Saturday, February 12, 2005
Friday, February 11, 2005
Quote of the Day:
"Miss Davis, why do you think you have played women who could be considered bitches so well?" - Interviewer
"I play bitches well because I am not a bitch, perhaps that’s also the reason Miss Crawford has done so well at playing ladies." (puff, puff) -- Bette Davis
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Thursday, February 10, 2005
Uruguay and the L Word
I'm in Miami, business dinner lasted until 11 last night, didn't get to see my friend or sleep very well. I have two meetings here this morning, an afternoon presentation in Houston, and dinner in LA. Today, pre-recorded, comes Part 2 of my very liberal translation of Andres' impressions and thoughts following his recent visit to Uruguay. "When Argentine diva Sandra Mihanovich (on the right) and rock firecracker Celeste Carballo (to her left) declared their love in song, they chose for lyrics a poem by one of my favorite authors, Uruguay's Mario Benedetti. It runs like this... " "If I love you it's because / you're my soul mate, accomplice, and everything / and in the street walking elbow to elbow / we're much more than just two..."
Well, it does sound more poetic in rhyming Spanish. "This song recalls my own love story with someone who had come to Buenos Aries - he adored the song and we sang it in the streets... and so, 'elbow to elbow,' I was soon swept away to New York. But, back to Uruguay. Benedetti is a keen observer of character and social mores in this sleepy little Republic, and is best known for his brilliant short stories, which, among other things, look unflinchingly at Uruguay's 'Dirty War' in the 1970s and its many 'disappeared' ones.
But for many, Benedetti will always be the author of "La Tregua (The Truce)", a memorable short novel from 1959 about a May-September romance, as chronicled by the September party, a widower with three children who has eschewed relationships for a long time. The widower's favorite son turns out to be gay, which hurts him deeply, and remains unresolved, which is observed fairly and open-mindedly by Benedetti. In 1970 La Tregua was made into an unforgetable classic of a movie (nominated for a best foreign film Oscar) by Argentine director Sergio Renan, who is also gay, and its cast is practically a 'Who's Who' of a generation of Argentine acting talent.
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Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Oriental Continental
This afternoon, I am off to Miami, the next leg of customer visits. Today's post is the first installment of Andres' musings on, and photos of, his recent trip to the Oriental Republic Of Uruguay. That's actually this very European South American country's official name, though 'oriental' is used here in its original meaning of 'eastern' - the opposite of occidental and western. Uruguay occupies the eastern strip of the sea arm and gulf known as Rio de la Plata. (Tomorrow, we look at gay portrayals in Uruguayan literature and their influence on regional music, and cinema, but today, some basic background.)"Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, stands at the mouth of Rio de la Plata, and is the country's industrial and commercial center. Its population in the early 19th century was scarcely 300,000, but today, with its suburbs, it stands at 1.5 million, roughly half the country. (Pictured left is Andres in front of the monument to José Artigas, Uruguay's liberator and national hero. ) Right beside colonial buildings such as the Cabildo stand modernist architectural gems such as Congress, the University, the Customs House, and the Clinic Hospital. This hospital today also performs sex-change operations, which are still illegal in Argentina. Beautiful parks, like Rodó, Battle, and Ordoñez, act as the city's lungs. Founded in 1726, Montevideo has an excellent port and is among South America's most beautiful and interesting capitals."
"Perhaps Uruguay's greatest luminary was José Henrique Rodó (pictured left), writer, thinker, and humanist, who lived from 1872 to 1917 and wrote "Ariel", "The motives of Proteus" and "Men of America." Rodó eventually embraced idealism, and began South America's best modernist poet and one of its greatest intellectuals. "Cartoon!
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Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Smoke Gets In Your Ice
Tuesday morning, I'm sleepy and cold. Although, cold is relative. This mountain of frozen H20 can be found in Glacier Bay National Park, which can only be accessed by water, and is nestled in Alaska's tail. I've never seen a mountain of ice continually shed its boulders into the frozen sea. I did, however, see a mini-glacier in Norway five years ago, of which I'll have to dig up and scan a photo. Anyway, Daddy's gotta bounce. Time to breakfast, shower, and catch the PATH train to my first meeting, in Newark. Later.Car Tune:
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Monday, February 07, 2005
I Only Have Ice For You
I drew a blank on Saturday when Thomas asked me where I want to go on my next major vacation. On further thought, Seward's Icebox, aka that national-park-kissed wonder that is Alaska, seemed just the place. My vaca pal, Erik, would prefer St Petersberg. Either way, I get 20 hours of sunlight in late June.
I'm just back, exhausted, from a whirlwind Boston trip after working all weekend on my presentation. five meetings in eight hours, on very little sleep. It went pretty well. Had a drink with my friend Erik in the lobby of the Langham, where I stayed. We didn't have to pay for it, since they had already closed the register, and felt lazy.
Cartoon du Jour:
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Sunday, February 06, 2005
Why? Why? Why?
... must I work all weekend? because I have to make two dozen presentations this week in four cities and the people attending might want me to have something to say, and some printed matter to acompany my geeky Wall Of Data..
At left, you can see I'm not the only person who wonders Why?. Welcome to Why, Arizona, 40 miles from the Mexican border, on the edge of the scorpion-infested desert that IS Organ Pipe National Monument. Population? Maybe 50. Why was it built? Copper mining. But that was 40 years ago, when there used to be as show.... Why does it exist today? To sell Mexican driving insurance to US motorists crossing the border.
Check out Thomas' wonderful photos of Keith Haring's orgiastic homo masterpiece, "Once Upon A Time," curiously located in the men's room of the GLBT community center on 13th St.
You won't be lacking for pharmacies over the Mexican border... the theme of today's Cartoon du Jour:
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