The Reader, 108 Sun Salutations

Went to see The Reader with Sascha last night. I'm not a big fan of forced new year celebrations, so seeing a movie I've been eagerly awaiting at 9:30pm would be the perfect way to ring in the new year. But alas, apparently movie theater employees had more interesting plans, as that show was cancelled for yesterday. Nevertheless, we saw the 7pm show and made plans for dinner at Figlio instead.

I'd read The Reader (and plenty of other books) when I was broken last summer. It's an excellent book, and I was anticipating being disappointed with the movie as often happens, but the movie was earning rave reviews. The reviews were right: the movie was very well executed. Extremely well in fact. Kate Winslet put on what must be the performance of her career. Much credit must be given to the book and the screenplay, but Winslet's character is very nuanced, and she pulled it off well. I lived in Germany for two years, and I have to say that it portrayed the German angst over the Holocaust and the (tragic) German reserve very well. Everything that was going on beneath the surface came through, whether you've read the book or not. Some liberties were taken with the chronology and a couple of scenes to translate events to the screen, but nothing that distracted. This is a must see movie, well-deserving of the awards it's earning. (Besides, you get to see Kate Winslet naked - need I say more?)

Figlio, by the way, was excellent. I'd never heard of it before, other than crashing the bar during a Cat 6 mustache ride. I had the lobster ravioli, and it was yum! At $2.50 per ravioli square it was a bit pricey, and you didn't even get any sides, but I've paid more for mediocre food, so really, it was a pleasant splurge.

Today I did 108 sun salutations at the yoga studio. For the non-yogis, a sun salutation is a flowing series of poses, usually for the purpose of warming up the body in preparation for more advanced poses. There is a tradition of welcoming the new year with 108 sun salutations (an auspicious number), so I joined a heated studio full of fellow yogis and yoginis, packed mat to mat, for an amazing practice. There was a real sense of community, and it was an intense way to start the year. You'd probably have to be there to understand.

Another year gone by. A year marred by a seriously nasty bike crash, a stock market crash, a dangerously incompetent president and business leaders, ethnic and religious bloodshed around the world and accelerating global warming. But there is hope for a better 2009 as the majority of Americans have learned the hard way that change is needed, and we all play a part in that change. I'm hopeful that 2009 will pave the way for great years to come, and I hope everyone emerges well from the doom of the moment. No matter how bad things are for us right now, remember that we're pretty privileged compared to most of the people in the world. Be thankful, be kind, and be present.

Politically incorrect

Obama's new Social Secretary Desiree Rogers (didn't even know there was sucj a post!). Yummy.

Funny pics from the debate...

...if you haven't seen them yet.
Unfortunately Obama was looking all presidential and shit.

Yes we can!

Love this photo from Timmer!

This and that

This blog was at 666 posts, so it's good I decided to update it! No Twine Ball cyclocross race today. Turns out it's been neutered: they took out the centerpiece of the race (a big mound from which you can see the rest of the course) and made it flat and fast. Saves me $25 and a long drive. Too bad, though, that was my best race last year. Plus I slept in - that was nice! Looking forward to the Wirth race tomorrow. The Ridley crew is putting it on, so I expect a good cyclocross-y course from them. It'll be the only urban race this year, so hopefully there will be a Powderhorn/Boom Island turnout. Plus, Meow is bringing pumpkin muffins, which is reason enough right there!

I'm ashamed to admit I haven't bike commuted since we moved offices. Considering the new office is closer, that's pretty pathetic. But today I did a trial run of my new route, and I have my lock and shoes at work, so I'm all set to start bike commuting on Monday. The poor Surly is still a parts donor at the moment, so I'll be taking the BMC for now. I don't think it's too happy about having lights on, but no fenders or saddle bag yet. It'll just have to come to grips with the fact that road racing season is over, and be happy to get out of the house at least!

Running has taken a back seat now that the duathlon is over. I still run a couple times a week, but no speedwork. It'll kick up again once cyclocross season is over and it gets too cold to ride.

I'm really scared about the economy. Lame duck Republican president that no one believes any more, already in debt to our eyeballs because of Iraq, years of deregulation and mortgage time bombs ticking away for some time to come. A general sense of doom pervades. I'm okay for the moment, but like many people, I'm a paycheck away from trouble. The only good thing is that I moved the bulk of my 401(k) into a conservative account a while ago. Everyone says buy low sell high, but I'm not quite ready to roll it over into my more aggressive account with my current employer. We haven't hit bottom yet either.

Bush's social security plan

Funny, I don't hear much about Bush's plan to invest social security into the stock market any more.

I'm voting for McCain

Okay, just kidding, but McCain said made the most (and maybe only) sensible proposal to deal with the economic crisis that I've heard so far.

The Arizona senator said he would cut taxes for all Americans and proposed a new policy in which the Treasury secretary would "buy up bad home loan mortgages."

The proposal would cost about $300 billion, which the campaign says would come out of the $700 billion financial bailout package passed by Congress last week, according to a fact sheet distributed by the McCain campaign.

"Let people be able to make those payments and stay in those homes," McCain said. "Is it expensive? Yes. But until we stabilize, we're never going to be able to turn around and fix jobs. We got to bring trust and confidence to America, and I know how to do that."

This is what I've been looking to hear for a while now, and McCain said it. This addresses the root of the problem, not just symptoms. While deregulation is also at the root of the problem, fixing that won't change anything for years. Fixing as many shady mortgages as possible will go a long long way toward improving the situation both for homeowners and for the banking industry. Why the banking industry hasn't been doing this themselves is a bizarre mystery to me, but clearly they need to be told what to do. I applaud McCain for this proposal. Whether it's just smoke and mirrors or not remains to be seen, but at least he's got it on the table, and that's a good thing.

Where our bailout tax money is going

Less than a week after the federal government offered an $85 billion bailout to insurance giant AIG, the company held a week-long retreat for its executives at the luxury St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, Calif., running up a tab of $440,000, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said today at the the opening of a House committee hearing about the near-failure of the insurance giant.

Washington Post

Was that drill baby drill or spill baby spill?

Hurricane Ike spilled 500,000 gallons of oil

Hurricane Ike's winds and massive waves destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks and punctured pipelines. Only now is the environmental damage becoming apparent: At least a half million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.

Blame

"This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country," McCain senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said.

It wasn't long, however, before McCain told reporters in Iowa: "Now is not the time to fix the blame, it's time to fix the problem."

Right. Not to mention that it was House Republicans who defeated the bill, not Obama and the Democrats.

Cringe-worthy

Watch CBS Videos Online
In case you're wondering why McCain is keeping Palin away from the press, see for yourself.

McCain Embraces Regulation After Many Years of Opposition

Maverick? Straight talk? How about flopping like a fish out of water.

Three years earlier, McCain had joined with other Republicans to push through landmark legislation sponsored by then-Sen. Phil Gramm (Tex.), who is now an economic adviser to his campaign. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act aimed to make the country's financial institutions competitive by removing the Depression-era walls between banking, investment and insurance companies.


That bill allowed AIG to participate in the gold rush of a rapidly expanding global banking and investment market. But the legislation also helped pave the way for companies such as AIG and Lehman Brothers to become behemoths laden with bad loans and investments.

Palin finally admits backing earmarks, bridge to nowhere

But she prefers the terms "infrastructure earmarks" and "a link between a community and it's (sic) airport".

Larry Craig

Palin: how exactly do Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac work?

Unbelievable. Okay, maybe not unbelievable.

Awesome clip from Jon Stewart

Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska, by the way.

40 years ago today

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Best endorsement ever...

...for Obama.

Cross us and we will crush you

“If anyone thinks that they can kill our citizens and escape unpunished, we will never allow this. If anyone tries this again, we will come out with a crushing response,” Mr Medvedev said, according to Reuters.

“We have all the necessary resources, political, economic and military. If anyone had any illusions about this, they have to abandon them."

Sound familiar?

Best buds

"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul."


Georgian woman in front of one of several apartment buildings hit by Russian airstrikes in Gori (outside of disputed South Ossetia). Russia is pressing their attacks from Georgian South Ossetia into Georgia proper.