Moved All Over Again

I just finished seeing Secretary again. I hadn't realized how long it had been -- over 8 1/2 years since the last time, and I think that was only the second. Powerful to see it again -- I couldn't bear to miss a second, and didn't leave the theater until the credits were over. I also noticed this time that the music is by Angelo Badalamenti, which doubtless adds to the quality of the experience. It's my second favorite movie, after Contact. My favorite line from the movie is "Why not?" My favorite line from Contact is "That's a good answer."

http://www.secretarythemovie.co.uk/

Study: Left, Right Equally Prone to Confirmation Bias

Here's an interesting story from this week's On the Media: http://www.onthemedia.org/2011/nov/25/everyone-rejects-inconvenient-facts/

An Unsurprising Story

Interesting news discovered belatedly, and I'm not surprised. I had an encounter with his group in 1996. The way he led the meeting was domineering verging on bullying, as well as homophobic. And he made no apologies for having been running mate to Lyndon LaRouche, stacks of whose cult literature stood near the entrance of the "community center" where the meeting took place.

http://mojoey.blogspot.com/2007/06/hero-falls.html

A woman who also attended -- perhaps the only other person there who wasn't in the cult -- told me afterward that she didn't have the right to criticize him because of his history with the Civil Rights movement (he was one of MLK's "field generals"). I said if she thought he was wrong, it was not only her right but her duty to say so. But doubtless that background did deter a lot of scrutiny he'd otherwise have gotten.

Wednesday evening I came home to find yellow tape blocking the stairs. I tried a side door but found, in accord with past experience, that none of my keys work in it. As it was after hours I had no alternative but to stoop under the tape so I could get to my apartment, even though the new paint on the stairs was still sticky.

Yesterday a neighbor told me she has a key that lets her in the side door. She said she'd show me the trick when she sees me again, but I don't know when that will be as I'm not even sure where she lives.

Meanwhile another neighbor had pointed out that the usual procedure is to paint stairs one side at a time, so that residents don't have to look for alternate routes.

I seemingly had a paranormal experience about half an hour ago, in which I saw a statue move. Unfortunately it was just a dream. But I was so excited at the time that, in my attempts to get others to see it too, I apparently vocalized (indistincty) through my sleep paralysis, much as I've done during certain nightmares. After I'd failed at that the statue, which looked like a mixed-media sculpture of an African goddess resembling Whoopi Goldberg, apported and tossed me a red and white umbrella. As if to make light of the situation I said "Two, two umbrellas!" after the manner of The Count on Sesame Street, and she obliged me with another one. That's when I awoke, heart pounding.

Quote of the Day

"The mosquito women really got inside my head." -- Andrew Murphy

What's that you say -- you want context? That would spoil all the fun! But here's a clue: it was said at Philcon.

Leader? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Leader!

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2011/11/occupy_denver_leader_dog.php

If the Tea Party are going to call themselves that, they should really do something more like the original Tea Party -- like, say, gather at a Boston pier disguised as Native Americans and dump a bunch of sick infants without health insurance in the harbor.

Quote of the Day

"Consciousness, as far as I can tell, is a consequence of the laws of the Universe, not an ingredient of them." — physics Nobelist Frank Wilczek, speaking at Penn this evening