this is no romantic friendship

no, this is sohpia loren checking out jayne mansfield's large breasts. i love this pic. don't know its origins, but a couple of years ago, in another life, i had an acquaintance who had a coffee table book called *the breast book* and this was one of the many delicious pics contained within. i find it so intriguing that i just had to share it.

jb

Romantic Friendships

oprah, and her "best friend" gail, have recently denied reports that they are gay, and engaged in a sexual/romantic friendship. for years people have speculated about the nature of this "friendship," and perhaps that's why they chose to make a public statement setting the record straight. literally. both have identified as heterosexual, acknowledged the strength of their bond, which oprah, in so many words, said was so special and unique that it was difficult to describe in existing terms. perhaps, but it's so much more fun to think of these two as closeted gay lovers.

my theory on this one is that these two chicks are engaged in an old school romantic friendship - one that wouldn't be out of place in the 19th century. this means everything that traditionally exists between two lovers exists for them except for the sex. yes, gail and oprah, romantic friends. i wish they would own their queerness. just think, if oprah came out, queerness would instantly be acceptable because oprah is, as we all know, queen of the universe.

oprah and gail, living the the deepest of the deep closets.

jb

Pervert in the Park?

at our neigborhood town park, every morning during the 11:00 hour, a man drives up to this park restroom, goes in, and doesn't emerge for a half an hour. really. he parks in the same spot outside the restroom, does what he does in there, gets back into his car and drives home.

so, what is he doing in a public restroom, every day, for that length of time? is he doing what one normally does in bathrooms? if so, why does it take so long, and why does he drive from his home to do it?

there is something odd about this behavior. a. and i call him park pervert, but we really don't know what he's up to.

jb

Dawn Patrol

somebody help me, please. it's 6:14 (a.m.) and much too early for me to be up and moving around. you see, i had to take a. to the airport this morning at a most ungodly hour. we woke at 3:30, left the house at 4:00, got to the airport at 5:00, and now a. is probably taking off in her 6:15 flight to florida. this is harsh. can't remember when i've been up so early, but i do remember that i don't like it very much.

now i'm wondering what the hell to do. i feel too wretched to do anything remotely thought-provoking. i could take a walk, or i could just go back to bed and sleep the morning away. the latter option sounds the most promising.

one positive note from my dawn patrol: watching the sky change from a black, starry background into a muted purple-ish yellow was nice. i like the colors of morning, just as dawn is breaking.

jb

Last Week in Review

number of times allergy medication inhaled: 3

tree limbs trimmed in the yard: 15

old trunks painted: 1

showers taken: 6

books finished: 1

hours spent gardening: 2

bottles of wine consumed: 2

meals with rice: 2

bike rides: 2

hours spent walking the dog: 2

camp fires enjoyed: 1

restaurant meals consumed: 3

hours watching dvds: 5

phone calls to mom: 2

magazines read: 4

sick of war.

if i hear another bomb detonated, see another huge plume of black smoke, and people running in fear, carrying dead bodies i, myself, will explode.

i'm sick of war, and the bullies who wage war - the u.s., israel, insurgents in iraq. enough already. i hate to sound like those mamsey/pansey peaceniks of the 1960's but i'm ready to give peace a chance. war doesn't make sense to me. can't get my head around it. can't understand the fucked up logic that bombing someone will eliminate a potential threat, or that bombing can lead to democracy, or that bombing can create peace. lunacy.

on an individual level most of us know that we can't go physically harm or annihilate people who do not conform to our visions of the world or humanity. why can't we apply and understand this principle on a larger, macro level?

humans suck. we are weak and violent. as much as i try to resist it, i'm starting to see the world in a very hobbesian way. life is nasty, brutish and short.

jb

my dog eats cat shit

i'm afraid it's true. smith eats cat shit. embarrassed and alarmed, i searched for information on this, um, dietary habit and discovered it's not unprecedented. in fact, it's common.

turns out, cat shit is loaded with protein, and some dogs can't resist the taste. a couple of web sites even suggested, and i shit you not, that dogs find cat shit a "delicacy."

still, i wish my dog didn't enjoy this "delicacy." we can't simply shut off the rooms containing litter boxes to keep the shit-eating dog out. that would force the cats to start shitting everywhere. oy-vey.

looking for solutions to a real shitty problem,

jb

Cache Ending?

How do we interpret the ending of Cache?

1. The video terrorizer wasn't Majid, the childhood peer, who killed himself in front of Georges?

2. The video terrorizer was actually Majid's son, Walid?

3. The video terrorizer was someone else, known only to Georges, who, for whatever reason, chose not to reveal, to keep "hidden."

4. None of the above, OR

5. The video terrorizer(s)was Walid, AND Georges and Anne's son, Pierrot?

The last theory comes to me via a detail about the film, revealed in the closing segment as the credits roll, by Roger Ebert. Ebert draws our attention to that closing camera shot, in front of the school, as people ascend and descend the stairs. In the upper left corner of the frame we see Walid and Pierrot talking to each other in a familiar, friendly way. They converse, and then part company amiably.

I didn't notice this during my first viewing of the film, and only caught it after reading Ebert's interpretation of the ending. BUT it does suggest that these two sons were friends - a detail never revealed, kept "hidden" in the film. So, it's plausible the two of them conspired to force their fathers to address their shared childhood trauma, or to use it to annihilate their fathers. Or, they simply engaged in a mind-fuck experience for no reason at all - for play - not realizing this awful history between their fathers (which, by the way is superficially disclosed, but, for the most part, also kept hidden).

I don't know.

jb