Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Poem for Wednesday


Exile
By Ellen Bryant Voigt


The widow refuses sleep, for sleep pretends
that it can bring him back.
In this way,
the will is set against the appetite.
Even the empty hand moves to the mouth.
Apart from you,
I turn a corner in the city and find,
for a moment, the old climate,
the little blue flower everywhere.

--------


Not a terribly eventful day. Got up to the Oscar nominations announcement...I guess I made the right decision taking the family to see The Queen instead of Dreamgirls, but wow, that's a weird omission! Otherwise I was pretty pleased with the nominations, though younger son was quite annoyed that Prince, who won the best original song Golden Globe for "The Song of the Heart" from Happy Feet, was not nominated and that Happy Feet itself only scored one nomination, for animated film (apparently he believed it might get a Best Picture nod). My priorities are that Helen Mirren win and Forest Whitaker win; I don't care nearly as much about the picture or director awards (Scorsese may as well have his trophy this year since he didn't get it for The Aviator). Am a teeny bit torn in the Best Actor category...have no interest at all in seeing Venus, ick, and Whitaker was beyond astonishing in The Last King of Scotland, but Peter O'Toole has never won one and I sort of hope they tie! And I really want Mirren to win since Dench already has a trophy.

Speaking of The Last King of Scotland, a casting rumor that amused me -- James McAvoy as Scotty -- though the source is as unreliable as the ones saying Tom Cruise and Daniel Craig would be in Star Trek XI. Damn, but I am fed up with the franchise, whether it's in Abrams' hands or anyone else's and if I have to write one more "Damon Lindelof sneezes while mentioning Star Trek" article I will run mad. I can't get it up for the comic books or whatever Pocket Books is spewing out these days, and I don't even understand exactly what the complaints about Star Trek: Legacy are since I'm not a gamer. On the other hand, Hyperion sent me Desperate Housewives Emmy winner Felicity Huffman's book, A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend, with hysterical illustrations...now that I will have fun reviewing!


The old headquarters of the American Red Cross downtown, built in 1917 "in memory of the heroic women of the Civil War."


And the newer Red Cross building, completed in 2003, with a monument dedicated to servicemen and women everywhere.


I did not last very long during the State of the Onion (stinky and eye-watering)...exactly long enough to admire Nancy Pelosi sitting up there behind Bush, then he opened his mouth and that was that. Instead we watched Waiting for Guffman, which I don't like as much as A Mighty Wind -- it's a bit more mean-spirited, particularly toward the poofy director -- but still has numerous brilliant moments, particularly the discussion of penis reduction surgery and the song about the aliens landing. Oh, and was recording For Love of the Game before dinner while younger son was at Hebrew school and, you know, for everything I don't like about Kevin Costner in other venues, he can do no wrong in baseball movies, even mediocre baseball movies with predictable romantic flashbacks. Also, the fact that he's pitching a perfect game against the Yankees in New York helps.

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