How to stop terrorism

It would seem that about 100 years before 9/11/2001 we had 9/6/1901 when President McKinley was shot and killed by an anarchist in Buffalo, NY. (Considering the stock market crashes and miscellaneous other horrible things that happen in September you’d think we’d just skip over that month every year.)

The Boston Globe, in their Ideas section (what a great idea), has a good article about how President Roosevelt dealt with terrorism. The great trust-buster realized that he could fix American social problems by trimming the excesses of unfettered capitalism. Thus removing the conditions that spawned McKinley’s killer Leon Czolgosz. Listening: Jurassic Shift - Ozric Tentacles Feeling: impressed

TPS Report 27B/6

My translocation is almost complete. The last link to Dallas, my cell phone number, has been changed to a Huntsville number. Hopefully within the month I’ll have my stuff transported here. Just waiting to get paid. Relocating to Huntsville, AL from Dallas, TX has meant a $500+ reduction on my 6 month car insurance premiums. Yeah! It’s below my car payment now. Coming back to Huntsville stings a little. I feel like I’ve retreated.

"I'm mad and I'm not gonna take it anymore"

Those who laud the American do or die spirit and hate that “axis of evil” country Iran should take a closer look at what a couple of Iranian filmmakers are doing. Compare the raft of shit that floated through our movie theaters this summer to what these two guys are doing. Sounds like that American do or die spirit is alive and well, in Iran. I’d be flabbergasted to see a major Hollywood studio take these kinds of risks to tell a good story.

People like me

I’m enjoying the commentary on the All the Real Girls DVD. In many ways I think it’s better than what they did on the Criterion DVD of George Washington. As the writer/director, David Gordon Green, and the writer/actor, Paul Schneider, talk about their process for making the movie they remind me of my own approach to life.

When David is talking about how he, Zooey, and Paul sat in the tub listening to Sigur Ros and talking about the scene while the crew setup I understood. When David said he put Neil Young’s and Built to Spill’s version of Cortez the Killer on repeat as he wrote the last draft of the movie that made complete sense to me. Paul talks about listening to Mastodon, Michael Nyman and Afghan Whigs to inform his performance. It’s not just their music selections but the role music plays in their lives.

The new life

Maybe my gut feeling that Huntsville has become more violent as churches and plastic people have multiplied over the years is correct. Right across the street from the Huntsville Hospital building I work in is the Huntsville Hospital Emergency Room. In fact I can see it easily from the window when I look out. Yesterday around when I was leaving a man showed up and brandished a gun in the lobby. (Wes wrote about the story from a more personal angle. I’m sorry Wes.) Today when I was over there a mental patient escaped from the armed guard watching him. Last night some violent, bad stuff happened to a friend which is why I was at the ER today. Guess I better get busy making things better again.

give me space

I’m already missing the great plains in North Dakota and Montana. I’ve only got pictures to keep me company for awhile. I’ve got pictures of the world’s largest metal sculptures along the “Enchanted Highway” in North Dakota, Pompey’s Pillar, cemetaries at Little Bighorn and various plains in Montana.

I watched amazing storms pound away at the earth while I was miles away. I saw fires spring up from the lightning beating the ground over and over. These storms looked like giant jellyfish in the skies. You had the umbrella of the jellyfish fill the sky, and then a wall of clouds falling to the earth where the tentacles would be. Lightning struck all around the jellyfish and sometimes I could see airplanes flying in and out of the clouds.

did i really drink?

I don’t drink things alcoholic. In the last seven or so years I’d had one of Designer Andy’s famous painkillers the day I got laid off from BroadbandNow and that is it as far as I can remember. I wasn’t always like that. There was a time before where I drank till I was silly. Welp the time came again to get silly drunk this past friday when I got to see

Fort Peck Dam

I just got back from driving to Glasgow, Montana to check out the dam that is featured in the movie Northfork. (Amusingly enough I’d actually spent the night in tiny Glasgow once before on my way to Alaska. Never thought I’d be back)

I took some pictures. So far this is the only time I’ve been impressed enough by a movie to drive 4200 miles round trip to check out a shooting location. Learned a lot. Deepened my appreciation for the movie. Listening: Can’t Take It With You - Alan Parsons Project

modest update

Dropped everything into storage. Mobile Matt v3.0 arrived in Huntsville Saturday evening. I’ve seen a few friends since arriving and briefly looked for places to live. Hopefully I’ve found a good place. Friday I go and meet with the owner to look at two houses she has. One’s next to Maple Hill Cemetary and the other is on a tree lined street in Five Points. I’m thinking after I see the houses I hit the road for Great Falls, Montana and see if I can find some of the locations they filmed in Northfork. Listening: Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles

Jackpot

Tonight it’s a fire truck, ambulance and multiple police cars outside the house. Usually it’s just two of the three. I remember when I first started seeing the emergency services stop by and I would timidly look outside the blinds not wanting to be nosey. Now I recognize it for what it is, an opportunity to actually talk with neighbors, and head on outside. Tonight the emergency services folks don’t know where they are supposed to be and they are driving up and down the street trying to find the right place.