changing season gastronomes

Its still hot outside, but breezy and comfortable enough to climb in the various river gorges. It also means a change in my gastronomic tendencies. As a creature who's happiness is expressed by the palette and having an eye view of beautifully prepared food (to eat!) I can say, I'm saying goodbye to the fruit accented salads of summer, and cool sushi fare of the evening (although I will revisit both no doubt in the cooler seasons). Now I can eat at 2 Amy's without guilt, inhale Vietnamese noodle soup and indulge in another Fall raw treat-oysters. DCist alerted me to Old Ebbitt Grill's Oyster Riot. Now I imagine Oyster is a totally acquired taste, much like many things like beer, wine, sushi, but all of which have great rewards after having acquired said taste. Yes its a bit funny looking, tasting, feeling, smelling, but mmmm mmm the salty sweet complexity of an oyster is frankly, well, I haven't found it anywhere else. So anyone up for a November evening of slurping and imbibing?

le climbin' log

snack'in climber
Originally uploaded by ScelestiX.

You haven't had a good climbing day until you've nearly pulled out your shoulder and lost some skin. Today's climbing was accentuated with a light shower of blood. We went to Degree 101 and did an nubby face climb and then back to Aid Box to tackle Splinters, which we finally finished, next time with 1/2 as many falls! And yes, we're still trying to forget the un-jubilating memory of seeing a 6'6 red headed guy bound up the climb in 2 seconds.

le vote

When I was 18, I admit, I was too lazy to register. As the 2000 elections drew nearer, I mailed my voter registration twice and never got a registration card so figured rather than wait hours in line with a slim chance the vote would count (on so many levels), I would continue with my ordinary day.

As I watched election results that fall, I saw an anomaly that lessened my faith in America's elections. A President who lost the popular election but won because of electoral votes (which later turned out to because votes weren't properly accounted for in certain SE states).

In 2004, after switching my residency from VA to DC, I registered and vowed not to let this election slip me by. On a beautiful crisp autumn day I strolled five blocks to my polling station, a charming red brick church and stood in-line. When I got the ballot, I checked off Kerry. That night I went to Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse to watch the election results. What started as an exuberant hopeful celebration, turned into people finishing, ordering, and crying into their beers. Supposedly this last election had a higher voter turn out, and this time the guy got a mandate.

I live in a 'pseudo-state' that voted 91% blue in the last elections, has no voting representatives in Congress (the 'Taxation Without Representation' plates I have on my car were not a choice at the DMV--they are standard), prior to that I lived in Virginia which was traditionally red and has fairly strong and senior members in Congress.

Now tell me about disenchantment.

commentables

It gives the heart joy to see people leaving comments on my blog, and I'm afraid this new feature will curtail that :( Basically, you can't comment unless you are a registered user of blogger. Yes, encouraging the bubbling Google conglomerate.

If you give people allowances, they will shamelessly exploit them. They do not care that they can comment anonymously (or callously) or create false identities to tease a girl; whereas I have left my life as an open book on yours truly, kneepains.blogspot.com.

Thank you for reading.

mail guilt

Don't you hate it when you get free things from non-profits??? Without asking for them? I mean really, on their paltry budgets, they give you a little token--like pre-gift gratitude, for which you are expected to make a donation worth 100 times more? I feel guilty, WETA just sent me beautiful personalized mailing labels with pretty pictures of DC's monument's on them. I'm keeping the labels, and umm, maybe when I see them again, I'll remember to write a check.

So does that make me a bad person? I MEAN I DIDN'T ASK FOR the PRETTY LABELS!!

Shrubs vs. Climbers

Check out this Washington Post article, in the Metro section. I have already said something about this debate. And judging from the discussions on the PATC mountaineering and DC outdoor rockclimbing listservs, climbers are not enamoring people with them. Okay, some may ponder the utility of implementing costly new regulations that impact climbers for the sake of saving two shrubs ... but what concerns me is this 'no compromise attitude.' The climbing community has decided if the NPS takes this one step to regulate and restrict climbing, it will become a downward spiral.

I say let 'em bolt the climbs, how many times have climbers expressed happiness that crags were bolted anyway? Other parks already require permitting for climbing (yes it makes it more difficult) and for a popular area like GF, this could cause some serious climbing scheduling havoc ... and if they are shutting down two areas, namely Dr. Needlepoint and Sandbox (temporarily they claim) that could also be problematic. Right now climbers look like they don't give a sh*t about the environment and are holding a victory (keep the status quo) or nothing approach ... which may soil our reputation.

a chance to see Thievery

In an anti-war protest. I'm not going to get into the issues involving withdrawing US troops from Iraq (that's a dissertation and would come too close to the issues I deal with on a daily basis outside of blogging, climbing and eating); but this is a great chance to see a wonderful DJ outfit. I'm particularly curious to see what they would be like outdoors, so let me know how it is if you go!

Sept. 24, 2005 - A FREE MUSIC FESTIVAL TO STOP THE WAR IN IRAQ! THIEVERY CORPORATION - BOUNCING SOULSLE TIGRE - THE COUP -STEVE EARLE - TED LEO + THE PHARMACISTSWAYNE KRAMER OF THE MC5 WITH THE BELLRAYSSweet Honey in the Rock and The Evens.HEAD-ROC -HOSTED BY JELLO BIAFRA

disappearing karma

When one's time is consumed with trying to decide what she should do with the scant free time (work out, do homework, see friends?) I will try to break up what would be an ordinarily boring day. For example, looking for Karma, a lounge coffee bar somewhere in Foggy Bottom. Now I've rode my bike past this place dozens of times but whenever I actually go to look for it on foot, I can never find it. And I never seem to remember the intersection. Senior moments.

Looking at the menu I'm surprised it's focused on Mediterranean foods. Particularly since Karma is a Buddhist concept, starting from India that spread to East Asia and definitley not the Middle East. Oh well, next time.

bad for you good food

Fried chicken, curly fries, Wendy's burgers, Jerry's potato wedges, Haagen Dazs ... Despite what one might think its fairly easy to replace these unhealthy choices with grilled chicken, boiled potatoes, the Gardenburger, roasted potatoes, and um, frankly there's really no good substitute for ice cream, except frozen custard which is probably worse for you. Now that's nine days out of ten, that I'll eat healthy, and then I'll splurge--even though I know this sits like a brick in my stomach, chipped beef on toast. Mmmmm mmmm. If you look at it, it's pretty gross. Lumpy cream colored (or orange if you go to Bob & Edith's) gravy with bits of shaved super processed beef on two slices of buttered toast. Even though its a treat that I'll pay for in a couple hours by multiple runs to the bathroom, I'm always quickly shoveling it down my throat, in hopes nobody stops by and looks at my food like, What the heck is that???

Commemoration

For many today was a day of remembrance, sadness, or for a lot of my colleagues, working. In another part of the world, some wretches were celebrating the anniversary of a (pyrrhic)victory. Terror seeks to make people afraid to live their lives (I think perhaps the UN almost agreed on a definition for terrorism?--US's definition), but in general that's the gist.

Now to keep it lighthearted, I and the teeming masses at Great Falls NP enjoyed the beautiful weather, not unlike four years ago (amazing that much time has passed) with their families and friends. I was also ripping my arms out again on Splinters (The Aid Box), inappropriately rated a 5.7 ...

the point guide

I can't say this speaks for all women, but I figure it's time to put it out there. Particularly given how the change in a women's status and opportunities have also confused relations between the sexes. So here's a sampling of behaviors that are rewarded and infractions that may be grounds for dismissal:

Rewarded:

Courtesy, ie:) opening doors, saying please, thank you, I think Cleveland Park Men's Best Practices actually does a good job of explaining this) (100)
Paying for a meal on the first date, but if she insists (ask if she's sure) on splitting the check, then do it (100)
Flowers, particularly unexpectedly (100)
In general surprising her in a good way (500)
Being romantic but not in a gag reflex kind of way (you have to figure this one out on your own, see the next point) (500)
Listening to her (you can show you are by asking questions about what she's talking to you about) (500)
Making her laugh (500)
When introducing you to your friends, making it easy (500)
Cooking her a meal (not appropriate for the first date) (500)
Being confident and sure of yourself without being egotistical and arrogant (750)
Having her parents get along with you (1000-not necessary for everyone)
Having her friends get along with you (1000-not necessary for everyone)

Infractions:

Trying to get her drunk on the first date (-100)
Eying other girls in her presence (-500)
Hitting on other girls in her presence (grounds for dismissal)
Making fun of her -and not in a good way (grounds for dismissal)
Being on a completely different planet during a date (-400)
Hiding something bothering you by repeatedly saying you're fine! (-50-you can admit it without divulging details)
Not returning a phone call (-10, if repeated grounds for dismissal)
Standing her up (grounds for dismissal)
The mother hates you (grounds for dismissal-can depend on the woman)
Fighting with her friends (depends on the situation--I've been both: the disapproving friend, and the datee caught between a rock and a hard place)
Obsessive, jealous or manipulative behaviors (grounds for dismissal)
Cheating on her (grounds for being strung by your balls from a tree branch)

conservative vs. liberal

Exactly what does it mean? You think there would be a clear answer, but there isn't. There's the international level of conservative and liberal, the domestic version of conservative and liberal, and the social version of conservative and liberal. Frankly, I choose independent because I'm completely confused. They seem to have morphed into labels, into us vs. them, with very little differences between them.

Please pipe in. So what brought on Bureauqette questioning the meanings of conservative and liberal? Probably because I've been utterly confused when I found myself agreeing with people who outwardly claimed they were conservative Republicans.

There are the obvious humorous stereotypes (I don't advocate them but this is what I hear) we make:

In General: Liberal-tree hugging effiminate peace loving, hippie World Bank protestor; UN & Nader champion
Conservative-religious rich tie-eating, pro-military anti-abortion, unipower world advocate; Bush lover

In International Affairs: Conservative means realist, and liberal means, well liberal. Realists are obsessed with states and power calculations, liberals are obsessed with multi-national organizations.

Domestically, conservatives are suburban/rural or who have money; advocate less government. Liberals are midde-class young urbanites who want accountability from the government.

Socially: Conservatives are religious, anti-abortion, traditionalists. Liberals are secular, testing social boundaries, pro-life.

Well who gives a sh*t? I'm speaking in generalities here, but here are my thoughts. In all three cases I'd probably claim I'm a liberal. One guy told me that men are hesitant to claim they are liberal because it's emasculating. However, sometimes I find myself distanced from some liberals because I don't really appreciate their talking about the opposition in rabid foul language, where on the contrary I've met gentlemanly soft-spoken respectful conservatives (I've seen vice versa as well). Although this is all situation and personality dependent, I've observed that both sides are sometimes unwilling to hear the other side, and maintain they are right no matter what. Additionally, both sides often generalize their arguments, and seem to think one or two factors have made the situation what they are, ignoring that most of the issues they disagree on are incredibly complex with factors not readily apparent influencing the issue. And that makes liberals and conservatives all the same to me.

Powell Commission

So Powell is possibly going to lead a commission to investigate the handling of Hurricane Katrina?

Just as a point, I find that fascinating given his admission about the infamous speech he gave to the UN:

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday his prewar speech to the United Nations accusing Iraq of harboring weapons of mass destruction was a "blot" on his record.
"I'm the one who presented it to the world, and (it) will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It is painful now," Powell said in an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC-News.

Is this a recovery attempt?

Roosevelt island memorial. Again. not. very. exciting.

On the Roosevelt Island Bridge looking towards Georgetown. Not. very. exciting.

quelling anti-arranged marriage

I get into arguments about people who seem to know more about my culture than I apparently do. Example, arranged marriages means forced marriages. B u l l fucking s h i t. I don't deny that in some rural water-logged or water-deprived developing country, far from central government influence, 11 year olds are married off to spindly mean red-eyed seventy year olds who beat them and essentially make them slaves, but I object that all arranged marriages are characterized that way.

The simplest way to think about it is your family or close friends of your family playing matchmaker. Okay, maybe you do only get to meet them once or for a week before you have to say yes or no, and um that sucks, but in some families, you can date for months. The point is, it depends on the family and individuals. Islam prohibits women from being forced by her parents into a marriage. I can't deny that families can pressure their daughters, but again, that's a case-by-case situation. Families are very close in other cultures, its not about the American 'nuclear' family, which I think most sociologists can debunk; but the extended family.

Imagine meeting a dude: "Hey here's my dad, here are my brothers, here are my uncles, and cousin-brothers." READ: You f(*& with me they'll break your legs and string you up from a tree branch. Yeah! It's like Godfather. But with a less unhappy ending. It provides the marriage with a readily available support network, but anyway I'm getting off the topic. Tradition is not necessarily something to demonize, neither is a practice that once everyone in the world practiced, including Americans, a godawful thing.

bike accident log

If anyone cares, today I hit a woman's minivan's side view mirror, veered off and crashed into the curb.

Don't worry mom, I'm okay!!! No somersaults and I was wearing a helmet, although, boy do I have a nasty charlie horse from the pedal slamming into my calf.

bonefish grill

So after a not so strenuous day of climbing at Talking Head Wall (because the parts that were strenuous, I couldn't even do) and still being sore from climbing at Great Falls, (the log: The Right Stuff, attempting some crazy 5.10 my friend told me was a 5.4, Splinters, and then being so worn out from Splinters I couldn't even complete the corner of Aid Box--how pathetic) I decided to eat with friends at the much talked about Bonefish Grill. Normally I wouldn't review chain restaurants but I figured this one wasn't as prolific as Red Lobster or Ruby Tuesday's.

Starting off with a Georgia Peach martini (very tasty) I joined my friends at the table. They're into having you dip your bread (which tasted warmed, not recently baked) in pesto and olive oil. For an appetizer we had calamari, which according to my friends, is usually excellent, but that night was chewy. This is place where you get fish, grilled, like the name suggests, in a variety of preparations: lemon butter sauce, lime tomato garlic sauce, warm mango salsa or pan-Asian style. For everyone else, it seemed the lime tomato garlic sauce (seemed best on the white fishes) and pan-Asian style (particularly good with seared Ahi tuna) were a hit. I ordered the dismal overpriced halibut rockefeller, topped with crab meat, spinach, and three kinds of cheeses, which all tasted American. I also got the potatos au gratin which again were cheesy, but in an unflavorful American kind of way. Yeah, I should give up right??? This is why I won't dine at chain restaurants, or I just ordered the wrong things.

However, Pesce on P Street is a great fish restaurant, as is Oceanaire Seafood Room if your're looking for a loud boisterous atmosphere.

Frankly, I still think Bengalis do fish better :) ... mmm sauteed onions and chillies in garlic, cayenne, turmeric, cumin, and salt ... all in a frying pan. Or in a nice tangy mango curry, mmm ..., don't get me started ...

the constant gardener

Something about this movie was disturbing. It's a serious film, supposed to be a thriller, but in that intellectual kind of way that makes a commentary on world affairs or society or something. But frankly it falls flat. Supposedly based around a love story, where Justin, a British diplomat begins to investigate the brutal death of his young activist wife Tessa. First, it's a weird relationship to begin with, and not convincing at all. Justin is a quiet soft spoken green-thumbed gentleman who's probably in his late thirties if not early forties. Tessa is an outspoken, mischievous, bleeding-heart, 24 year old vixen. An unlikely pairing if you ask me, and let's not get into how they met, with her embarrassing herself during one of his speeches, asking him for drinks, and then sleeping with him afterwards.

Oh yeah, and how does she get to Kenya? By asking him to take her with him, even though goodness knows how deep their relationship is. Justin 'is flattered' that Tessa would allow him to take her as his lover or wife. WEIRD. On top of that, he takes her without fully knowing exactly what she wants to do in Kenya, and it isn't until after her death that he tries to figure out what she was doing.

**** SPOILERS***** And the ending too. A bit pat that a pharmaceutical company would hire goondas to take her out, and then later the grieving Justin **** SPOILERS*****

Oooh, if you want to see a creepy thrilling movie, Cronicas is out. Check out my review here.

comments

I love getting them. I think I've mentioned this before. Although I realize I have to have a thick skin about somethings. For the most part I don't want this blog to get bogged down with heavy stuff (did you see my class list???? and I'm not even going to get into what my job is like), so normally I'm going to write about very uncontroversial things. Hence the 'lightness' aspect of it. So keep the comments coming! Spammers go away.

GWU review

So classes have started. For the most part I've tried to avoid writing about school, but it has happened, and now I'm going to purge this need by writing about my classes. Yes, if you've ever been curious about classes for a Master of Arts in International Affairs at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, here's your chance to read up.

IAFF 290 US Foreign Policy in Gulf--Not the Gulf of Mexico, which given the state of affairs, any policy would be useful; but the Persian Gulf, also in a sad state of affairs. This class is taught by former Ambassador Edward Gnehm, and I when I took it, not only was it my first graduate course, but it was his as well. Hopefully he's made some improvements, like no required SINGLE SPACE 15 page paper for a final. There's a ton of reading, but it is a seminar like class so expect to raise your hand.

ECON International Trade and Finance (the one for dummies who don't want to take two semesters)- I'm wretched with economics. I don't get it. To me its a pseudo-science based on assumptions about human behavior that got turned into hard science. That's my rant and I'll stop now. This class was taught by Skancke, who mostly lectured. I have to say I did learn something as he required us to analyze a news article each week relating to our lessons.

IAFF 201 Diplomatic Negotiations Skills-Taught by former Ambassador McNamara. Actually was quite work intensive for a 1 credit, had a paper due nearly every week. Requires lots of class participation, but it's fairly easy to stay anonymous. Actually learned some non-intuitive things about negotiating. Useful also for job or other negotiations.

IAFF International Affairs of South Asia-My one class taught by an academic during my entire 04-05 Academic year, Professor Ollapally. Background in this subject is useful prior to taking the class. Requires an in-class blue book midterm and a final research paper.

PSC Theories of International Relations-Taught by a Foreign Service Officer, Edward Lacey. Lacey knows his stuff, and he will not shy away from letting the entire class know that he's a realist. However, I was not a big fan of his in-class midterm which was a T/F multiple choice thing mainly based on memorizing the readings. How awful, I took several theory courses in undergrad and I was pretty sure you could only explore this subject via discussion and writing theory papers. Although I have to give him credit for giving us a rather 'fun' take-home final exam which was a policy paper.

IAFF Responses to Terrorism-So far most awesome class to date. I have to admit, because of work I'm fairly inundated with this subject but I liked Rhea Siers, who's a policy person within the Department of Defense. It's primarily a discussion course and we had a great mix of former military, NGO & non-profit workers, lawyers, and government employees, so it was LIVELY.

IAFF Transnational Security Issues-Taught by former CIA analyst George Fidas. Fairly interesting as it covers the broad spectrum of transnational issues, from AIDS to ethnic conflict. Primarily lecture based with two policy papers (means little research--woohoo!).

In December or January, look for a review of HIST Uses of History in International Relations, PSC National Security Making Process and IAFF Introduction to Formal Briefing.

Well that's it folks. Apologies to those who could give a sh*t about my GWU classes.

digital vs. film

I recently commandeered my sister's graduation present, a Canon Powershot 4.0 MP A520. I was excited, a relief to carry rather than the veritable rucksack that contains my film SLR. But what I found is the Powershot is pretty much a point and shoot camera and maybe a bit worse because its takes a while for the camera to save the image and make itself ready for the next shot. How annoying. My SLR can take pictures as long as 30 seconds or 1/4000 of a second. That's freaking exhilarating. Not too mention, that heavy baby can take about 2.5 pictures a second ... it's a Ferrari Modena compared to the digital. If only it wasn't a Hummer H2 :( body style.

I know the digital SLR, four times the cost of a film SLR are approaching if not surpassing picture quality, however I'm still curious if their speed is close, particularly between shots. Also the instant gratification of seeing my picture after I take it is not really gratifying. Instant gratification seems to be a oxymoron when it comes to picture taking. Sending film off to the developer and waiting for it in my mailbox (don't trust the teenagers working the one hour photo shops) is like getting an unexpected bouquet of flowers.

Valdemar

valdemar
Originally uploaded by ScelestiX.

Isn't he the cutest most adorable thing???

The wedding party

the future of climbing at GF

There's a raging debate going on in DC's small climbing community. A new management plan for Great Falls is underway that if agreed on will limit the usage of Great Falls as a climber's haven. The proposed plans involve 1) maintaing the status quo OR 2) (which is recommended) a) installing anchors for climbs b) control access through permitting c) closing some climbing sites.

I think installing anchors is a good idea that will benefit the park and climbers. Many times I've seen trees that have been gnarled, particularly in heavily used areas like Aid Box because they've been used as anchors. Also I've seen too many climbers make improper anchors and installing hardware will make it safer for climbers and reduce environmental impact. Although the weekends are crowded, I'm not sure about controlling access through permitting. Right now I think first come first serve suits everyone well. As for closing climbing sites, I only think two are in consideration: Sandbox and Dr. Needlepoint. Which I suppose if they are temporary closings with some access for climbers I don't mind so much. Also, I've never been to Sandbox so I guess you can't miss what you haven't experienced.

There are some good points though in the discussion. For example, why are climber's being targetted when the park is more heavily trafficked by hikers, tourists, and the like? Simple things like permitting one car in when car goes out in super busy times seems to solve some problems concerning overcrowding. Anyway, if you are a climber and care about climbers, the meeting to discuss the proposed plan will be on the 17th of September (Saturday) from 1 to 3 PM at the Great Falls Visitor's Center. Come out, enjoy a morning of climbing and then make your voice heard!

weddings

At one point do they become a disaster? This weekend I attended two lovely ceremonies for members of my family. The first involved my cousin who's wedding was very last minute. They had originally cancelled it because of some difficult news. We had it at my aunt's. Tens of us crowded in a townhouse in Centreville. It made me appreciate the simplicity of having close friends and family, to not worry about wedding photographers, a venue that doesn't require a contract, home cooked dinner instead of questionable catering, and all that other racketeering that goes on with weddings.

The second wedding I went to was unexpected. I thought it would be an engagement party, instead it turned out to be the actual exchanging of the vows (the reception won't be until December). Again, close family, no acquaintances, or people crashing just for the dinner ... it was nice that it was simple and not too frilly.

Luckily these were both Muslim weddings so there was very little complications. Both services used the same imam. But what do you do when you've got two different cultures? For example what if Asian (South-Muslim) marries a WASP-y type person? No alcohol at the reception first off. Second, how do you agree on a cleric? A Muslim family will never accept a Christian or Jewish cleric, has to be an imam. So then what do you do? Also there are other interesting issues. For example, parents who are divorced. If you have two families who cannot stand eachother at all. I'm sure these are old questions that have solutions for them, but since I've got two colleagues who've got weddings on the mind, I've been avoiding this stuff. Apparently I'm next on the chop block. The only conclusion is to elope!!! Haha, not that I'm in any danger of that since there are no prospectives (and the idea is still abstract to me).

Happiness

Happiness
Originally uploaded by ScelestiX.

That's not me climbing!!! But I did go up the route he did, up until that roof where I decided that I needed to go around it. So that is Talking Head Wall. Most of the climbs are rated in the 5.11 and up range, the cruxes are all overhangs and roofs like you see in the picture. But the way up to them is as easy as climbing a ladder. Good place to practice roofs if you've already got the capability, and a good place to start practicing lead climbing. Although for the intermediate climber, its too easy mixed with impossible.

soulfood

It would be pretty funny if I found out that people who are attracted to spiritual stuff found this website, hoping for revelations from the Bhagavad Gita or something or at least a discussion thereof. Instead they find a whiny government employee/graduate student spouting ill-informed opinions on things nobody knows everything about or trying to outdo DC foodies on eating. Well that will all stop (for at least this post) because at the request of a friend, I will once again delve into territory which I admittedly have no experience in. The friend wants insight into the super exclusive world of indie rock, because the damn radio stations rarely play it, it will not always make into the Grammy awards, or be featured on MTV, I will date myself and be really unhip by posting songs I love. Songs and bands recommended to me by friends, or being trapped in their cars and forced to listen and love. Not all may 'classify' as indie and some maybe downright pop, but I'm not a purist about music genre or labels. If you have other recommendations, please post and let me know!!!

Ash--Anything by them "Free All Angels" is an awesome album
Belle & Sebastian--"Get me Away from Here I'm Dying" &"Boy with the Arab Strap" among many other jewels
Ben Harper--"Steal My Kisses" &"Faded"
Blur --"Coffee +TV"
Broken Social Scene-- "Shampoo Suicide" &"Cause=Time"
Built to Spill-- "I would Hurt a Fly"
Cat Power-- "He War"
Death Cab for Cutie--"Photobooth" & "The Sound of Settling"
The Decemberists--"Legionaire's Lament", "Angel, Won't You Call Me", & "Billy Liar"
The Dismemberment Plan--"Superpowers"
Elliott Smith--"Baby Britain"
The Flaming Lips--"Fight Test"
Frente!--Anything by them
Guster--Anything by them
Interpol
Jeff Buckley --"Last Goodbye"
Kasabian
Modest Mouse --"Dramamine" & "Float On"
Pavement --"Cut your Hair" & "Spit on a Stranger"
Phoenix
Spoon --"The Way we Get By"
Stephen Malkmus--"Do not Feed the Oyster"
The Unicorns--"Jellybones"
Wilco--"I'm the Man who Loves You", "Heavy Metal Drummer",
The Wrens--"This Boy is Exhausted"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs--"Maps"

sympathy

Everyone is talking about how awful Katrina hitting New Orleans and how awful the devastation is. I wonder if they really feel it, because yes it's awful, and yes you're a cold mean person if you think disasters are hilarious and don't really give a shit. Well, yes, here comes the part where I'm revealed to be a cold hearted person if I say Katrina hasn't affected my moods at all. Except for the part where I'm uncomfortable commiserating with other people's sympathy about it. Maybe we all harden a bit. You can be sensitive to everyone and everything. Be upset by things that only affect you emotionally, for example wars going on in distant places.

Katrina was a fascinating spectacle to watch yes. But shit happens, life goes on. Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados are things humans have no control over. It's like death, we all have a 100% certainty we'll all die. We have no control over it. I have to think about Katrina because its on the news and everyone is talking about it. Yes, it's awful that emergency medical services are inadequately prepared to do their jobs because of loss of electricity, roads that are impassible, and other difficulties. That the superdome is overcrowded and there are some huge issues with sanitation. And here I'll be brutally honest. I'm just glad the past two days in D.C. have been absolutely gorgeous.

Because I'm honestly more affected by the hell that is Iraq. I'm more affected when I hear a suicide bomber to target one American soldier, blew up the 10 children the soldier was passing candy to. I see the images on aljazeera of their crying uncles, brothers, and fathers carrying their bodies away. That my friend, is what I see when I go to work. And I won't go into the graphic details. Again I'm not belittling anything else that is going on in New Orleans or the Sudan, it's just not everyone has the same issues close to their heart.

Hurricanes happen, we may be able to prepare for them. Given their unpredictableness and their uncontrollableness, all there is left is recovery. And then there are human disasters of our own creation, I find those the saddest of all.

UPDATE:

Well actually the more I read about New Orleans the more awful I feel about it for those people.
But I don't know. I'm suspicious of the media. I've been suspicious since up to the Iraq war, most broadcasting stations were juxtapositioning images of 9/11 with news stories on Iraq's alleged WMD program.

Maybe I can't shake the feeling Americans are resilient beings, and somehow everything will be okay; it must the be the denial phase.