Hard Candy

I saw this movie for the first time a couple of months ago. I've now seen it four times and still can't get enough. If you have two free hours, watch this movie. Teenage actress Ellen Page gives an extremely compelling performance. I was blown away. This movie has stuck in my mind and is one of the best in the last ten years. I promise you've never seen anything like it before. Here's a brief plot outline taken from www.imdb.com:

For three weeks, 14-year-old Hayley Stark has been chatting on-line with 'Lensmaster319', a 32-year old fashion photographer, named Jeff. The two agree to meet at a coffee shop called Nighthawks. They hit it off, despite the massive age difference. Hayley appears to flirt with Jeff, and Jeff generally restrains himself, even admitting that he must wait 4-years until he can be with her. But his reservations are apparently not enough to decline when Hayley all but invites herself over to his house. Once at the house, manipulation becomes the name of the game, and the pedophile seems to be on the non-traditional side of it.

Paula Poundstone

What moron said that knowledge is power? Knowledge is power only if it doesn't depress you so much that it leaves you in an immobile heap at the end of your bed.

I have this friend, one that I go way back with. But we have a problem. Or at least I have a problem. She always says "we should get together and go out soon". I agree and set a date. She says she'll call and we'll confirm the plans. She never calls back. Or if she does it will be days later. And nine times out of ten when she does call it's because she needs a favor. Recently she called and asked for a BIG favor. For the first time I said no. I simply cannot do it. On the one hand I feel bad and want to help her out but I also feel used. The funny thing is she has often complained to me about a friend of hers that never calls when she says she will or blows off their plans. I have trouble biting my tongue. I'm getting pretty tired of it though. Truthfully we aren't terribly close but we do go back a long way. I'm wondering if it's worth it to have a confrontation or if I just ignore it and chalk it up to how it's going to be with her.

Addicted to Rehab

Words of Wisdom

Laura Kightlinger

I used to think drinking was the only way to be happy. Now I know there is no way to be happy.

Homer Simpson

Hey, just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!

Janeane Garofalo & Ben Stiller

Many people feel that mass acceptance and smooth socialization are desirable life paths for a young adult... Many people are often wrong... Don't bother being nice. Being popular and well liked is not in your best interest. Let me be more clear; if you behave in a manner pleasing to most, then you are probably doing something wrong. The masses have never been arbiters of the sublime, and they often fail to recognize the truly great individual. Taking into account the public's regrettable lack of taste, it is incumbent upon you not to fit in.

Janeane Garafalo

I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth.

Hypocrisy is simply delicious

WASHINGTON - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledged he was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.

But he says in his own defense: "Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity.

"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials."

Whatever.

For a friend...

I ask anyone who reads this to please keep Puppy and her family in your thoughts and prayers, or better yet stop by her blog and offer your condolences. Her father just passed away.

10 Favorite Songs

Tagged by Tooners
I could put many more on this list but these are a few of my most beloved musical treats.

1. Overkill by Colin Hay
I feel this way all the time.

2. Fragile by Sting
Just lovely and smooth and sad.

3. Kon Kamenpe by Kalyi Jag
Kick-ass Romany/Gypsy music. This group moves something in my soul.

4. The Rishi Kesh Song by John Lennon
Raw and brilliant.

5. Sugar Rum Cherry by Duke Ellington
Just try and pretend you don't love this.

6. Black Steel by Tricky
Public Enemy cover and damn it's so deliciously good.

7. What'll I Do? by Mildred Bailey
One of the big-band era's best singers, shamefully neglected.

8. In the Pines by Nirvana
Heartaching rendition of a Doc Walsh bluegrass tune.

9. Rock in This Pocket by Suzanne Vega
One of my favorite chicks with a guitar.

10. Pump by the Sugarcubes
Dark, sensual classic by the Icelandic group.

I tag anyone who wants to do it. Let me know if you do so I can check out your list.