Blogcritics Author: Tim Taylor

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Movie Review: Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price

Tim Taylor — Wed, 6 Sep 2006 02:19:03 EDT

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is a documentary that, in essence, attempts to shred Wal-Mart's strategy, executives, and mission as being unsafe, unfair, and inhuman. The documentary focuses on a variety of issues starting with how Wal-Mart destroys a town.It focuses on one family-owned business and a town that had been vibrant and active for years until Wal-Mart came in and crushed the business and, apparently, emptied the town. The owner of the store in question talks about how he and his team needed to focus on service because if you go into the plumbing section in Wal-Mart, no one knows plumbing and that's what will keep the customers coming back.Apparently not, as the shop closed and the town was deserted shortly after Wal-Mart opened. Additionally lamented is how the government so carelessly subsidizes the growth through tax breaks (which they argue could be used for schools).It also focuses on Wal-Mart's harsh treatment of its associates. First they show how workers are forced to "eat hours" or work more hours than they are paid. Also, it shows how these same employees simply can't afford to pay for their family's medical bills with Wal-Mart's insurance and Wal-Mart encourages them to use government programs. Next it looks at how Wal-Mart crushes unionization attempts to improve working conditions. It also covers inhumane working conditions abroad related to Wal-Mart.The movie covers how Wal-Mart's inattention to security in the parking lots has resulted in crimes perpetrated against their shoppers. In the movie, they come right out and ask how a multi-billion dollar can't pay for golf-cart driving security forces because a study proved that crime went to zero when they did.Finally, it shows how several communities won battles with Wal-Mart to keep them out. It appears more often than not, it's done by a city council vote.I thought the movie was mildly interesting and poorly done. I understand this type of movie is a specific point of view. I was indifferent going in and am still indifferent about Wal-Mart.I compare The High Cost of Low Price to Fahrenheit 9-11, where I was sort of against President Bush and the war previous and staunchly opposed after watching the movie. The difference for me was the way the case was built. In The High Cost of Low Price, there is not enough context for relevant facts that interests me. For example, the hardware store claimed service is super important. It seems like price is more important and if it is, how different are their prices? Or why not ask a few customers how they felt about the service they got? As for underpaying the employees and eating their hours, nobody forced them to take the job. And for the families they can't support, nobody forced them to have them. I think it would have been very interesting if they had featured, for example, a family that was impacted by a downtown job lost who was "forced" to choose a Wal-Mart job.Eating hours (or working hours that you don't get paid for), that happens all the time in public accounting, consulting and law firms, as well as all types of white collar jobs. I understand the economic dynamic is different, but the working assumption is the same. If I don't do it, they'll fire me and find someone who will.In the case of security, do a simple analysis comparing how Wal-Mart's inattention stacks up against Mall security or downtown security (where I'm sure you couldn't shop until midnight) or gas stations, etc. If they prove to be comparatively negligent, that's far more convincing than just stating the fact.That's even true for the working conditions abroad as well. I'm sure it's not just Wal-Mart who is to blame for the poor working conditions anyway. Or at least I think it's not. The movie neglects to mention which company's products are being produced in these sweat shops. Are they Wal-Mart private label or another brand? Confoundingly, the movie fails to give sufficient attention to the politicians who vote the Wal-Marts in, along with their subsidies. Briefly it mentions it when one politician noted if they say no, they will just open up right outside their county lines in a county that would say yes. Even if it were true, why would the council vote yes for a town suicide? Why not go talk to the politicians in the neighboring towns? Why not look at any potential voter backlash from politicians that did sink towns? The one time the movie effectively uses the context technique of presenting a case it worked beautifully. Wal-Mart has a program where workers contribute to a fund to help other workers who run into trouble. Millions are donated by workers (although they don't really go into who gives what amongst the workers). The Walton heirs, who collectively are worth $100+ Billion, gave $6,000 to the program. That's interesting and worthy of discussion but won't really result in any action. They compare their giving to Bill Gates (remember when everyone said he was the devil?) who had given 58% of his wealth up. So, all I can take away from it is the Waltons are tightwads, so what?The movie, for me, is another example of why sustainable growth or socially responsible agendas are almost never successfully advanced. They appeal to the humanity of people by pointing out they are inhumane, which at an absolute minimum is judgmental. If the moviemakers simply pointed out their irresponsibility in the context of the organizational world in which Wal-Mart operates that, in itself, is compelling. Ironically, an excellent small example is included in the movie when a "river keeper" goes through the legal morass to eventually make Wal-Mart change its irresponsible behavior. She mentions, in passing, she understands if Wal-Mart pollutes the water that it impacts a mother drawing water for her children. But there's no cheesy music, just a statement of position that's compelling and results in a worthwhile solution.There are far too few examples in a movie that is not worth watching unless you're interested to see why so-called liberal agendas (and by the way, presidential candidates) fail: because they don't know how to play the game. I understand movies like this are meant to provide a stepping off point for discussion; this movie is confusing and irresponsible because it barely even does that. It certainly did not leave me with any type of conclusion on how I feel about Wal-Mart. Rather it leaves me with the conclusion that the filmmakers are incompetent.

Tim Taylor is about love, understanding and compassion. He writes honestly and intends for us all to live similarly.

Book Review: The 1950s' Most Wanted by Robert Rodriguez

Tim Taylor — Mon, 4 Sep 2006 20:47:51 EDT

The 1950s' Most Wanted by Robert Rodriguez is one in a series of books published focusing on different topics including the 1960s, music, TV, etc in Top 10 formats (meaning each chapter has one topic and then lists the top 10 items of that chapter's category). This version was supposed to be about rock & roll rebels, cold war crises, and all-American oddities. First off, the format is pretty cool but for a 331-page book, it got to be too much. I would have preferred that Mr. Rodriguez had cut the book (and topics) in half. I also couldn't tell if the book is meant to put things in order or not, which was a little disconcerting but eventually I ignored that dynamic.Many of the stories in this book are written somewhat in the style of Paul Harvey's Rest of the Story, which I have always enjoyed. I found at least one of the ten stories in each chapter to be interesting, and in half of the chapters, three or four of the stories were interesting (thus I would have preferred fewer chapters).One thing I found profound about the book was how it put current events in context. For example, it explains how Reality TV isn't new, but CBS aired a panel show called Meet The Hoboes in 1954. There was also a non-reality TV show, The Millionaire, where a fictitious charactor would call people to tell them they were rich. While The Millionaire wasn't real, people sent in a large volume of mail declaring their reasons to deserve $1,000,000. The 1950s' Most Wanted also explains how in 1958 Charles Starkweather went on a killing spree inspired by James Dean, so current claims about today's entertainment inspiring violence aren't new either. The book also calls out a number of things that would make Cliff Claven stop for a moment in trivial awe. I have found some of my newfound knowledge amusing. Did you know Disney had a shooting gallery with target practice where they had live .22 rounds in the early days? Liz "Dizzy" Sheridan, who played the concerned Mrs. Seinfeld on Seinfeld, had quite a list of conquests -- including James Dean. Being from the Bay Area, I loved the fact that Moraga is the spot where the US record for human phone booth-cramming was set. (Twenty-two if you are wondering).There were dozens of other random facts and I'm pretty sure that was book's main intent. Fun knowledge to discuss and laugh about while somehow connecting our present and our past.I was disappointed at how little attention Mr. Rodriguez gave to Civil Rights. For example, Strom Thurmond set the Congressional Record for the filibuster when he did so against the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Mr. Rodriguez even brought up a specific instance wherein Allan Freed (an uber-popular DJ at the time) was taken to task because his show showed a black man dancing with a white woman without taking it any further.Don't look for a life change out of the book, but it will give you a number of laughs and a-ha's that are worth it if you are at all interested in the topics. And, for what it's worth, I probably would be interested in reading some of the other Best of Books published by Potomac Books.In the words of the 1950s: Ungowa, the book was boss when Mr. Rodriguez went to obscure-ville with happenings that were the ginchiest at the time. Translated to 2006: Yeah man, the book's off the hook when Mr. Rodriguez wrote about little-known facts that were the bomb for the old school. Something tells me I'm not too hip by today's standards. At least after reading The 1950s' Most Wanted by Robert Rodriguez, I know what it used to take.

Tim Taylor is about love, understanding and compassion. He writes honestly and intends for us all to live similarly.

Jesus' First Miracle: Water to Wine Seems A Strange One

Tim Taylor — Fri, 1 Sep 2006 17:57:32 EDT

I'm on some sort of Jesus vibe today and have been pondering Jesus' coming out miracle if you will. As documented in the Bible (John 2:1-11), Jesus' first miracle occurred at a wedding.Jesus, his mom, and his disciples were at a party at the Galilean village of Cana for a wedding (I suppose you could say the JC posse was in the house). The wine ran out.They set six "very large stone water-jars" on the floor, each holding twenty gallons, and filled them "to the brim" with water. Jesus said take some to the MC. They did, he tasted it, and it was all good. The man called out to the bridegroom, "Everybody I know puts his good wine on first and then when men have had plenty to drink, he brings out the poor stuff. But you have kept back your good wine till now!"Fair enough -- I guess the women weren't tipping it back, I suppose if they couldn't be priests back then it stands to reason they shouldn't be able to drink. It's clear that at this point in the party it's standard to bring out the swill. This cat must have already have run through all his swill because they were out, or perhaps he hadn’t bought swill at all, which means that it was really time to get that party started because people were getting drunk.Jesus saved the day by turning 120 gallons of water into wine to drink. I was thinking, isn't that sort of an unusual coming out miracle? Serving good wine to a bunch of people who already had plenty to drink? Consider that his second miracle was the healing of an official's dying son.Here's the thing: yes, it was a miracle that he apparently changed the water into wine. It's also a miracle that it was the good stuff. Who knows how knowledgeable an already wined up palette actually is (I'm sure it was not the inspiration for the movie Sideways or anything like that), but that is somewhat beside the point.What if he had turned the water into mediocre wine, you know like bargain basement stuff. Would it still have been a miracle or would it have become an urban legend or just a really cool parlor trick?I do not doubt that it happened; I’m sure it did. I'm not even suggesting it's not a miracle. It was for that time period. I'm wondering why a religion of the scope, size, and shear power of Christianity and all it's wonderful derivations would publicly celebrate serving great wine to already inebriated wine guests as the miraculous coming out party. And that at said party, we're relying on accounts that were either delivered first hand or validated by people, many of whom woke up hungover the next day.Interesting fodder for the imagination, eh?Cheers!

Tim Taylor is about love, understanding and compassion. He writes honestly and intends for us all to live similarly.

Book Review: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Tim Taylor — Fri, 1 Sep 2006 08:19:52 EDT

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris is his account of his life from the time when he was a child with a lisp (which apparently in some way pre-destined his homosexuality) up to his life as an adult. He mostly chronicles his relationship with his parents, siblings, and lovers.Mr. Sedaris is hilarious in what feels like a "caffeinated" string of jokes he delivers throughout the book that had me laughing out loud nearly every third or fourth page. In the early part of the book, he fights his need to deal with his lisp head on while working with a speech therapist by avoiding the letter "s" when speaking. So, for example, when his speech therapist asks what he plans to do on New Year's Eve, the character responds "On the final day of the year we take down the pine tree in our living room and eat marine life."That's pretty clever and funny stuff. The book really hits it stride, for my money, when he gets older and goes through a series of odd jobs and even odder relationships (in and out of the workplace). At one point he is working for a moving company in New York. He goes into a hilarious riff discussing how rent determines break-ups in some way and that often times during break-ups folks are itching to tell all the details.When describing one interaction where a man found out that his significant other was having sex with her ex-boyfriend on their couch, they would ask how many times. The broken man responded (yelling because they were in a truck):"Just once that I know of, but isn't that enough?""It depends, how much was your rent?"It's silly and the humor is a bit obvious at times but that's what made the book so enjoyable. Whether it was his much younger brother who, like Denis Farina in Get Shorty, carpet f-bombed like it was going out of style or his hilarious interactions with French people as he was learning French, he always has a silly slant on already funny situations.He was insightful at times, including lamenting the lost distinction between a phobia and a loathing. But he's at his best when he is honest and biting in his writing. The high point of the novel was when he writes about the experience of taking French from a very angry woman who taught a group of frightened non-French speakers. He drove a grand slam when describing a heated discussion about what Easter means. The group are mostly Christian and all afraid of the French teacher, therefore they chose very simple words -- all French -- trying to describe what Easter meant to a Muslim who spoke excellent French but was in the class. He had no idea what Easter actually meant and the teacher called on them to explain it. They did so in really bad French, translated to English. The Poles led the charge to the best of their ability "It is" said one, "a party for the little boy of God who calls his self Jesus and....oh, s***." She faltered and her fellow countryman came to her aid."He calls his self Jesus and then he die one day on two....morsels....of lumber."The rest of the class jumped in, offering bits of information that would have given the pope an aneurysm."He die one day and then go above my head to live with your father.""He weared of himself the long hair and after he die, the first day he come back here to say hello to the peoples.""He nice, the Jesus.""He make good things, and on the Easter we be sad, because somebody makes him dead today."They struggled because explaining complex theological concepts was beyond their linguistic ability so they turned to food."Easter is a party to eat of the lamb." The Italian nanny explained. "One too many eat of the chocolate.""And who brings the chocolate?" the teacher asked.I knew the word, so I raised my hand, saying, "The rabbit of Easter. He bring of the chocolate.""A rabbit?"...."Well sure," I said. "He come in the night when one sleep on a bed. With a hand he have a basket and foods.He goes on to pick apart the absolute silliness of how any religious event could have manifested Easter and it's various traditions. It's where he combines his ability to be insightful with his pointed and, at times, side-splitting humor.I didn't walk away from reading the book a changed person, but I did walk away with a new author who I really dig and an easy and enjoyable read of a book that I would definitely recommend. Do yourself a favor if you are going to read it, commit to not taking yourself too seriously, Mr. Sedaris doesn't in Me Talk Pretty One Day and it's delightful to read.

Tim Taylor is about love, understanding and compassion. He writes honestly and intends for us all to live similarly.

TV Review: Carniv�le

Tim Taylor — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 05:19:35 EDT

I recently watched the first season (Episodes 1-12) of Carnivàle, an HBO series. The show follows a traveling carnival with a young man possessing special healing powers, as well as the life of a preacher and his flock. Somehow the two are related, although I'm not really sure how.The show has a variety of interesting story lines, which most certainly pick up speed as I moved through the episodes. Here's something very peculiar about the show for me. The series has two actors who played in absolutely unforgettable roles previously:Michael Anderson plays the role of Samson, who is in charge of the carnival. He also played the nothing short of riveting role of "Little Man From Other Place" in Twin Peaks, which was a TV show that, for about 3/4 of one season, showed us all what TV really could be if we let it.Clancy Brown plays Brother Justin Crowe, the preacher. He played the part of Byron Hadley, Captain of the guards in Shawshank Redemption. Hands down one of the best film roles EVER.The cool thing about Carnivàle is it has made me forget about both of those older roles and, believe me, that is not easy. Daniel Knauf's writing (he also created the show) is a little wrought at times, but 70-80% of the show, at minimum, is interesting – at times even brilliant. I think the lines he gives to Mr. Anderson (yes, I'm thinking of The Matrix, just like you are) are superb.I know in many ways the spookiness and other-worldliness of it is an attempt to give it a Twin Peaks feel (whether or not Mr. Knauf will admit it). And there is no real Agent Cooper here. Regardless, if it is an attempt to bring something even close to that to life again (no matter how successful it is), I am overcome with joy.I would much rather see someone take a risk (thank you, HBO) with something like this than another Battle of the Network Reality has beens and current reality show stars. If you ask me, those are the real freak shows, not Carnivàle.

Tim Taylor is about love, understanding and compassion. He writes honestly and intends for us all to live similarly.

Movie Review: Little Miss Sunshine

Tim Taylor — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 07:40:49 EDT

So I rarely go out to see movies in the theater but when a friend, whose taste I trust (and I don't have many friends like that) suggested that I go see Little Miss Sunshine, I obediently went. Score another big point of trust Leighton, thanks for the recommendation. Little Miss Sunshine follows the story of a family of four, an uncle and a grandpa on a trip to go to one of the many "Little Miss" pageants that, quite candidly, pollute our society. I recently wrote a blog post (see Ben, I can learn!!) that included a discussion I had with my daughter Zoe about how magazines at the grocery store check out counter do one thing very successfully: convince beautiful women all across this great nation of ours that they are not beautiful. These competitions find strong allies in these magazines. Regardless, the story follows the family as they drive across country and ultimately enter into a beauty contest. The story is beautifully written by Michael Arndt and it's his first movie, it appears according to IMDB. By the way, let's face it if the story isn't beautifully written, the best acting and special effects in the world wouldn't save it. I just wish, really hard by the way, that the writers, the true stars of Hollywood would get the credit they deserve. Great writing, of course, can be ruined by terrible directors or actors. In this case the acting was stellar. First and foremost, Steve Carrell played the uncle who is a renowned Proust scholar (I know almost nothing about what this means but there is a taste late in the movie and it's funny) and was recovering from a failed suicide attempt and was astonishing. I dig the fact that he chose a role where he had to show additional range and he did it beautifully. Something tells me he is going to become Jim Carrey with additional depth and I think Jim Carrey has a ton of depth...try Truman Show or Man on the Moon, he was terrific in both. The heroin addicted, brusquely crude Grandpa was played brilliantly by Alan Arkin. Greg Kinnear was wonderful as the father playing a less than famous and far less than successful, unpublished success author and speaker. The mother was played by Toni Collette and she is super talented and for some reason I found her irresistible. I had a feeling she had been in something else and thank goodness for IMDB I found out where, she was the mother in Sixth Sense and was similarly totally compelling in that role. Abigail Breslin was great as the daughter and the Little Miss Sunshine contestant. She actually had one scene that sent me to the upper deck of my movie theater to be by myself so I could cry as hard as I wanted to. I won't ruin it for you, but it happened when her and Alan Arkin were chatting and if you see it you'll know exactly the scene I'm referring to. Finally, in a bit of a show-stealer role a guy named Paul Dano played the brother. He is practically a mirror image (youthful that is) of John Cusack and thankfully lives up to Mr. Cusack's talent at that age. Strangely and quite delightfully he spends much of the movie not talking (partly because of flight school and partly because of Friedrich Nietzsche). I'm not a big fan of revealing a lot of the storyline but overall it's quirky, funny, a little dark and a lot of silly at points. It was done by Fox's Searchlight Films which I know did Napoleon Dynamite and it was a little formulaic that the end included a dance scene. But you know something? I'll take formulaic for things like Little Miss Sunshine and Napoleon Dynamite ANY day of the week over another tired murder, sci-fi, even love story and their mind numbing sequels whose formulas are so old they are forced to look to old lame tv shows to bring back to screen. Bravo to Mr. Arndt and the actors of Little Miss Sunshine, you brought some serious light into my life.

Tim Taylor is about love, understanding and compassion. He writes honestly and intends for us all to live similarly.

Book Review: All Over But The Shoutin' by Rick Bragg

Tim Taylor — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 01:34:09 EDT

All Over But The Shoutin' by Rick Bragg is an autobiography that starts from Mr. Bragg's impoverished childhood in a family that included an abusive, alcoholic father, an incredibly powerful angel of a mother and his two brothers, and follows him through his Pulitzer Prize-winning journalistic career. Mr. Bragg starts the book out by simply stating that this book isn't of great importance but it was something he had to do. I don't agree with the first point and am eternally thankful that he believed the second point. The author suggests at the outset readers will laugh and cry reading it. He was right on the mark on both of these points. In fact, I finished the book today while eating lunch. As I read the last 40 or so pages I openly wept, and even laughed in between the weeping. The Bragg family grew up with virtually nothing. The father left the family a number of times, offering no financial assistance and stealing whatever he could before he left. When he was there, he was usually drunk and physically abusive to mother and children. Mr. Bragg's mother's life consisted of working herself to exhaustion, using whatever money they had for the children and then of course, defending the children from their violent father. The second half of the book follows Mr. Bragg's career and family as it develops. Mr. Bragg covered events like the Miami riots, the Haitian atrocities, and the Susan Smith case (that was one that had me weeping uncontrollably today) among others. The book is one of the best I have ever read. There were dozens of lessons I learned from the book, and two that touched me deeply. First, it's hard to see folks living in shame because they cover it up really well. I grew up in an upper middle class family and simply don't have a clue what it means to be so broke that you are ashamed to be around people who have money. I bet it wouldn't take much effort for me to identify a time in my life when I was cruel towards people who were poor, raining judgment down on them. One of the most poignant parts of the book that had me weeping that day at the cafe involved his mom. When Mr. Bragg won the Pulitzer, he wanted his mom to come to the event. She was initially too scared to go because she was ashamed in front of all of the rich folks.The situation in Haiti was and probably still is horrific. Mr. Bragg pulls no punches he tells it just as it was. At the horror's center is money. He was nakedly honest about how people who did wrong on most levels brought up a rage in him that often included violent thoughts. I can understand how he would see things that way given what he went through and what he covered. I've never quite made sense of this, but it's because he lived it and saw it that I was able to read this magnificent book. Think of it this way, if there weren't the violence in the world and his upbringing I bet Mr. Bragg would still be a writer and his books' beauty would be without reference. I freely admit that I sabotaged myself when I read this book. I knew as soon as I started it that I would love it. So I intentionally read sentences, even pages, two and three times. Mr. Bragg's writing style vibes well with me because he's honest and direct which, for me, is a recipe for tears and laughter. A few of the home-run quotes: When describing his skill working with his hands or meals: "I couldn't hammer a nail without bending it or severely damaging myself or someone standing near, and if you had depended on me to feed the fire or the hog we would have froze to death with our emaciated pig."His mom and fruitcake: "She is the only person I have ever met who actually eats fruitcake."Perhaps the grand slam of the book, he lived near a Krispy Kreme factory in Atlanta and he described how good they are: "Trying to explain how good they are to someone who has never had one is like telling a celibate priest about young love."Describing his stories of sadness in his notebook: "I captured the stories of dead innocents and other great sadnesses in my notebook, like butterflies pressed between the pages of a science project." Early on in the book, Bragg says in the prologue, "This is not an important book. It is only the story of a strong woman..." Mr. Bragg, you're half right. This is an important book.

Tim Taylor is about love, understanding and compassion. He writes honestly and intends for us all to live similarly.

Book Review: Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

Tim Taylor — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:18:15 EDT

Tropic of Cancer details Henry's Miller's take on la vie boheme of artists between Paris and New York, mostly, in the 1930s. It describes how an artist survives taking advantage of dimwitted, sometimes well-meaning, quasi-patrons and their money. One of the main themes is how the main character and whoever he's running with at the time chase and usually catch women. A good deal of the success of the chase seems to be founded in a broke artist's ability to pay as little as possible to women who can be caught for the right price. I'm not even sure what to make of the manner with which Mr. Miller refers to women. Most of the time he drops the c-bomb when referring to women. In particular, he drops the carpet c-bombs early in the book. I read on the back of the book that Tropic of Cancer was banned as obscene for 27 years after its publication in 1934 in Paris. I wouldn't be surprised if the rapid fire usage of the c word was a big reason why. I have a five-year-old daughter and I'll admit that I cringed when I first read it because I felt it was degrading to women. Now that I think about it, given that so many of them were hookers, perhaps the women had beat Mr. Miller to it by degrading themselves. In either case, my judgment is in full swing if I conclude either way. So I kept reading through the early parts, in many ways because I thought it was "controversial". I proved to myself again that controversial doesn't always mean interesting. I didn't find any of the characters particularly interesting. I can't even quite tell you exactly what the book was about. The best parts for me were nestled in between really long (and long-winded) paragraphs wherein Mr. Miller described people, events and places that didn't engage me into the story. A few of the better parts/quotes I read: In describing an artist he wrote: "An artist is always alone - if he is an artist. No, what an artist needs is loneliness." I like the idea, but candidly, the italicized is feels arrogant and if it's not meant to be ironic, it isn't nor is it funny.By far the best part of the book was when he described going to a ritzy symphony which he described: "Even before the music begins there is that bored look on people's faces, a polite form of self-imposed torture, the concert. For a moment, when the conductor raps with his little wand, there is a tense spasm of concentration followed almost immediately by a general slump, a quiet vegetable sort of repose induced by the steady, uninterrupted drizzle for m the orchestra."That's about as good and as accurate as it gets when describing how many "cultured" folks survive their evenings. They go to appreciate the finer things, because that's what they are supposed to, of course they don't appreciate (or even like) them. Outside of flashes of relatively interesting observations such as these two, the book was boring. It was frustrating because just when I would be ready to stop reading the book, one of these types of quotes appeared. It's a bit like I used to be with golf. I would go out for six hours of self-judgment and expletives that would make most priests I knew growing up proud (judgment) and Quentin Tarantino blush (language). In spite of that, I would hit one, maybe two shots close to perfect each round and for quite a while, it kept me coming back. For me, I wish that I could take a mulligan on my time forever lost reading Tropic of Cancer.

Tim Taylor is about love, understanding and compassion. He writes honestly and intends for us all to live similarly.

Movie Review: Control Room

Tim Taylor — Wed, 9 Aug 2006 17:21:26 EDT

Control Room is a documentary that looks at the way al Jazeera, the Arab news station, has covered the Iraq war. It opened my eyes to another perspective in a way that no other movie before it has. I now realize that I had many preconceived notions about what I thought the evil al Jazeera was all about.The movie starts shortly before the war on Iraq begins. It features a number of the staff of al Jazeera but the two most compelling (and they are very compelling) are Samir Khader, the general manager running al Jazeera, and Hassan Ibrahim, a reporter for al Jazeera. When the war finally does begin, most of the film takes place in the confines of a press complex where all of the major news sources hang out (including Fox, CNN, NBC, etc.).There were a few things that absolutely stood out as more than beautiful in the movie:Lt. Josh Rushing, an American serviceman who is tasked with PR of sorts for the war, is vulnerably honest. In one scene he describes how awkward it feels that one night he sees a bunch of dead Arab civilians and military personnel and goes on about his business. The very next night he saw the pictures of the dead American military personnel and he was enraged and passionate.What troubled him is he didn't react the same way to both scenes.At one point in the movie, an American military spokesperson whose last name was Brooks, came out and showed a deck of cards with the 55 (I don't know why it's not 52) most wanted enemy military personnel that they were giving out to as many U.S. personnel as possible. A media rep asked for a sample deck. Mr. Brooks said he would make them available but couldn't give them a deck.A few minutes later you see a group of media folks asking for the deck and being told repeatedly that they can't see them. It is downright humorous.Understandably al Jazeera has their own slant on the war to cater to their own demographic. At one point, however, Mr. Khader does an interview with someone from the US who speaks about how the US is clearly in the war for the oil. After the interview, Mr. Khader takes his producer to task because he didn't find an interviewee with a balanced point of view. Finally, there are several scenes where they show the day that the statue of Saddam Hussein came down in a major square in Baghdad. Several of the al Jazeera personnel watch the footage and comment that the townspeople in the video are likely not Iraqis. And, they are struck that no one else joins in the celebration other than those who are escorted in by the Americans. It's gripping stuff.I know that much of what I saw was a "produced" documentary that can slant the story however they want. But there was one scene that just can't be produced. Mr. Khader is struggling with the war, Arab folks' reaction to it, and the despondency of it all. He looks straight into the camera and admits that when they are old enough he's going to send his children to America to learn and live.I don't look at that as a "victory" for the American way. Rather, I celebrate that as a landslide victory for terrific filmmaking. It's one of the many reasons I think Control Room is an absolute must-see. It's a life-changer.

Tim Taylor is about love, understanding and compassion. He writes honestly and intends for us all to live similarly.

What If Typepad - And Blog Content - Disappears?

Tim Taylor — Fri, 4 Aug 2006 21:55:55 EDT

I was talking with a friend today who asked me what I thought about blog content and my ability to download it on demand. I asked what he meant.Well, what happens if you want to try another blogging platform? What happens if my daughter Zoe's child's child's child would like to learn more about me and the content is gone? (Yes, for any Monty Python fans out there, this question – as I type it – immediately brings to mind Eric Idle interrupting John Cleese in the Life of Brian regarding "Our father's father's father" – absolutely hilarious.)What if I want to put it into a book?My answer? I don't care. I started blogging, and still do so, to compassionately understand, love, and accept myself for all that I am. I am honest and in the moment. The only time I have ever taken more than one session to blog is because it took too long to type. All this means is what I have expressed in the past is just that, in the past. Now and again, I refer people to stuff I've written they may like to see, but if that content were to disappear, I just don't care. The moment is gone and if I cared about the content, I'm not in this moment.All this being said, I do occasionally copy and paste my blog to a word document to print out to give to my daughter if the moment presents itself. But if those printouts disappear or burn, I don't care. One thing seems clear, I have the power to communicate at any time with my daughter's family in the future by being honest and open with her now and encouraging her to do the same with me. The honesty will echo clearly into the future to the ears of my beautiful daughter's family.I also thought about how I would feel if someone just Opal Mehta'd this blog (meaning took it and claimed it as their own) and made money off a book with all the content. Honestly, I would probably do something about it and may even be upset. But ultimately, all things happen as they are meant to and if success manifests from the words that come through me, it will find its way to the person it's meant to reach.It's also fascinating to me, as I read more blogs I come across and (in particular) the bloggers I meet from time to time, how few people are really honest. I don't judge anyone who isn't – that's their choice. I don't even care if they think I'm not, that's also their choice.Many bloggers stay away from certain issues because of how it might "look". They post and remove content or don't post content at all because of this. It's virtual political correctness.It is interesting to note, however, were the good folks at Typepad to institute a heavy policy and utility-oriented manner to protect and preserve content that is often politically correct, we are further sealing the deal of a future as a derivative of our past. Maybe that's what I'm intending, honesty. I'm intending to be honest and express my thoughts and words (legally protected and preserved or not) as well as my actions (caught on camera or not!). And all of them are a representation of where I am at that moment as best as I can express it.Ultimately, I'm not looking for you, or anyone else for that matter, to understand me or look to me to help you find your meaning. I'm expressing myself to understand, accept, and love myself for all that I am.Should Typepad disappear, or the next time I have to pay Typepad for what I want and I notice it's free elsewhere and my content would be lost for good or temporarily, it has nothing do with the moment and my love and acceptance for who I am.Zoe lives many moments in life now, and will in the future, without me around. She doesn't need the assurance of content policies or content/server focused disaster recovery plans to find it.

Tim Taylor is about love, understanding and compassion. He writes honestly and intends for us all to live similarly.