lapsed immigration papers, or serious criminal records...

''It's one thing if you have a criminal record with hard information,'' said Ernest Winsor, a staff attorney at the MLRI ... "But people get on these watch lists for all kinds of reasons, we don't know what the criteria are, and it can stop your life in its tracks.''

:: 7:55 PM [+] ::

punching

Constance L. Hays writes:

About a year ago, James E. Hoopes, a professor of history and business ethics ... began looking at what he called the symbolic aspects of Wal-Mart...

Gone are many of the high-paying skilled jobs that the automotive plants once provided; instead, people are punching a cash register at Wal-Mart for half the money...

"You work for these low-wage jobs, and you can have your American dream as long as you buy it at Wal-Mart. So the dream is getting ... downscaled, in a way that hasn't happened before."

:: 7:16 PM [+] ::

adapt

Chris Carmichael explains:

One would think riders would begin to wither during the third week of the Tour de France, due to the immense fatigue from the previous two weeks of racing. The amazing truth is that riders often get stronger as the race progresses.

The human body responds to stress by trying to adapt to it. It's one of the fundamental principles of training: you stress an athlete's physiological systems in order to force the body to adapt and get stronger.

:: 12:59 AM [+] ::

plants

Ty Burr educates:

Some online reviews come straight from the studio publicity machinery. Such breathless, anonymous raves are called "plants," and they can be easily found in the "User Comments" section of the Internet Movie Database .

Any exceptionally positive "review" datelined before or just after a film's release or festival screening is suspect, especially if the user is writing from a Southern California location.

:: 1:10 AM [+] ::

future dead white man

Simon Winchester, author of Krakatoa, tells the Atlantic:

My fiancée is both Chinese and left-wing, and she rightly derides the fact that I enjoy writing about the achievements of dead white men so much. And I say, "Well, damn it, I'm jolly well going to write a book called In Praise of Dead White Men" ...

The British empire—yes, I know it was a bad idea, I know it's no longer fashionable, I know we mustn't be sentimental about it, but ...

:: 12:14 AM [+] ::

stillmatic

Joey just forwarded me the latest on "Rebuilding Harvard's African Studies Dept.":

After a year of turmoil ... Harvard's celebrated Afro-American studies department will be refocused and expanded ... Ms. Morgan will teach classes on hip-hop and linguistics and be the director of the hip-hop archives ...

"While I'm not especially a fan of hip-hop — perhaps I'm too old — there can be no doubt that it is one of the most important cultural phenomenons in the second half of the 20th century," said Professor Gates, who is 52. "We would be remiss if we did not treat it accordingly."

:: 7:58 PM [+] ::

roommates

Solana Pyne pulls from David R. Harris, a researcher at the University of Michigan, in "Making Enemies":

Harris found some evidence of how familiarity with people of other races can change one's perspective. In a study of 1,667 college freshmen ... the evidence did indicate that living with someone of another race can change how people perceive race.

"You need people to interact with each other to realize that the 'other' isn't that different," Harris said, citing the Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. "Most people know white guys, so after that bombing, no one said all white guys are terrorists."

:: 10:59 PM [+] ::

piratical

Michael O'Sullivan strips down Pirates of the Caribbean:

Terry Rossio, who co-wrote the script ... is quoted in the film's production notes as saying, "We wanted [the movie] to be a very classic, Jane Austen-style, bodice ripping romance."

Excuse me, but since when do "Jane Austen-style" and "bodice-ripping" even belong in the same sentence? Maybe if the filmmakers actually read books instead of hanging out in theme parks, they'd know how ludicrous that sounds. Oh well.

The review adds that Pirates is rated PG-13 for "piratical violence."

:: 7:59 PM [+] ::

scissors

Took a walk after Bonnie went to bed. Sat on a bench on Harvard Avenue reading The Anatomy of Buzz. Out of nowhere a pair of sewing scissors landed at my feet. I looked up to see a woman in a dirty sweatshirt eyeing me from the open window of a bus. Hey, neighbor.

:: 12:27 AM [+] ::

parallels

Been reading Darryl McDaniels' King of Rock. DMC writes:

We are a strong nation dealing with weaker nations. I see parallels to what happens out on the street and in the office every day.

And I think that if we could learn the proper way to deal with others and show respect, we might turn out to have better relationships with other countries, just as we can get along better as individuals by showing respect.

:: 11:15 AM [+] ::

developing

All About George links to "Graceful Growth in Vancouver":

Unlike San Francisco activists who are shocked that builders want to build, the Vancouver reaction is more mature.

"I have a tremendous respect for developers," says senior central area planner Michael Gordon, a self-described socialist known for arriving at public hearings on a skateboard. "As long as you lay out clear, strong rules, they can be very creative. Their ego's involved."

:: 9:56 AM [+] ::

seven seven

Woke up early and slipped out to get Bonnie a fresh bagel from Bruegger's. Today is our second anniversary.

:: 12:01 PM [+] ::

cooler

Watched Tony Kaye's American History X last night with Luke and Bonnie. During the making of the film, Kaye reportedly lost his patience. He published ads attacking his employers and demanded to be listed in the credits as "Humpty Dumpty."

Kaye tells the Guardian:

Four years ago, I made my first movie, American History X ... I'm sure it was hell for everyone else, but I felt energised, like I was on drugs...

I have been cultivating relationships in Hollywood again for the past year, being a real diplomat ... I'm much happier now.

:: 10:25 PM [+] ::

cornered

G'morning, Coolidge Corner. Got here on Tuesday, set up furniture on Wednesday, had a job interview on Thursday and saw fireworks on Friday.

:: 1:50 AM [+] ::