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Tuesday, 31 May 2005

The Horse is not Dead…

…the immortal words of some actor during an interview on Letterman.

 

So you haven’t done like I told you and gone to see “Crash”? What’s WRONG with you!? 

 

Gene Weingarten recently gave the movie a review of “very good” which is high praise from the King of the WaPo.

 

And an e-mail copied verbatim from my friend A, who I demanded go see the film:

 

Subject: You were right!

I went to see Crash on Thursday. It was incredible! Sad; but powerful. I'm forcing my family to go and see it as well!

 

It’s still in theaters, it’s still in the top ten.  There is nothing good coming out this weekend anyway (well, unless you like Russell Crow, then you can go see “Cinderella Man.” I happen to despise Russell Crow, so the movie hasn’t really made a blip on my radar). Go see “Crash.”

 

I am not being paid to endorse this movie.

 

XXX, Luv, DJ Groovy Slug

by: DJGroovySlug at May 31, 2005 13:06 | link | comments (2) random thoughts, dj groovy slug recommends

Friday, 27 May 2005

Sequins (Brodeuses): Charming French Film

I noticed on MovieTickets.com that the french film "Brodeuses" is being released in New York City as "Sequins." I was lucky enough to see this film on my flight back from Egypt and was absolutely enchanted that I watched it twice in a row.  Typical of foreign films, the movie is mild on dialogue and heavy on cinematgraphy and good acting.  The story revolves around the young girl Clare who discovers she is pregnant and decides to have the baby anonymously (which is legal in France).  She loves to embroider and goes to work for Mrs. Melikian, a top embroider and discover that they complement each other nicely. I highly recommend anyone who is in NYC area to catch the flick! Hopefully it may be extended to other larger cities.

by: DJGroovySlug at May 27, 2005 15:41 | link | comments dj groovy slug recommends

Friday, 27 May 2005

Survery: Northeast has Dumbest Drivers

woohoo! According to this article on CNN, Maryland and D.C. are tied for 44th out of 49 tested states.  Virginia, surprisingly, has a space way up in the 15th mark, no doubt because of Denzel and the many lives he influenced.

 

 "According to the study, many drivers find basic practices, such as merging and interpreting road signs, difficult."  I can attest to the fact that if there is one thing - ONE THING - that people in the Metro area do not know how to do, it is merge.  We can complain like cranky toddlers, we can eat fast food and spend exhorbitant amounts of money on homes and clothing, but we CANNOT merge. 

 

The article would actually be pretty funny if it wasn't so appalling to think about the consequences. 

 

why haven't we gotten off of work early yet for the Memorial Day weekend?

 

xxx, Luv, DJ Groovy Slug

by: DJGroovySlug at May 27, 2005 14:30 | link | comments (2) random thoughts

Friday, 27 May 2005

On the boyfriend, 9/11 and other ramblings

I know I mention "the boy" far too often for his own good, but today there is good reason.   My boyfriend is having a very special day up at school: the President is a-coming. Can't figure it out yet? I'll give you a second.

 

Yes, that's right, I'm dating a Naval Academy midshipmen.  Today is their graduation and Pres. Bush is this year's speaker as he rotates around the three service academies.  I think I previously mentioned that my boyfriend was "enlisted" and "in the Navy" both of which I got flack for from him but it was just easier to explain it that way.  But he is, in fact, a Mid.  I have never seen any president in person, nor have I ever been inside the White House. I'm somewhat jealous, even if it is President Bush.  I could have gone if I wasn't working.  (I should mention that the boy isn't graduating, because, yes I am also dating a younger man.  Okay enough about that.)

 

   We were talking on the phone last night and he said they have to get up at 5am to start security screening for the President. 5am!!!! Can you believe that?  Obviously I'm not a morning person.  Those boys and girls get up at 6am even when they don't have to, so I guess 5am isn't that big of a difference. Before we hung up he said "Oh and don't call my cell phone anytime in the morning or the snipers might take me down." Okay, okay, so security surrounding the President isn't funny.

 

The WaPo, which always covers Academy news extensively, has a great article on "The Graduating Class of 9/11" in both the WaPo Magazine, which covered local universities, and this one, which focuses on the Naval Academy.  While my boyfriend, being a youngin, isn't a part of this "Graduating Class of 9/11," I am.  I was a freshman and it's really hard to believe that it happened four years ago.  I remember the day probably more vividly than any other day in college.  Maybe I'll write about it on the four year anniversary this year, but it's too long to discuss now.

 

So no major plans for Memorial Day, since I've already had my beach trip.  Maybe the boy and I will try and get tickets to a Nationals game. And I intend to bake some treats for the local fire dept.  Or maybe we'll catch Rolling Thunder.  Who knows? Okay this post had very little focus but I'm here at work....

 

xxx, Luv, DJ Groovy Slug

by: DJGroovySlug at May 27, 2005 11:18 | link | comments random thoughts

Thursday, 26 May 2005

Wednesday Poetry (and don't say anything about how it's Thursday.)

Since I JUST started my new (temporary) job here in DC, it seems appropriate to write about it. Like the old folks say, “when it rains it pours,” and a lot of my fav bloggers have been thinking about job change decisions recently.  JustMe63 of This Just In  mentioned recently about the dilemma of deciding to quit his job. Jheka from The Daily Blitz just got “the call” and may be moving.  And Muskrat28 has been chronicling his active job search on his blog, the newly re-named Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings.  So Naturally it made sense to find a poem about jobs.

While I couldn’t find a quality poem about being hired or finding a job, I did find this gem about getting fired. Have you ever been fired from a job? I have. I was probably 15 and I worked at a pet store, cleaning out waste and getting bitten by any number of strange creatures.  The strangest animals we had? It’s probably a tie between the tarantulas, the groundhog and the hedgehogs.  The most disgusting? The ferrets, creatures that generate the same amount of waste as infant humans and smell twice as worst.

 

Anywho, it was my first job and I was blessed with a boss who lacked any type of human compassion and had the disposition of a concrete wall.  So when I didn’t give the required amount of days notice for vacation, she “let me go.” I spent the night crying over the world’s crappiest job.  The old hag called several weeks later to tell my parents that so long as I was sorry and maybe if I gave her a call back, we could talk about me going back to work. Ha.

From On Being Fired Again

I've known the pleasures of being
fired at least eleven times-

most notably by Larry who found my snood
unsuitable, another time by Jack,
whom I was sleeping with. Poor attitude,
tardiness, a contagious lack
of team spirit; I have been unmotivated

squirting perfume onto little cards,
while stocking salad bars, when stripping
covers from romance novels, their heroines
slaving on the chain gang of obsessive love-

and always the same hard candy
of shame dissolving in my throat;

handing in my apron, returning the cash-
register key. And yet, how fine it feels,
the perversity of freedom which never signs
a rent check or explains anything to one's family...

Erin Belieu, 2001

xxx, Luv, DJ Groovy Slug

by: DJGroovySlug at May 26, 2005 15:28 | link | comments (5) random thoughts, wednesday poetry

Wednesday, 25 May 2005

Back from the beach: A Quick Rant

So I managed to make it back alive and unharmed from a few days at the beach.  I had a blast but one thing I truly did not understand about the trip was how much 80s music the group played all the time.  "Hell yeah, Scorpians!" They would scream, belting out "Rock you like a Hurricane" and not realizing that they were probably age two when the band released that song.  What is it about the Gen Y kids who feel the need to associate with bands of Gen X?  We had great bands in the 90s: No Doubt hit its prime, we hadBiggie Smalls and Tupac, and P. Diddy was Puff Daddy.  We had dirty angry grunge rock and nothing screams early nineties like Nirvana.  Hammer. Vanilla Ice.   A couple of great albums from Michael Jackson. Mariah Carey.  Why in the world do we act like we know the 80s when everything we learned about it was from "I love the 80s" or from our older siblings?

 

whoops, the boy is here and we're going out for sushi. Be back for wednesday poetry later!

by: DJGroovySlug at May 25, 2005 18:04 | link | comments (6) random thoughts

Sunday, 22 May 2005

Off to the Beach

Well I'm off to celebrate my graduation from college with a few days of college style revelry down in the Outer Banks.  A friend rented a Great Big House and I'm going down there today with another friend.  However, I will be back Tuesday night because I start my NEW JOB on Wednesday (the one I interviewed for last Friday).

 

We saw Star Wars: ROTS last Friday and I really liked it! And surprisingly, I didn't sit there thinking "God, is it almost over yet," like I did with the first two.  In fact, I was surprised when it ended because I felt like it could've been longer.  Since I'm not a product of the original Star Wars generation, these movies have a much different effect on me than if I saw Episodes IV, V, and VI when they originally released.  I sort of see the movies as solid representations of comic strip style action, so I guess some flaws that others saw don't bother me.  I will say, though, that Padme and Anakin had absolutely no chemistry together, it felt like they didn't really love each other and I started to wonder about the true paternity of the babies. But I did enjoy it and wasn't in the least bit disappointed.

 

xxx, Luv, DJ Groovy Slug

 

by: DJGroovySlug at May 22, 2005 15:24 | link | comments (1) random thoughts

Friday, 20 May 2005

Which Alcoholic Drink are You?



 Cocktail
Cocktail

?? Which Alcoholic Drink Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

I must admit that most of the questions didn't have answers that I would normally pick.  But compared to the other options, I guess I would rather be a cocktail.

Unashamedly stolen from MizLiciouss.

xxx, Luv, DJ Groovy Slug
by: DJGroovySlug at May 20, 2005 13:11 | link | comments (3) random thoughts

Friday, 20 May 2005

Help Save the Corcoran!

 The Corcoran museum had plans to update the current building with a new wing by Frank Gehry  with a design that looks like sheets of  aluminum foil fell from the sky and landed gently over the building.  However,  the WaPo recently reported that fundraising efforts stymied recently and now the Corcoran may lose its opportunity to install the Gehry wing.  While I'm not making this a call for cash, awareness is the first step in beginning the fundraising process.  The Gehry wing would be a substantial edition to the Corcoran and the District for a number of reasons.

1.  Just a quick explanation of why the Corcoran feels it needs the Gehry: it hasn't quite yet found an identity and it struggles against the biggies of the National Gallery and the Smithsonian Institution here in town (both public institutions funded primarily from the government).  The Corcoran's collection is small and  it's a private institution, making it harder to attract the same kind's of crowds.  These are important reasons and well documented in the article.  But there are other's to think about:

2. Gehry has designed a number buildings in the U.S.; however, a number of them are located in the West Coast. According to Architecture Week,  Only two Gehry-designed buildings exist in the East Coast: The Rouse Company Headquarters in Columbia, MD and the Yale Psychiatric Institute in New Haven, CT.  First of all, I defy you to find a picture of the Rouse Company Headquarters.  Secondly, Gehry designed both of these buildings in the late 70s and 80s. They aren't the same style that we associate with Gehry.  It's high time that the East Coast of the United States has a substantial and recognizable Gehry building.

3. The Corcoran Museum was founded in 1869 as an art museum.  The Smithsonian was founded by Congress  in 1846, but the building didn't open until 1855 and at the time was simply a "national collection" comprised of historical and scientific objects and documents. .  The Phillips was founded  in 1921.  The National Gallery in 1937.  The Corcoran, for all purposes here, could be considered the District's oldest art gallery.  It would awesome for the Corcoran to take the angle of being the oldest museum with a brand new contemporary wing, combining the old and the new.

4.  The Corcorans is not just an art museum, it's a school.  Not just any school, but one of the best art schools in the East Coast.  Without ithe Corcoran Museum, the School could lose an important educational tool.  Students of the Corcoran gain experience in working with galleries as well as have access to numerous contemporary and classic works of art, an important part of art education.  The Gehry wing could be an exciting way to add architectural and design studies to the already exciting curriculum at the school. 

5. Architecturally, DC is the most boring city in the country.  Yawn.  Think of the Gehry being right next to the White House! Federal buildings and slabs of concrete are all you find here, and modern architecture is sorely needed to update the district.  It's definitely time for Gehry to come to DC!

There are many other reasons why this should be done and it's important for the public to recognize that the Corcoran and the District both desperately need for this to happen. Save the Gehry Wing at the Corcoran!

xxx, Luv, DJ Groovy Slug
by: DJGroovySlug at May 20, 2005 11:34 | link | comments random thoughts

Friday, 20 May 2005

Catching up, Moving out, and belated Wednesday Poetry

 Ah, finally able to post!  I've unfortunately moved back home while I look for a job and a place to live (and while I bide my time waiting for my Ecuador trip).  So moving out of the dorm happened Wednesday morning.  It wasn't like I forgot about Wednesday poetry, we got home and moved everything out of the rental van in record time.  As a senior and the daughter of a naval officer, I have become the most efficient mover in all history.  Unpacking is a totally different story; however, and my new room in my parents' house is an utter war zone. 

But even more complicated is the fact that Motime doesn't seem to work on my dad's computer, which I prefer beause it has a cable modem while they setup my laptop with a lowly phone connection.  But my dad also installed so much firewall and  other security measures that he could protect confidential military documents from our house.  So a lot of internet functions don't always work on our computer which could explain why  why Motime won't let me post but the posting page never comes up no matter how long I let it sit there.  I guess I'll have to suck it up and post with a regular phone modem.

Yesterday, I graduated from George Mason University with a B.A. in English!  Three cheers for me! And because I feel like tooting my horn, I graduated within the English Honors program and Magna Cum Laude.  Woohoo!  I would put up a pic of me rocking my honor chords but my dad only has a film camera and with our family's track record of photo developing, you might be lucky if you see them next year.  The boy came down and we went out for dinner afterwards.  It was a nice ceremony, and Ted Leonsis spoke, he's vice-chairman of AOL and majority owner of the Washington Capitols (and minority owner of the Washington Wizards and Mystics).  I'm a college graduate now!

Today is my last day of work!  Which is funny, because I also have an interview for another temporary position right after I get off work today, although this prospective  job is located downtown and pays a helluva lot more than the school job (of course).  This job should provide great contacts and it's only 30 hours a week for the month of June, so I'll still be able to job search while having a job with a definite ending. 

Tonight, The Boy and I have tickets to see the new Star Wars movie.  I'm interested in seeing it, although I should probably prepare and re-watch the first two.  I only vaguely remember movies from six and three years ago and I haven't seen since the first time I watched them.  I'm not a Star Wars fanatic but I like going to the movies.  By the way, has anyone gone to see Crash like I ordered? Go see it now!

So in honor of all the changes, here is Wednesday's Poem:

Moving In
 
  When I first moved
To this neighborhood,
Life itself would
Come abruptly
To my bed every morning,
Awaken my eyes, and pull
Me into its River’s flow.

I had to wake up,
To find my way—
The map of before
Was no longer of any use!

Colors and forms whirled:
Homes, sky, vegetation,
People, cars
Turned ‘round me
Like a wild kaleidoscope!

The neighborhood
Began to solidify
Gradually, a few months
After I moved in.

The kaleidoscope congealed.
I became a spider in a web,
Having spun my mental grid
Around the world.

I’d memorized my life!
I began to cross
The same intersection
Every day, instead of
Being surprised
By unexpected streams
Of asphalt rising
Suddenly in front of me.

And now I find
Myself thinking,
'I need to get away.'

Max Reif

by: DJGroovySlug at May 20, 2005 10:44 | link | comments (4) random thoughts, wednesday poetry