Sunday, March 06, 2005
Saturday Night not-too-special
What a great play on words, huh?
Well, the combination of many factors has caused some Saturday night insomnia. It's annoying, but I am very happy that this weekend is not like the last two weekends, when I had everything due at once, and it was my first time writing papers for school and doing the academic thing in 1.5 years, so I had all these insecurities about doing it right. But look I survived. And now, academic obligations aren't as urgent, although I had some things to read. If you would like to discuss the difference between 'rationality' and 'rationalization' in the urban planning process, don't ask me, because after reading through this chapter, with a few sections over and over again I still don't understand.
Yeah, so today, despite my desire to meet new Jewish people at the MULTIPLE synagogues in Chicago, I slept in so I couldn't make Satuday morning services. That's all right, I will have a few more chances. I joked around with my friends in Des Moines (all the close ones were not Jewish) that "I hate Jews" because a lot of the ones I met in Des Moines were some of the most vile personalities among human beings I've come across. Hee hee since I am a somewhat religious Jew I can get away with this, but if YOU out there said all the Jewish people you met were jerks and tried to speculate on why those Jews were a certain way, it wouldn't be P.C. Actually I won't go too far into this because I don't want to sound like an Anti-Semitic Jew. Anyway, from the large pool of Jews here, plus the enlightened urban culture, a lot of Jews I come across are going to be decent people, and that has been the case so far.
Although I'm not in with a cool crowd here yet that does cool stuff, I am taking advantage of the incredible choices of movie theaters here. A particular interesting film venue is the Gene Siskel Film Center, where on Tuesday, a day after I turned my final papers in, I rewarded myself by seeing a showcase of Oscar-nominated short films. You know, if you are an Oscar fan, there's those awards they give out for short films that at one point, I thought I would never get to see. Not anymore! And all of the ones I saw were incredible. I think, even with a good movie, it's hard to stay focused on the same storyline for 2+ hours. These short films just build up to a dramatic crescendo and then end, and your left dazzled and puzzled and moved. This post would get long-winded if I talked about each one, but maybe you can find some of these films online, because they are worth the look.
On Thursday, I couldn't control myself and went to the theater again (did I mention at this point I have no TV in my apartment and am often in the need of visual stimluation?) to see The Life Aquatic. This was very good, and the style of the director (who did Royal Tennenbaums and Rushmore) was used very well. What was interesting was at the pivotal final scene, I was really emotionally effected, but unlike other movies with profoundly emotional final moments, the effect of the film wasn't that clear. I began to realize that it wasn't much the character's epiphany in the movie, but rather how the one scene, visually, was consistent with the look of the film and brought all the elements together in a way words can't describe. Rather than heart-wrenching, it was very magical. So see that movie too.
I don't have an energy for a political rant, although the cover story for the print version of The Chicago Reader is about a young Republican pundit who runs a debate show at Northwestern.
Following political news, and the statements of conservative politicians, Young Republicans to me are so sad. This is because a fundamental theme through nearly all Republican policies is well to put it bluntly... "WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION, JUST PASS LAWS THAT HELP ME, NOW, FOR ME, MONEY FOR ME, AND MAYBE SOME TO MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY... AND MAKE SURE MY LEGITIMATE CHILDREN HAVE SOME SAFE PLACE TO LIVE WHEN WORLD WAR III STARTS, MAYBE A MOON BASE OR SOMETHING". Okay, a fundamental theme wouldn't be that long. But my point is, younger people are voting for Democrats more, and perhaps they are doing this because of all the selfish and uptight and oblivious-to-the-future posturing Republicans do? Because I know Bush is God-fearing man, but the way Cheney, and Rice, and Rumsfeld and their apologizers conduct themselves, I believe that they are getting off on as much power as they can before they die. And if what they do causes long-term trauma for the U.S., who cares, because then we'll be dead.
Whoa boy, this is getting heavy, and I'm capable of discussing issues rationally to. My prescritpion: an episode of Mr. Show on DVD and then bedrest.
Oh might as well check out the best current underground band in the universe while you are at it.
Well, the combination of many factors has caused some Saturday night insomnia. It's annoying, but I am very happy that this weekend is not like the last two weekends, when I had everything due at once, and it was my first time writing papers for school and doing the academic thing in 1.5 years, so I had all these insecurities about doing it right. But look I survived. And now, academic obligations aren't as urgent, although I had some things to read. If you would like to discuss the difference between 'rationality' and 'rationalization' in the urban planning process, don't ask me, because after reading through this chapter, with a few sections over and over again I still don't understand.
Yeah, so today, despite my desire to meet new Jewish people at the MULTIPLE synagogues in Chicago, I slept in so I couldn't make Satuday morning services. That's all right, I will have a few more chances. I joked around with my friends in Des Moines (all the close ones were not Jewish) that "I hate Jews" because a lot of the ones I met in Des Moines were some of the most vile personalities among human beings I've come across. Hee hee since I am a somewhat religious Jew I can get away with this, but if YOU out there said all the Jewish people you met were jerks and tried to speculate on why those Jews were a certain way, it wouldn't be P.C. Actually I won't go too far into this because I don't want to sound like an Anti-Semitic Jew. Anyway, from the large pool of Jews here, plus the enlightened urban culture, a lot of Jews I come across are going to be decent people, and that has been the case so far.
Although I'm not in with a cool crowd here yet that does cool stuff, I am taking advantage of the incredible choices of movie theaters here. A particular interesting film venue is the Gene Siskel Film Center, where on Tuesday, a day after I turned my final papers in, I rewarded myself by seeing a showcase of Oscar-nominated short films. You know, if you are an Oscar fan, there's those awards they give out for short films that at one point, I thought I would never get to see. Not anymore! And all of the ones I saw were incredible. I think, even with a good movie, it's hard to stay focused on the same storyline for 2+ hours. These short films just build up to a dramatic crescendo and then end, and your left dazzled and puzzled and moved. This post would get long-winded if I talked about each one, but maybe you can find some of these films online, because they are worth the look.
On Thursday, I couldn't control myself and went to the theater again (did I mention at this point I have no TV in my apartment and am often in the need of visual stimluation?) to see The Life Aquatic. This was very good, and the style of the director (who did Royal Tennenbaums and Rushmore) was used very well. What was interesting was at the pivotal final scene, I was really emotionally effected, but unlike other movies with profoundly emotional final moments, the effect of the film wasn't that clear. I began to realize that it wasn't much the character's epiphany in the movie, but rather how the one scene, visually, was consistent with the look of the film and brought all the elements together in a way words can't describe. Rather than heart-wrenching, it was very magical. So see that movie too.
I don't have an energy for a political rant, although the cover story for the print version of The Chicago Reader is about a young Republican pundit who runs a debate show at Northwestern.
Following political news, and the statements of conservative politicians, Young Republicans to me are so sad. This is because a fundamental theme through nearly all Republican policies is well to put it bluntly... "WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION, JUST PASS LAWS THAT HELP ME, NOW, FOR ME, MONEY FOR ME, AND MAYBE SOME TO MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY... AND MAKE SURE MY LEGITIMATE CHILDREN HAVE SOME SAFE PLACE TO LIVE WHEN WORLD WAR III STARTS, MAYBE A MOON BASE OR SOMETHING". Okay, a fundamental theme wouldn't be that long. But my point is, younger people are voting for Democrats more, and perhaps they are doing this because of all the selfish and uptight and oblivious-to-the-future posturing Republicans do? Because I know Bush is God-fearing man, but the way Cheney, and Rice, and Rumsfeld and their apologizers conduct themselves, I believe that they are getting off on as much power as they can before they die. And if what they do causes long-term trauma for the U.S., who cares, because then we'll be dead.
Whoa boy, this is getting heavy, and I'm capable of discussing issues rationally to. My prescritpion: an episode of Mr. Show on DVD and then bedrest.
Oh might as well check out the best current underground band in the universe while you are at it.
