What with near-party-line vote on Alito, the senate has a new way to advise and consent on Supreme Court justices, says Power Line, its first in 200 years:
Under the Alito rule, Senators will vote against a highly qualified nominee for no reason other than that they expect the nominee to rule contrary to their preference on major issues.
That’s how the cookie crumbled!
posted by Jim Bowman @ 1/31/2006 04:19:00 PM
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Self-serve groceries in the Jewel may be a bum deal for the customer, as T. Lili Grazulis says in a Chi Trib letter 1/21 — “an employee, trying to be helpful, asked if I would like to use the self-checkout. My response was to ask whether that would result in a discount, since I was going to be doing his job. I bet you know the answer” — or it may be a way to do a unionized employee out of his (protected) job, as Philip E. McAndrew said the same day — “I refuse to use self-checkout lanes in Jewel because by using them, I'm taking away the job of a unionized employee with a good income and benefits — but at the store on Lake Street in River Forest, a different story unfolded recently.
The unionized employee on hand to help people use the self-checkout ended up doing it all for me — I fell apart over the fruits and veggies I’d bought. She did so without complaint, efficiently. I muttered that the thing didn’t work so well after all. She muttered agreement. We made a nice meeting out of it. But the damn thing did me no inconvenience to speak of and did her out of no employment that I could see.
posted by Jim Bowman @ 1/21/2006 07:44:00 PM
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In the run-do-not–walk category as regards movies to see on VHS or DVD (or any other way you can manage), count “Shall We Dance” in the Japanese original version with subtitles (DVD), 119 minutes, PG! about ballroom dancing in the lives of ordinary people. It’s touching. Lots of film-makers try to get you to look long at faces and miss; this one scores. Marvelous film, not to be confused with the Richard Gere version, inspired by it, said Evelyn at the OP library, and she was right to praise this one. Japanese people will never look the same either. Get it, watch it.
Count also “For Roseanna” (VHS), a half-nutty love-affair movie (man and wife, can you imagine?) with Mercedes Ruehl as the wife, of “Married to the Mob” fame, and Jean Reno as husband, whom you may remember from “The Professional.” It’s Italian, in Italy, with characters speaking accented Italian-immigrant-style English but some Italian now and then. Sounds messy, true, but all in all you have here a relaxing movie with enough surprises and very attractive leads.
“Riverdance: The Show” (VHS) needs no introduction. It’s Michael Flatley’s gang performing in a huge Dublin theatre, song and dance at its best. Busby Berkeley has nothing on this. Run, see it.
To which Reader Cynthia:
I love the Japanese version of “Shall We Dance,” and I really appreciate your making it more widely known. Not only is it a better film than the American version, it really only makes sense in a Japanese setting — a culture where men would never touch a woman in public and just a generation ago, women walked a few steps behind their husbands. Dance was seen as being almost perversion. So the shame and secrecy of the lead character made sense.
If you’re looking for recommendations, a few other worthwhile movies are Diva (French), a stylish murder mystery with great music, The Rickshaw Man (Japanese, B&W), a classic with Toshiro Mefune — you will need Kleenex by the end, and Shower (Chinese), a charming look at a family caught in the midst of current change, with the old ways of life (like the public bath run by the old man and one son) dying out and young people trying to move into the new world, but with ties to the old (the older son) -- simply charming.
And of course there’s The Man from Snowy River, if you’re looking for a fun, romantic movie with beautiful scenery and lots of horses (plus a pretty amazing chase through the mountains on horseback). It’s based on one of the most famous poems in Australia’s history, written by A.B. “Banjo” Patterson, who also wrote “Waltzing Matilda” (strains of which you hear in the music during the closing titles). It’s such a huge part of Australian culture that Patterson and the Man from Snowy River are pictured on the Australian $10 bill. The poem only covers the events from the escape of the colt of Old Regret through to the bringing in of the horses, but the movie invents a back story to get you to that, and the amazing ride that inspired Patterson’s poem.
Happy movie watching.
Cynthia
P.S. Have you seen Narnia?
posted by Jim Bowman @ 1/18/2006 10:11:00 PM
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Books and essays, ideas from lots of places, some of them wild and woolly. This blog has conservative commentary, with special attention to literature, Oak Park Illinois, and cultural drift in general. Motto: "Two Cents and worth it"
Ex-newsman, ex-Jesuit, ex-preacher. Writer, pewsitter, reader.
