Saturday, July 03, 2004
The Michael Moore Diet
Warts and all, Fahrenheit 9/11 is, indeed, essential viewing. First and foremost, it's enormously entertaining, and at the Bush administration's expense. : - ) Moore uses much live footage of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et alia saying things that are preposterous, inane, and uncannily revealing. "Fahrenheit" is brilliantly written, paced, and edited - it succeeds as superb film-making, though certainly not as balanced journalism. Moore infers that the Bush team is conspiratorially evil, motivated only by greed and gain, which is probably an exaggeration. He depicts Bush and company as even more glaringly stupid than they probably are. The French have a saying that "he who exaggerates, diminishes." Nonetheless, "Fahrenheit" does the public an enormous service in several ways: 1) It presents in vivid detail some indisputable facts that many Americans are ignorant of, such as past U.S. support of both Bin Laden and Hussein by the Reagan administration, the Bush family's close personal and financial relationship with the Saudis, and our government's flying Bin Laden family and 100 other Saudis out of the country on September 13, before the air travel ban was lifted. 2) It shows us, graphically, the human suffering inflicted on both the Iraqis and our own soldiers by this war, using footage rarely seen on network news, which showed us an "air-brushed" war from their "embedded" front-row seats. 
We witness the grief of Lila Lipscomb (pictured left with her husband), a lovely community worker and proud supporter of our troops who is shattered when her own son dies needlessly in Iraq. This story is told mostly by soliders and their families, politicians, and security people, on center stage in their own words, with Moore intermittently narrating. Again, a stirring experience. See it. But see it after you see Napoleon Dyanmite.this entry's permalink
Friday, July 02, 2004
Daydream Destination
Not just meat, onions, and garlic! At Jae's of Boston, a pan-Asian bistro run by Koreans, I stuck with the sushi. But Erik let me sample his Korean spicy chicken stone pot and it was surprisingly scrumptious. Maybe Korea isn't the culinary Britain of Asia, after all. Food for thought..Today: strolling amidst the greenery and bay windows in the July (!) sun, including a stop at Museum of Fine Arts. Tonight's probable temperature: Fahrenheit 911. Pictured left: Aaron on a previous visit to Boston. : - ) More later. Peace. this entry's permalink
Thursday, July 01, 2004
2004, Part Two...
The Joker Is Wild: Our Sixteenth Meeting was with a ranting, raving, bristling visionary cynic of a fund manager, who thinks emerging markets countries and companies are a bunch of crooks! : - ) But he did give me my quotes of the day: "The Brazilians always manage to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory"
and
"(President Garcia) went through that country (Peru) like a bad rock band through a good hotel"
: - )
Happy Weekend, which for me just started. It is also Brianfriday. Back in NY Saturday. Never forget Little Aaron! : - )
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Boston. Sleepy. Dinner at Jimmy's Harborside last night was lovely, seafood, harbor view, down-home feeling. Great customer, this guy who lives in Vermont and manages his family's money, over 50% in emerging markets. Good company. Off to four more meetings, then it's Miller time, as we said in the 70s. Enjoy, holiday approaches..
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Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Boston is glorious, soaked in immaculate June sunshine and kissed by 75F with a breeze. We spent the day on pavement, in planes and taxis, and in conference rooms rife with dark wood, modern art, and dizzying harbor views. My meetings went well, the company is good, the fish are jumping, and the cotton is high. But the research guy is pretty beat. Get thee to a bedroom, Aaron! more 2-morrow. peace & love - A
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Come On And Roll Out The Barrel
I'm sick of writing about my business trip, so let's have a barrel of fun! : - ) I turn your attention to Time magazine's 50 Nifty Websites You Should Check Out.Some of my personal favorites: Baby Name Popularity by Decade and Year (Aaron is as popular now as Thomas and Robert!), Dead Or Alive which confirms whether a given celebrity has checked out, and has a list of living celebrities over 90! (among the living: King Kong victim Fay Wray, 97, Brasilia creator Oscar Niemeyer, 96, Green Acres' Eddie Albert, 96, Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, 95, and keeper of the US economy Milton Friedman,91 ), and National Geographic's One Stop Research, endless fun with plants, animals, fish, and rocks. Changing brands. The website list singled out some recently improved, better mousetraps for news updates (www.news.google.com), maps (maps.yahoo.com) and reference material (refdesk.com). Pictured above: the world's oldest citizen, Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper of Holland, who turned 114 yesterday. I'm off to Boston at noon, more presentations through tomorrow and then two days of hanging out with my pal Erik Andersen. Happy half-year mark!
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Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Tragirific
G'morn. One meeting down, four to go. Brief break. Here's the taxi explosion that occured right near my building last week (see my Wed June 23 post). I was Johnny On The Spot with my digicamera. Like a cheesy local newscast. : - ) Here are two more shots:
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No Place Like Home
Avoided the red-eye! Meetings went both well and quicker than expected, and Stuart, master of sales and logistics, got us to LAX in time for the 4pm, and even upgraded me to business. Sweet sleep, in my own sweet bed. Feels like a windfall, like finding a $50 bill on the floor : - ) Redondo Beach, pictured left, was the site of Seagate, our third and final meeting. Seagate are a laid back bunch housed in a ramshackle blue-and-white wood-frame 60s mall by the harbor, made up of contiguous Victorian houses. With the Pacific Ocean gleaming in our sleepy faces.. Pleasant dreams, fellow denizens of Slumberland.. : - ) this entry's permalink
Monday, June 28, 2004
LA Confidential
Between us, baby, I am one tired dude. And the week's just begun. Dude, where's my stamina? : -) Yesterday's post was unusually meaningful. Read on. Best, Aaron
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Sunday, June 27, 2004
See You, Dad...
Hello from L.A. Just arrived after a circuitous ride from LAX with a clueless and ill-tempered driver who has yet to master rudimentary English. : - ) I am writing this on the TV in my room, the only internet access offered here. I enjoy the novelty though it is cumbersome. This is to interet access what an attic is to a penthouse. My analogy du jour.
See you, Dad, refers to the trendy Latin restaurant where I'm dining with Brian in three hours, Ciudad.
Happy Pride Day, my NY friends. Sorry I can't be there with you. Were it not for this business necessity, I would have actually marched, with either Sundance, my gay outdoors club, or with Vassar's gay/lesbian/etc alumni/ae.
Pride Day 1979 marked my gay coming of age. During the parade I had my first passionate kiss with another man, Michael from the gay youth group I'd just joined.
He sought me out, saying he didn't want to let someone that sweet and cute get away. ; - ) In his eyes I guess I was, and he made me feel a rush of giddy adrenaline-pumping joy and love. He came back to Long Island with me that night, my family was away, and that was my beautiful first true adult sexual experience. For that whole summer, Michael became my pal, only with sex. Though only 17 to my tender 19, Michael knew the ropes, and he taught them to me. We later lost touch. I've never been able to find him, despite a few tries. He was last seen in Florida. I wonder if he's alive... I wish I could thank him and hug him. These are my thoughts as I mark a quarter-century as a practicing homosexual : - ) Practice makes perfect. : - )
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Rushing to the airport! To LA, meetings tomorrow, dinner w Brian tonight, red-eye home tomorrow night. The texture of the next two weeks. I will, though, rise to challenge of regular posting! Happy Pride Day! Love, Aaron
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