Jon Stewart really is a fine actor

I don’t seem to be able to watch the Daily Show as much as I should, but it seems like every time I tune in I am surprised at John Stewart’s acting chops.  Sure he is almost always funny and insightful, but on top of that he really can act.   Witness last night’s opening monolog, which had me roaring.  His impressions of Lindsey Graham and John McCain would not be nearly as hilarious as they are were he not an accomplished actor.  BTW, I laughed my ass off just now watching the whole thing again.  God bless Jon Stewart.

Climate change “contradiction” explained

If you, like me, have an unreserved belief that the earth is heating up at an alarming rate, your hair probably catches fire when climate change “deniers” point to big storms and blizzards and scoff at the science proving global warming.  Aside from them completely ignoring blistering summer heat waves and increasing droughts, these luddites just don’t understand that the increase in big winter blizzards and floods does not debunk the scary reality of “climate change” brought on by global warming.  To the contrary, such extreme weather is a symptom.  I realize that if you are confronted by such folks, you probably have little chance of changing their minds, but you might try giving them a copy of this article, which appeared in today’s San Francisco Chronicle.  It does an excellent job of explaining “atmospheric physics.”  

A Radiohead classic

I just got back from a run of about 3.6 miles, down to the ferry terminal and back.  I was listening on my MP3 player to a new Rhapsody playlist that my son Jesse sent me, titled “2013 Kickoff Workout Mix.”  One of the tracks that came up was “Bodysnatchers” by Radiohead.  That got me thinking about one of the all-time great music videos, an animated take on the Radiohead classic: “Creep.”  According to YouTube the video has been seen and heard nearly 4,700,000 times!  If you have never seen it, or if you haven’t seen it for a while, check it out here.  (You can skip the opening ad).  Cool….

A new car is always a gas

For the last 10+ years I have been driving a 2003 Toyota Highlander with four-wheel drive.  In the meantime, Eileen has gotten a four-wheel drive Infiniti EX-35, which we are now using to travel to our place in snowy Tahoe/Donner.  So I was driving this big rig around town on a bunch of short trips which made no sense – and it was hard to park and maneuver around narrow city streets.  So we decided to trade it in and get me a quality sub-compact car to goof around town in.  I did a lot of research and found that the Honda Fit is the best car in the sub-compact t category.  It gets 30+ mpg, and yet is very zippy and fun to drive, even on the freeway.  So, last Sunday we traded in the Highlander and got a brand new Honda Fit.  I love it already.  It has a surprising number of “bells and whistles” and while it is missing some that Eileen has on her Infiniti, we must realize that her car is about $20,000 more expensive than my little Fit.  As every American will attest, getting a new car is always a lot of fun, and so it was for me.  I even was able to get the color that I wanted:  “Vortex Blue.”

Here are a couple of shots of the car that I took this afternoon.

Relaxing in the Sierras

We came up here to our place at Tahoe/Donner on Saturday.  We skied at Squaw Valley yesterday and at Alpine Meadows today.  On Sunday, I strapped on the snowshoes and hiked up the hill in the forest behind our place.  My dog was at my side.  It was so beautiful and quiet, reminding me of how lucky I am to have the life I am living.  Here are a couple of shots on took on the snowshoe hike.  Click to enlarge.

Nearing the top of the hill.

Through the forest on the way back down the hill.

How I discovered U2

I am a big fan of U2.  I have seen them live twice, once in the late 80’s at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and most recently at the Oakland Coliseum on their last tour.  Both concerts were terrific.  In both instances the crowds were all tuned in on the same frequency, resulting in that indescribable “vibe” that you experience at a memorable live concert.

Todayfor some reason I was remembering how I discovered U2 and began my fandom.  It was seeing their live  performance of “Bad” on my TV as part of the Live Aid concert in 1985.  I had never seen or heard them before that, and the performance really knocked me out, including Bono randomly picking out girls from the audience and slow dancing with them.  After that I went out and bought “The Unforgettable Fire,” which remains one of my favorite albums.

So, with these thoughts I went to You Tube to see if there were videos of that 1985 U2 performance.  I should have known, there are lots of video of that performance.  I chose one with good quality video and sound.  Check it out here, just as I watched it all these years ago.  It helps to pretend that you have never seen these guys before or heard their music, but any way you slice it, I still dig it.

Carl Sandburg on guns

Today’s Chronicle had an interesting article about an unpublished poem that Carl Sandburg wrote concerning “a revolver,” which in the poem serves as a metaphor for all guns.  I’m pretty sure you will want to read both the article and the full Sandburg poem, which you can do here.

Even though it was never published it is very powerful, and obviously germane to today’s gun control debate.  A  couple of lines about the “revolver” that really stand out to me are:

“It is the last word.  A simple, little human forefinger can tell a terrible story with it.”

Even now the carnage continues, the latest being the 15 year-old kid in New Mexico who used an assault weapon to  kill  his mother, 3 younger siblings, and lastly his father.  Reportedly, he was going to then go to the nearby Walmart store and kill a lot of people but he changed his mind and called the police to turn himself in.  When is this horror going to stop?