Pop Up Stores

If you live in L.A., you may have noticed new activity in the many "For Lease" stores dotting chichi shopping streets. For a week or two these stores are transformed with big discount signs (e.g., 75% Off Designer Clothing"), and industrial style racks of clothing. I've had some good luck shopping at these stores. Truly cool clothes at great prices. Now I can finally name the phenomena. This weekend, when I truly stunning Mad Men style skirt, I asked the saleswoman whether the store was permanent.

"Oh no" she said. "We're just a pop up store. It's a great way to move merchandise. No lease."

Another sign of the times.

Manohla Dargis

Before she became a movie critic for The NYTimes, Manohla wrote for our own local LAWeekly. She had the distinction of being the wittiest movie critic I'd ever read (not an easy feat), but unfortunately also the least predictable. Meaning that I could never tell, by reading her review, whether I'd like the film or not.

When Pulp Fiction came out, Manohla promptly panned it. Her comment was that it "has too much dialogue", and (I'm paraphrasing) that moviegoers these days don't like that much dialogue. Well, so much for that insight. At the time the LAWeekly had a policy of running an excerpt of the original review for as long as the movie was in theatres, so it was stuck with running the same tin eared review for the 4+ months of Pulp Fiction's stunning theatrical run.

But this posting is actually intended as an ode to her wit. I just read her review of Amelia. I haven't seen the film, so I have no knowledge of its merits, but kudos to Manohla on the way she expresses her opinion that the movie is all smiles and no substance. A direct quote: "The movie is a more effective testament to the triumphs of American dentistry than to Earhart or aviation".

Which reminded me of what she said about Pierce Brosnan when his first James Bond movie came out: "The future of a franchise is resting on his slender shoulders, and the strain shows". Does it get any wittier, or more vicious, than that?

Dear Mr. Geithner

So Geithner was confirmed today. And unfortunately I think it was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, because I'm completely miffed about his tax thing. Whatever he may say, it's pretty clear to me that he intentionally decided not to pay that employer portion of his social security taxes, and the reason he did it was that he figured in all likelihood he would get away with it. And in the worst case he would pay it. And in fact it kinda worked out that way. He didn't pay it for 4 years, but by the time he was audited, the statute of limitations had run out on the first two years. So he paid the second two years, and congratulated himself on managing to evade half of his due. Note that at the time of the audit he was head of the New York Fed. And then he was nominated secretary of the treasury, and the transition committee figured this out and said "Hey!!!". So he paid. Poor dear.

So what does this say about Geithner? And what's bugging me about this? Is it the moral issue? Or is it that I feel that I'm too much of a wimp to do the same, and I envy him his daring? Or actually, maybe it's that I envy his knowledge of what he can get away with? I which I were as competent? I think that's what it is. Because frankly, if I knew I could get away with it, wouldn't I do it? Maybe I would. Or maybe I'd feel it's sleazy. Which it definitely is. Tough to say.

Hmmmm.

Pregnancy Does NOT Cloud the Brain!

This just in: Pregnancy does not cloud the brain, says Australian study. No kidding. The idea that pregnancy adversely affects mental function is just like the story that menopause clouds the brain: An urban myth, partially propagated by women (I think we're sometimes our own worst enemies), and with no basis in reality IMHO.

On the other hand, lack of sleep due to an infant in the house does kinda cloud your brain...

The Elephant in the Room

What I can't understand about the Biden-Palin debate - help me here - is why "Gwen" never asked Mr. Grey and Ms. Cheerful about their opinions on abortion. Isn't that a swing issue? It is for me. I want to hear...

Crystal Meth Capital of Alaska...

You've probably already seen the Tina Fey imitation of Sarah Palin on SNL. Although just in case, I'd wanted to include the YouTube link here. Unfortunately when I click on it now all I get is an error message saying "this video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by NBC". Such a pity. But you can still get some tidbits if you go to YouTube and enter "Sarah Palin Tina Fey"

What you won't see in those abbreviated verions is the description of Palin as mayor of the crystal meth capital of Alaska. It reminded me so much of my Montana impressions. Which is what made the comment ring true.

Catch and Release

All the talk of Sarah Palin's hunting has made me reflect yet again on my week in Montana, and particularly on the day I went fly-fishing with my host and friend.

We actually went twice. He took me once in the morning so I could get the hang of casting the fly, and then once again in the evening when the fish would be biting.

The results weren't spectacular, but I did catch one small fish. And we released it. Because actually, my friend's mother had a lot more meat in the fridge than she could possibly use, and clearly we weren't going to eat this little guy.

Which got me to thinking about what I had just done. See I'm omnivorous. I do eat meat, and I do eat fish. So I don't have true moral qualms about catching a fish and eating it. If I weren't eating that fish, I'd be eating another one, maybe farm raised, but still a fish.

But catch and release is a different thing. It means the whole fishing exercise was just a sport, and the poor victim was the fish. The fish who was strung up with a hook in his throat, and then thrown back into the water to perhaps be caught again. Just as sport. And that I can't justify. In fact I can't figure out what the pleasure can possibly be.

So. I caught one fish. I released it. And for the future - I'll either go fishing to catch my supper, or I won't go at all.

And that's the way I view hunting too. If you want to hunt an animal and then eat it, I guess that's ok. We're animals, we are (mostly) carnivorous, and that's one of the ways we feed ourselves. But catch and release; there's something fundamentally wrong about that.

Sarah Palin

I'm pretty appalled at the way the Obama campaign is handling (or ignoring) the issue of Sarah Palin. And how the liberal parts of the media are handling it.

How can they knock her on experience when the counter is Obama? What's the big deal if she was once Miss Congeniality.

Let's give credit where credit is due. She came from nowhere, no family backing, no Ivy League school, no powerful husband, and by age 44 has five kids and is governor of Alaska, and an apparently very successful governor. What's not to admire here?

Problem is, for me, of course, her politics. For anyone who cares about "progressive" ideas - individual freedom (as in, yes, right to abortion), war in Iraq, and what another Republican presidency would do to the supreme court, the idea of another Republican victory is scary.

But if the Democrats don't get off their butts and figure out how to make these items the central ones of the campaign, it's not looking good...

Levi

I have to admit, when I heard the father of Bristol Palin's child was named Levi I kept wondering - could he be Jewish???? It seemed unlikely, a football star can't be Jewish. And I think that last name, Johnston, kinda seals it. He's not. No, no no.