Sunday, October 31, 2004
Squid Pro Quo
So lazy this weekend. It's sunny out, 71F and feels like summer. short-sleeve weather. thursday night at work cleaning crew almost incinerated my light jacket - mistook it for trash. mounted a full search, in spanish, with a crew of 4 hapless night cleaners, and found it just in time. brushed it off, and wore it home. another close one. More later, including my encounter with 2,000 would-be corrections officers on the streets of Chelsea...
more later I promise - must go learn FrontPage software as the webmaster-to-be of my gay outdoors group. later dudes
An unusual sight as I sipped latte in the grey Chelsea dawn yesterday: hundreds of burly, tough men and women of color standing on line, stone-faced. Halloween party? Rumble? Tryouts for a XX video? Not at all! It was the annual Corrections Officer placement exam, administered at our local high school on 18th street.. Go figure.
Weekend Halloween is Maximum Halloween. This gives everyone plenty of time for costumes and trick-or-treating. Days like these you realize just how many families with young children Manhattan does have...
French Post-Fridays / Surlendemains-de-Vendredi Français
Enfin, la fin des elections, on saura d'ici peu. La marge ne pourrait pas être plus etroite - c'est presque empaté - Bush a une toute petite avantage pour le vote populaire, tandis que Kerry pourrait bien s'emporter le vote electoral, et donc la presidence. Mais ce que les sondages ne peut pas prevoir, c'est le niveau de participation pour chaque parti et pour chaque état. On dit que ça va battre tous les records - deux armées de volontaires se déploient un peu partout dans le Midwest et en Floride. Y compris Erik a Missouri, Kelly et Carolyn en Pennsylvanie, et peut-etre Robert dans l'Ohio. Croisons les doigts, les orteils, et tout ce qu'on peut croiser, et touchons du bois.
Les elections m'ont inspire a préparer un mix-cd tres spéciale - mon idée originelle c'etait un cd pour 'fêter' ou pour 'consoler' selon le resultat. Mais je me suis rendu compte que, dans les deux cas, on aura egalment besoin de quelquechose pour détendre et soulager. Donc, la musique melodique, un peu moins rock que d'habitude, enregistré et envoyé avant mardi.
Spanish Sunday / Domingo en Castellano
¡Qué semana tan intensa! Muchísimo trabajo, es cuando las empresas anuncian sus resultados trimestrales y tengo que preparar numeros e informes. Y el ruido al fondo es el de la campaña electoral, la lucha por la presidencia norteamericano y para nuestro futuro inmediato como país. Es un país muy, muy dividido, casi 50/50, una brecha cultural enorme entre el oscurantismo religioso, la histeria, y el aislamiento por un lado y el progreso, la secularizacion, y el internacionalismo por el otro. Martes vamos a saber lo que pasa, si damos un paso para adelante con Kerry, o si seguimos en los mismos errores con Bush, quien es incapaz de reconocer sus errores y aprender de ellos.
Hoy fue Halloween en Chelsea. Es muy lindo cuando cae en un fin de semana, mucho más tiempo para fiestas, y para que los niños vayan en busca de caramelos, galletas, y otros manjares. Todo el mundo en disfraz, salvo yo, sin fiesta y, este año, sin mucha inspiración. No puedo creer que la última vez que estuve de disfraz fue hace 16 años, en vísperas de mi primer viaje a la Argentina, el que me iba a transformar la vida....
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Saturday, October 30, 2004
Aaron contributes to "Overheard In New York"
click here to see my brilliant contribution of humorous overheard dialogue!
Aaron Gets Web-Published!
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Friday, October 29, 2004
My Dad and A Frog
1968 was a nail-biter. My folks of course were rabidly anti-Nixon. His win would be disastrous. 8-year-old Aaron's joke, told that anyone would be better, was to invent examples like, "even a frog would be better." Then Nixon won, and it was scary. But my Dad wisely said to me, "The world isn't going to end, this just means that the country isn't going to be governed the way we'd like it to be." That stuck with me.
French Fri Day later / Vendredi Français d'ici peu.
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Thursday, October 28, 2004
Likely Voters and Lena's
This is my Aunt Lena, a great aunt in both senses of the word, at a ripe young 23 on her 1918 wedding day in Lowell, Mass. This, of course, was the year the Boston Red Sox last won the world series (Go Sox!, Go Kerry!), just weeks before the end of "The War To End All Wars." How time files when you're having fun...
Anyway, I'm very happy indeed for my hometown, its population, its team, and its candidate. What a wonderful year for Massachusettes! Free to get married, have my team win the world series, and hopefully, watch my brother Bostonian take the oath on January 20. Cross your fingers! Cross your toes! Cross any other digits that you can make cross!
Peace, Aaron
Cartoons:
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Wednesday, October 27, 2004
303962702 28th 75th
My voter serial #, election district, and assembly district, in case any of you want to 'challenge' me at the polls next Tuesday. I'm prepared.
Right On, Maude! Few TV shows (pictured left) call to mind better the liberal milieu in which I grew up. Secular humanists rock!
Don't have much to say today, or time to say it. My eye aches from reading earnings releases. I'm good at shoveling the tide with a pitchfork. : - )
Cartoons follow. French and Spanish summaries return Friday & Sunday, promise... Peace - Aaron
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Tuesday, October 26, 2004
The Slings And Arrows
Of Earnings Season
Blurry here.. It's raining earnings releases, which must be studied and judged, and i'm spending long days juggling and multi-tasking. That explains my spotty blog postings. Well, at least I have cartoons... : - ) I also have this lovely photo of Hanoi's Vietcombank, in case you missed it on your last Vietnam trip.
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Monday, October 25, 2004
Florida Is The New Florida
The cliché of the decade so far is to say 'X is the new Y,' with X and Y being, if not opposites, than contrasts. Examples: 40 is the new 30, about age. Quiet is the new Loud, Steak is the new Pasta, etc. It's kind of a reflection of how dramatically the canvas of our life changed, mostly for the better, through advances ranging from smart cell phones to anti-depressants... Anyway, these are my deep thoughts for the morning.
At left is a manatee, a lovely water mammal that inhabits Florida's fresh waters, or what's left of them. Manatees have a rough time these days, and are constantly being hit by speedboats. However, they remain majestic and noble. They are also reputed to have ghastly breath.
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Sunday, October 24, 2004
Hey there. Still kind of sick, and laying low. I turned to Netflix for distraction, and watched the 1949 classic All The King's Men, the Oscar- and Pulitzer-winning tale loosely based on the life of Louisiana's populist/demagogue Governor Huey Long. He may be the closest thing the US ever had to Perón : - ) Great performances all around - very different, much better than I expected.
Not much else to report. I gave Thomas my ticket's to last night's triple-bill electronica concert of Mouse On Mars, Ratatat, and Junior Boys. Can't wait to hear what a laptronica band actually does up there, since the music's entirely programmed... : - ) Enjoy the rest of your weekends. Go Sox. Go Kerry!
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Saturday, October 23, 2004
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Friday, October 22, 2004
Burning The Candle
At both ends, and in the middle... : - ) Wow, I've gone out every night this week, and spent every day on the phone 9 hours with investors, hitting a home run on our "maiden voyage" deal. So I'm the hero of the day, with a slight sore throat.. : - ) Last night, Bart invited me take in some jazz at the legendary Hotel Algonquin's equally legendary Oak Room. This elegant venue seats about 75 in a rectangular room of dark oak tones and white tablecloths. Normal price: $50 entry plus $20 minimum consumption. Bart somehow got tickets for $3... How coule we resist? Tonight, a play (no idea which) with Pat Stumpp. Tomorrow, laptop electronica (laptronica!) at midnight with Thomas at the Bowery Ballroom, headlined by Mouse On Mars...
Full report later
Cartoons follow...
Vendredi Français / French Fri Day coming late afternoon...
(francophiles: check out a week's worth of Thomas' Paris pictures...)
Domingos en Castellano / Spanish Sunday will resurface, indeed, on Sunday
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Thursday, October 21, 2004
Gloat Gloat But Remember To Vote
From yesterday’s Onion, my favorite feature, “What Do YOU Think?....This is the 'couldn't happen to a nicer guy than Bill O'Reilly' edition... : - )
Question: “Last week, a Fox News Channel producer sued Bill O'Reilly for sexual harassment, alleging that the cable host pressured her into phone sex. What do you think?”
Answer 1: "Someone's coming at Bill O'Reilly with lurid public accusations of a heinous personal nature? Wow. Sometimes life can be so... fair."
Answer 2: "He wasn't sexually harassing her. He was just looking out for her, like he's doing for all of us, all the time."
Answer 3: “This is just another example of the liberal media's bias against self-destructive, narcissistic, screaming sexist assholes."
Answer 4: "Whether Andrea Mackris' claims are true or false, one thing is certain—that woman is never working for the vast right-wing conspiracy again."
Answer 5: “Just once, I'd like to hear about a sex scandal with honest-to-God penetration."
Answer 6: "No wonder it costs $3.99 a minute to call in to 'The Factor.'"
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Go Sox!!! Go Kerry!!!!
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Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Wow, I forgot to post and missed a day! First time in many moons! Ultra busy workday, followed by evening in Park Slope where I dined w Bart & Ashley at Surreal Cafe. Afterwards, we met Kelly and Carolyn (Bri's sister) and together we all saw Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche (left) at Southpaw.
How wonderful to go out and hang with friends during the week... There once was a time when my weeknight activities were frequent. Time to break the rut. I ain't no ruttle. : - )
Here's my sister Deena before her recent accident:
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Monday, October 18, 2004
Hotel Hotel, Lounge Lounge
In a midtown hotel room (Omni at 52nd & 5th), I spent Saturday morning and afternoon making Venezuelan executives rehearse for a marathon of 24/7 presentations next week. I also improvised question and answer sessions to give them practice at that. I was reduced to lunching on cashews from the room's 'frigobar'...
Worked until 11pm Friday night doing the same...
But this is clearly the most important project of the year. We need a hit to really lauch our business... Cross your fingers, my friends...
Late afternoon Saturday I joined Bart and Ashley for a delightful high British tea at the St Regis. They both looked lovely in formal wear - Ashley was off to a gala museum function afterwards. As you can see in the picture, luxury teas are served with scones, jams, miniature sandwiches, and gourmet miniature cakes, cookies, and other scrumptious confections, arranged on three levels of a shiny silver plate-holder..
Check your diet at the door.... : - )
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Sunday, October 17, 2004
Jump Shout -- Knock Yourself Out
Just an hour after high tea, I joined my pal Christi for another meal, before going to a concert.. I wisely chose Regional Thai Taste, so that I could drink my dinner, getting loaded instead of stuffed. I did have a papaya salad...
Shortly after 8 we arrived at Irving Plaza for an envigorating one-two punch of a melodious, musically adventurous and particpatory evening. Main attraction, of course, was the amazing, adorable, and multi-talented jazz-cum-indie prodigy that is Jamie Cullum (pictured left). Jamie bounced, leaped, and somersaulted back and forth between the piano and center stage with boundless energy. as he riffed and spun unpredictable and exciting extended versions of his wonderful songs. If anyone hasn't heard Jamie, I'd be happy to pour some sugar in your bowl - just let me know. His stage presence is all enthusiasm, humor, and the giddy pleasure of being a 'twentysomething' pleasing the world by following his muse. At one point, a concertgoer fainted (not because of Jamie) and had to be carried out. I was relieved she was OK, and happy she hadn't thrown up. Warming up was David Ryan Harris, an African-American indie veteran that struck chords with his songs of relationships, happy and failed, past and present.
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Saturday, October 16, 2004
Where have you been all my life, Jamie Cullum? : - )
Hyperkinetic, musically brilliant, endlessly inventive, bursting with cathartic joy... The best of the 20-odd (20-something?) concerts I've seen so far this year.... More tomorrow on the odyssey of contrasts and sensations that was today.... Go, Jamie, Go....
I bid ye all goode night...
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Friday, October 15, 2004
Where The Streets Have No Name
I was here, in the belt of shantytowns that are 80% of Asuncion, Paraguay, in 1989. Here, the homes have no floors (or electricity or water), and an umbrella is a luxury item. When it rains, you take cover, or get wet... I was visiting with my then-boyfriend Andres, with whom I'm still very close. He was born about 300 miles southeast, in sleepy Encarnación, on the border of Argentina (the Paraguay river), and at age 10 moved to Buenos Aires, where he lives now. He returned to Paraguay Columbus Day weekend for a wedding, and will be sending some words or pictures to post here.
after today's cartoon: French Fri Days / Vendredi Français
Bonjour mes amis. Quelle semaine! On a enfin annoncé notre affaire de l'année ici au boulot, c'est mon grand moment pour éblouir mon public investisseur par moyen d'attention et d'explications très animées. Demain soir Christi et moi, on va au concert du tres beau Jamie Cullum, un chanteur anglais de jazz. Avant ça, du thé a l'anglaise avec Bart... Ce soir, j'aimerais me faire un petit cinoche, ça fait trois jours que j'essaye de voir "I Heart Huckabees" avec Lily Tomlin et Dustin Hoffman - mercredi, trop crevé, jeudi, il m'a fallu travailler le soir... Quoi encore? Se ronger les ongles en attendant les elections presidentielles... Le marge est assez etroite... Il y a aussi la possibilité que Kerry gagne la vote electorale (et devienne president) et perde la vote populaire. Ce serait beaucoup mieux qu'il gagne toutes les deux, pour pas accentuer la rancune politique qui divise déjá ce pays comme jamais dans ma vie.... Ecris-moi, je tiens a avoir de tes nouvelles... grosses bises - Aaron this entry's permalink
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Ice Ice Baby
So I skipped the debate, another Kerry win. I bought a ticket to "I Heart Huckabees," which I really want to see, but was too drowsy to go. Instead, I listened to "Life of Pi," a lovely book on tape about a zookeeper's son lost at sea with zoo animals, while silent movie footage cavorted across my DVD-fueled TV screen.
Hidden Cameras, Toronto's wall of pretty sound and homoeroticism, was of course sold out last night, but they're I got tickets to their Oct 31 gig at Maxwell's, which should be well worth the Sunday evening pilgrimmage to Hoboken. These queer performance artists share the bill with the equally avant-garde Fiery Furnaces. Pictured are polar bears and Glacier Bay in Alaska, which I hope to see someday. I have visited every state except Alaska and Hawaii, usually 'scenting my trail' with a meal or a snack.
Cartoon follows my weekly Spanish summary....
En Castellano: Fin de semana muy lindo en NY, muy otoñal. Tuvimos el festival "Open Door" - Puertas Abiertas - en el que muchos lugares normalmente cerrados abren sus puertas al público. Los destaques fueron: el enorme centro masónico - un palacio de 11 pisos menos de 3 cuadras de mi apartamento, el cementerio de marmol con tumbas subterraneas bajo un césped lindo y detras de muros de piedras blancas, una iglesia gótica muy insólita, diagonal y con mucho vidrio tinto, que más - evité el 'High Line,' ese tren elevado que se transformará en parque, para evitar la cola larguísima que el proyecto popular atraía. Saqué muchas fotos de todo que prometo mostrar en este espacio dentro de muy poco. Ayer decidí de evitar los debates presidenciales e ir al cine, pero me dormí y perdí mi entrada - al final me quedé en cama y escuché un poco mi libro en cassette, el excelente 'La Vida de Pi'," sobre un chico de India perdido en alta mar con los animales del zoologico de su padre. Abrazos - Aaron
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