Ascenseur pour l'échafaud . . .

. . . is going on my list of films overshadowed by their soundtracks, along with Superfly. I've been a fan of the score for a long time, with Miles Davis's lonely lonely trumpet nearly bringing a tear to my eye. I just got around to watching the film, which is pretty good--great imagery, intrigue, everything not spelled out for the thinking viewer, and nice bookends for the start and end. But . . . the score is head and shoulders above the film. I don't know if the film's been written that could live up to that score, which was largely improvised over the film itself.

I could never be a film or music critic--I like too much of what I see and hear!

How a bill becomes a law

Bethel weather has been crazy--ranging to and from 30 degrees on both sides of zero. It's been well above zero this week, with lots of blowing snow. Perfect time to start training for a spring marathon! Actually the first week of training hasn't been too bad.

I had an amazing visit to Barrow last weekend. So many familiar faces, and such an outpouring of affection for my family. It felt really nice, and it was great catching up and seeing the familiar sights after being gone for a decade. Of course I brought the digital camera and failed to take any pictures . . .

I was sorry to hear that my candidate of choice, Dennis Kucinich, is leaving the presidential race. Still, his leadership in Congress is more important than ever, so if he needs to fight to keep his House seat, I respect his pragmatism in deciding to spend his time back in Cleveland. I know he'll keep working for peace and justice.

The University of Akureyri, Iceland is offering the first ever LL.M. program in Polar Law. Very timely, with the icecaps melting, and tourism, shipping lanes, and oil & gas opening up in the Arctic Ocean. I'm a little tempted to apply--maybe some other year, once I've shaken off the eternal student label.

I think it's a little suspicious to use Facebook to rank books by the average SAT score of the schools in which they are top ten favorites. It also smacks of elitism. Granted, I've read more books in the list's top 20 than books in its bottom 20, but reading and enjoying the Bible doesn't make you less erudite than reading and enjoying Crime and Punishment, as long as you read both with a critical eye. Perhaps I'm getting too worked up about something on the Internet that's not even peer-reviewed or in a scholarly publication . . . Heck, I'm happy that young 'uns are reading. Reading books!

How I ended up in law school

Ted Rall, don't ever stop.

Rock you like a hurricane

Wow, that was a long vacation. I don't think I've been gone for that long since I moved to Bethel. Evanston was grand, as always. Got in some great time with the family, friends, and the cats. Too bad I was coughing the entire trip. Went to some great performances--Music of the Baroque, and a Light Opera Works production of Oklahoma!, which I enjoyed more than I thought I would. Going to the movies was fun too. Beowulf was a letdown: Neil Gaiman's writing was below genius level this time, and Crispin Glover's amazing acting as Grendel couldn't elevate the movie above the 3-star level. I Am Legend had some decent action, Will Smith did a good job talking to himself for most of the movie, and it seemed to borrow a lot from Twelve Monkeys, a much better movie. Charlie Wilson's War was everything an Aaron Sorkin movie should be: witty, smart, and only slightly preachy--I think it's my favorite of the bunch.

New Year's had the potential to be a big letdown, long story there, but it turned into a fun trip to Cleveland. Who knew First Night in Akron could be so fun? Anyway, I had a great visit to Rock n' Roll City, USA, and I think I missed the worst of the snowstorms on the bus ride home.

At the risk of venturing into crass commercialism, megabus.com is pretty cool. Nifty double-decker buses that aren't too crowded, reasonable fares (cheaper than Greyhound), and they only go to the bigger cities instead of stopping in every town on the freeway like Greyhound. The only downsides: no bus terminal to shelter you from the elements--you have to wait outdoors, and no customer service after hours--you can't call after 10:00 eastern to find out how much the snowstorm is going to delay your bus. But on the whole, a good deal. Hope they're makin' money.

Flying home went smoothly for a change. Everything was pretty much on time, and I had fun talking to a Bush teacher on the plane from Seattle to Anchorage. Making new friends on the plane--that pretty much never happens anymore, it seems. So, yay!

It's been fun following the presidential campaigns, albeit without my usual diligence. I'm still a Kucinich man, but it was cool to see a fellow Gen X-er and all-around cool guy like Obama win the Iowa Caucuses. And I will join the chorus of voices saying that Mike Huckabee's tax plan is insane.