watching... the girls go by

This is brilliant.

I just watched two movies. One was a documentary about Spencer Tunick, a photographer who I can't help but admire even though I KNOW that he's a gimmick a one trick pony. The sad thing is I think I may have seen it before. The whole thing. I may or may not have rented and watched that whole lo-fi, silly, disorganized documentary about a subject I dig and NOT REMBERED it at all. Which is really too bad. It's called Naked States and it takes place in the late 90's before he was "famous" and he had a harder time encouraging people to pose nude for him. There are some great moments, like when he asks a young woman at the Sturgiss bike ralley to pose and she tells her dad, who overreacts in a stereotypically macho biker way... or all the moments when well-meaning rural people in diners and bookstores explain with a firm smile that they understand that of course HE does this sort of thing because he's from New York, but "People 'round here don't do that. 'cept up at the school, but you know, that's art." Actually I think I liked the movie quite a bit. Which is great because in all likelihood I'll rent it in a few years and get to enjoy it all over again for the first time.

Also woke up at 5 this A.M. to see the Women's world cup Semi Final. US vs Brazil. I will not comment in case anyone's going to watch a rebroadcast... oh, that's right they don't bother rebroadcasting this World Cup because it's just a bunch of CHICS!

Then after the naked movie, I watched Who's Life Is It Anyway, a movie with Richard Dreyfuss which is awesome... and (spoiler!) about a quadriplegic who wants to kill himself in the early 80's. I had NO idea about some aspects of hospital life during this time period, but this movie made me feel very grateful (I'm serious here) for Anita Hill and every other woman who spoke up about sexual harassment. In this film an orderly routinely CHASES a young nurse around small offices and elevators (she eventually goes out with him!) a patient loudly complements a doctor's breasts (sorry, a "woman doctor's breasts") and she then sort of blushes and gets all melty in a gross undoctory sketchy sketchy way.

Sexual politics aside, the right-to-die as ground-breaking brand new question was really sweet and innocent and clean. Everyone was examining and reexamining this question as thought it had just been thought up, and everyone walked around down hospital hallways and through rainstorms (or in the quad's case, laid there, looking straight ahead until a hot young nurse wandered by to be harassed... sorry.) People got angry, but NOBODY talked about God. It was refreshing, and jinkies but nothing beats a young Richard Dreyfuss... 'cept maybe a young Richard Dreyfuss in that hat from Jaws (which he TOTALLY wears in this movie for like a second while he can walk!) and of course young Dustin Hoffman.

Miracle Healer? Really?

My foot has been hurting for a long time, and yesterday I went to an awesome physical therapist. She explained to me that the structure of my feet and the way that I walk were responsible for my pain, and gave me three exercises that will help me change all of that.

I am so relieved.

I'm back, and this time I've overdosed on Garlic

and I don't mean that in a colloquial sense, like when someone tells me that they're "addicted" to Veggie Booty.

Nope. I sat with my friend and ate SO MUCH garlic. It was roasted and then microwaved, and then eaten with bread and then without bread and it was delicious. (This was Monday, so I'm fine now, and just had a lovely "Back to School day" with the kids.) BUT on Monday night I was convinced I was going to die... I didn't know why. I thought it might be a cookie from my friend Dave, but my friend was sick too, and the garlic was the common culprit!

I believe in the power of words, so I prefer "Garlic Overdose" for it's specific clarity, but the internets tell me that it's POISON. (Check out the link if you doubt the fervor of these antigarlic crazies.) I have also come to believe that too much garlic at one time can damage the flora of my stomach and prevent it from digesting things(like a cookie) at it's usual busy clip. (JD, it was like at least one HUGE HEAD, so don't worry, it won't happen if you only use it recreationally. This will not happen to you.) Actually the ease with which I found "information" about "garlic poisoning" stunned me, so it was time to check and see if this was a random Google effect.

"Toner cartridge poisoning" led to almost no related items... no I don't know why "Toner Cartridge" was the first common household (ish?) item to come to mind. Blame the garlic.
"Corn poisoning" was all about sinister exterminators feeding pests.
"Jelly poisoning" was patchy, but DID bring up this disturbing piece about the banal hazards of incarceration.

At this point I had a quick chat with my sister and decided that I should be searching for other "miracle cure" type foods, more like garlic, so I tried "Vinegar Poisoning". Everyone in every interweb agrees that Vinegar is the CURE for all types of poisoning. Sure, now I know.

So, there you have it.

Also, I was mystified enough by this that I wanted to share all of this news with everyone I know, so there it is, I'm going to try a blog again. (Not least because of the Sprayberries.)

The Red Sox Won Last Night

and despite not caring a whit about baseball I'm completely thrilled.

Last night I went with some friends who actually own Red Sox shirts and hats (because of where I'm from, I have a default love for the Red Sox, but no actual interest in the American pastime) to watch the Red Sox beat the Mariners in a very dramatic game.

There was a heightened amount of "Security" going on at this game that really threw me. I watched someone's sharpie get confiscated (even though the 3 or 4 in my purse were ignored... it was enough to make me want to develop a tag while I was in the ladies room "Paste" or "Play-Doh" or something....) and then my pal got BOOTED for putting booze in his soda, (he was a kind of a folk hero to all the people in our section after a while) and the "Alcohol enforcement" people came back and officously carded two (very beautiful and youthful) women in their FORTIES which was pretty comical for all of us watching. When I worked in shelters, part of my job was a bouner-type roll, making sure folks weren't shooting up in the bathroom, or drinking beer out of a gatorade bottle, or selling drugs. I learned a lot about how to follow rules that are unpopular, but keep people safe, and the "Profit Enforcement" people brought out a sort of adolescent indignance and obstinance in me that folks who do that work should really try to avoid.

I haven't been to Safeco for 6 years, when I watched the Mariners beat the Red Sox. At that time, my pal Al almost got his ass kicked for wearing Sox gear to the game and we were the ONLY people in earshot chearing for the Sox. This time, though, you could see the bold red and blue contrasting with the kind of sissy pastel teal and purple throughout the stadium, and there was a large contingent of Sox fans in our nosebleed section. There was one dude wearing a newish Sox jersey who kept forgetting and cheering when the Mariners would score. After numerous reminders the poor bastard just stopped cheering altogether and let his ladyfriend in a tasteful white Mariners hat do all the work.

These were not all "since the world series" fans either... you could hear in the way people cheered "Sawks" that they were hahd-co-ah fans from back east. I adore being in a crowd. (Z hates them, and often feels anxious and exhausted at events like that one, but the buoyancy of the rest of us was enough to protect him from the throng.) Being in a crowd full of people all doing the same things together is so energizing to me, and to see have fans for both teams screaming their heads off, because, who knows you're clapping and jumping MIGHT make the difference.... what a rush. Anothter rush was paying $40 for a burger, fries and a beer. Wow, ouch. And then the sox one at the very last minute. It was freakin' awesome.

Lady Sovereign

is my new hero.

She's a young English rapper, and she rocks.

I'm reading Songbook by Nick Hornby which is this beautiful collection of essays about individual pop songs and their place in his life. Apparently the hardcover actually came with a mix cd to go with it, but I got the paperback used, and now it's killing me that I can't listen to Thunder Road while I'm reading his piece about it. In any case his tastes are incredibly varied (he's the guy who wrote High Fidelity) so he's got Ani Difranco and the Beattles and Badly Drawn Boy and Ben Folds... It's made me listen to music almost constantly this weekend. A shortlived radio show called Pop Vultures did the same thing to me while it was on. (the show is still available online, and is some great listening). I just suddenly find myself needing music in a way that I associate with adolescence, and I'm having to readjust that idea. Here I am all grown up, needing music in that same desperate way again. The only adult I know who craves and consumes and KNOWS music, especially pop music the way that Nick Hornby does is my father. He knows all music, devotes a huge piece of his brain and life history to consuming and integrating and loving pop music. And now, I guess, here I am, doing a similar thing, only with this part of my brain that tells me that I probably shouldn't. It's wierd.

In any case I've been planning a trip to the record store to stock up on MIA, Lady Soveriegn, Amy Winehouse, and the Blue Scholars. If I could find it, I'd buy a record by a band called Guns That Shoot Knives, who I saw last week at the Sunset, but I doubt they'll have them, since I can't even find them on Myspace! Sheesh. Generally, I walk into a record store with a very clear idea of what I want, and walk out with something that seduced me as I walked down the aisle instead. As a teenager, this was the Morphine problem... I'd walk in to buy a Morphine album and walk out with something else. This is top of the long list of reasons to buy music from a story and not online. The other reason is hip, short, attractive music geeks behind the counter who seem to be the same hip, short, attractive, music geeks who worked behind the counter in Rhode Island when I was in high school and college.... weird.

Anyway, rock some Lady Sovereign.

Oh, and PS use http://www.pandora.com

You type in the name of an artist or band you like and it tries to play you music that is similar. It's awesome.