Author: Gil

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Mini Driver

I worked at home today, dear readers, in anticipation of a visit from James Maloney & Son Tree Service. In addition to getting The Raccoon Lodge removed, we contracted a whole lot of other work with them, removing some smaller trees from the front yard, getting a couple of hazardous ones removed from the side of the house, cutting too-low limbs from the big trees to get some sunlight onto the yard, and sawing down some stumps so we can begin the nefarious second phase of Operation: Livable Back Yard.

Since I’d be at home, I took Amy to the bus stop today. It’s a quirky logic, but we’re a quirky couple. Anyway, about 10 minutes before the tree guys were to arrive, I thought, “Hmm. Amy’s Mini is sitting right in the driveway, and I bet they’re going to need to get past that in order to take care of a lot of this work.”

Unfortunately, her car’s a stick-shift, and I’ve never actually driven a stick-shift, outside of the one time she tried to teach me in the bus-stop parking lot. Oh, and the time when I was 16 and my pals Jon-Eric & Todd tried to teach me, before we headed to the Kinnelon Cinema to see The Running Man.

I dug deep into that 1987 version of me and tried to recreate the experience of zooming around the parking lot of my high school, but it was to no avail.

Then I looked again into that geeky high school soul and discovered inspiration from another artifact of that era: the Miller/Mazzucchelli 7-issue run of Daredevil! In particular, I recalled this set of panels from the final installment, in which our blind superhero must get behind the wheel of a car:

Emboldened, I went out to Amy’s Mini, took off the emergency brake, put it in neutral, let it roll down to the bottom of the driveway, tried several times to get it to start, tried several times to get it in gear, and eventually made my way up into the garage!

(Where I, um, stalled out and had to push it in the rest of the way so I could close the garage door…)

(Oh, and, before-and-after pix of the yard are pending…)

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Khoi Vinh gon’ be piiiiiiiissed. . .

In this week’s NY Magazine (which you really should check out regularly), there’s a short item about Gay Talese’s work on a documentary about . . . well, let me just run it here in its entirety:

Erstwhile Timesman Gay Talese, whose 1969 The Kingdom and the Power is a classic study of the paper, is back on the beat, working with fellow Times alum Arthur Gelb on a documentary about the paper’s struggles in the digital age. “It’s about why the Times is having difficulty attracting readers when in my opinion it’s still a very good paper, and about the difficulty of convincing young people to read it,” Talese said at the PEN gala April 28.

Is it because young people are reading the paper online? “We’re not interested in their Website,” he said. “We’re interested in our insights as veterans of old-fashioned journalism.” But does he read the Times site occasionally? “Never, and I never will,” he said. “I don’t even have a cell phone. I don’t deal with the technology. I don’t even know how to go into the Web. Maybe Gelb will do it. I insist on being with the people I’m writing about.”

Now, I can understand an old coot of a writer not dealing with the internet, but I’m not sure how many of them decide to make a documentary that’s intrinsically about the internet and refuse to even engage it. How self-important do you have to be to go down that path?

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Beer-goggling at the WSJ

Last November, I wrote about how the Wall Street Journal’s infamous headshot illo-style — which I like to call The Drew Friedmanizer — had a vested interest in, well, portraying Hilary Clinton a bit unflatteringly:

Nowadays, I think they’re more concerned about derailing Sen. Obama’s campaign. Why, in today’s article about how both Democratic candidates are pandering sacks of shit reframing their messages on free trade as they campaign in Indiana and North Carolina, Sen. Clinton has been transformed:

Maybe she visited Glamour Shots by Deb.

(I like the carefully placed flag pin, although I think giving her a pearl necklace is a bit cruel.)

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Caucasian Coincidence

Yesterday, I began reading Lush Life by Richard Price. The lead character/suspect, Eric Cash, is a hipster who’s a little too old to be hip and has to deal with losing his hyphen: as in, no longer being an actor-waiter, and just being a waiter.

At one point, he mentions how in college he got the lead in a play called The Caucasian Chalk Circle. I thought this was some sort of inside joke of a title, or a dig at the absurdities of college theater.

This morning, I received an e-mail from my local alumni association with the subject line, “Don’t miss The Caucasian Chalk Circle”! Evidently,

a) I’m a cultural moron,

b) it’s by Brecht, and

c) another alum is co-starring in it.

Anyway, here’s the website of the theater company (and a review), if you’re in NYC and wanna see one of the final performances (it finishes on Sunday).

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What It Is: 5/5/2008

What I’m reading: Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, on my Kindle via Manybooks.net. And Lush Life, Richard Price’s new novel, via Amazon’s Kindle store.

What I’m listening to: Third, by Portishead. It sounds like them, but not like them in 1995. There’s one song on the album that annoys me a bunch, but I bet it’ll turn out like Ring Road from the new Underworld record, which got all resonant for me during my Belfast trip.

What I’m watching: Juno, which was cute. And we started the third season of the wire, at last!

What I’m drinking: More G’Vine G&Ts, plus Circus Boy by Magic Hat.

Where I’m going: Nowhere this week, but I’ll be working at home mid-week when the tree-removal guys show up to clear out a bunch of the more hazardous trees in the yard. I’ll take before-and-after pix.

What I’m happy about: That my trip into NYC yesterday to donate platelets at Sloan-Kettering went off without a hitch, despite the presence of the Five Boro Bike Tour, which would shut down the southbound FDR Drive later in the day. If I’d gotten caught in that traffic on the way into the city, I’d have been quite peeved. Good thing I’m an earlybird!

What I’m sad about: That a tick managed to evade the combined efforts of Frontline and my vigilant eye, leading to a nasty-looking bite on one of Rufus’ forelegs. Now I’ve gotta get him to the vet. Grr.

What I’m pondering: When I went to that pharma-event in Atlantic City last Monday, the keynote address was given by Linda Ellerbee. She didn’t have anything to say about clinical supplies and outsourcing, but she did give a funny and warm speech about her own history, women’s roles in the workplace, cheating husbands, breast cancer, and the messed-up-edness of the media. Some of it showed a real datedness, insofar as a lot of women under 35 simply don’t have the same limits that Linda butted up against when she was trailblazing. But that’s not what I’m pondering.

No, what I’m pondering is why, of all people she could quote throughout history to illustrate the need to change one’s own ways, she went with Anwar Sadat. Now, I can understand why his words — “He who cannot change the very fabric of his thought will never be able to change reality, and will never, therefore, make any progress.” — were relevant to her speech.

I just think that maybe she could’ve looked for someone whose change of thought — in this case, visiting Israel and working for peace — didn’t lead to his being assassinated by his own army.

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Sun Roth

Today’s edition of the New York Sun’s Arts+ section continues to defend its title as Official Newspaper of Gil Roth (and several other Roths, as seen in #s 1 and 2):

  1. Roth Time Redux, discussing the impact of Dieter Roth,
  2. a new exhibition on Philip Guston, with a shout-out to Philip Roth,
  3. MoMA’s screening of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West,
  4. Daphne Merkin reviewing a book on the history of crazy-ass women, and
  5. and an absolute smackdown of Benny Morris’ version of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Even better: my coworkers believe the Sun must be “too conservative,” so they avoid reading it in the lunchroom, leaving me a pristine copy! However, since the owner of our company canceled our subscription to the NYTimes, which he believes is “too liberal,” the only other choices are the Wall Street Journal and the NYPost. . .

(BONUS! Today’s Sun also has a John Stossel op-ed piece on why the FAA’s inspections of airlines (and governmental inspections in general) are useless at best.)

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There Better be Blood

It’s your opportunity for a mitzvah, dear readers! My pal Elayne has asked me to put out word for any of you who are in the NYC/NJ area to help out her friend who’s battling lymphoma. He needs blood and/or platelets, so I hope you’ll help out, if you’re able. If you’re not able, but you know someone in the NYC/NJ area who is, please pass this along. All details are in Elayne’s request below, with a followup note from her friend’s wife.

Note: this request does not apply to my readers who are

  1. cancer survivors,
  2. gay users of intravenous drugs, or
  3. British.

* * *

Gil,

My close friend Nathanael is at Sloan-Kettering in NYC undergoing a very trying battle with lymphoma. Is there any way you and Amy could link the following into your blogs? Any donor type is acceptable, and the platelets are directly sent to Nate, with any leftovers going to other needy patients. Thanks in advance. A note from Nate’s wife follows. Nate is 38 years old, with a four-year-old daughter, Ava.

Love,

Elayne

———-

NATHANAEL SANDSTROM Needs Blood & Platelets

Nathanael is currently a patient at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. His treatment for lymphoma requires regular blood and platelet transfusions.

Nathanael, his wife Laura and family would deeply appreciate your donation of blood and/or platelets and hopes you will ask others you know to donate. Donations not used by Nathanael will be released for use by other patients many of whom are children.

Designated donations for Nathanael must be made in the Blood Donor Room of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Please visit www.mskcc.org/blooddonations for complete information about donor eligibility and the donation process for blood or platelets.

For answers to questions and to schedule an appointment that is convenient for you please CALL:

Mary Thomas @ 212-639-3335

Coordinator, Blood Donor Program

thomasfm@mskcc.org

or call the Blood Donor Room at 212-639-7648

Appointments are necessary

The Blood Donor Room Is Open Every Day

Fri Sat Sun Mon: 8:30am – 3:00pm

Tues Wed Thu: 8:30am – 7:00pm

1250 First Avenue (between 67th/68th Streets) NYC – Schwartz Building lobby

FREE parking is available for donors at our garage 433 East 66th Street corner of York Avenue.

The process for donating whole blood takes approximately 1 hour.

The process for donating platelets takes about 2.5 hours.

All blood types are acceptable

———————

Update from Laura:

Thank you in advance to all who are able to do this. Nathanael’s condition, still undiagnosed, is unchanged at best, with his mental state steadily worsening (from depression, drugs, side effects, and the perpetual unknown). Doctors continue to focus on the bone marrow and potential diseases within as explanations for non-generation of cells, and also on the spleen as a potential destroyer of blood cells, though depending on who’s talking, that spleen theory is debatable. In any case, this is why he receives daily transfusions, which is why they are doing the blood drive.

No one is yet able to explain why any of this secondary problem is happening; it may be caused by the chemotherapy that destroyed the tumors, or by an as-yet unproven spread of the lymphoma, or by an independent factor. One thing that everyone agrees on is that nearly everything about it is “extremely rare.”

We are so sad and scared, and appreciate your help so much.

–Laura