alcimines

12:00 pm: Future Vacation Spots

I'm back home, having finished a week-and-a-half long vacation in San Francisco. While I had a good time, I think I should plan on visiting elsewhere the next time I have a few days off. SF is now like Denver -- I've visited both places many times, that trips there are becoming repetitive.

So, what are the likely next choices?

In no particular order...

New Orleans -- my pre-Katrina trips to NO were pretty enjoyable. It would be interesting to see how NO is recovering. And it's also time I saw a bit of the bayou country.

Atlanta -- this was a favorite destination of mine back when I was a GI stationed at Fort Benning. It would be interesting to see what's changed in the years since my last stay. Also, perhaps this time I could do something besides chase girls and drink beer.

Chicago -- obviously a city with a lot to offer. My only visit (many years ago) didn't leave me terribly impressed, but that was then and I only stayed for a few hours in a not-terribly wonderful part of town. One advantage: Chicago is a relatively short trip by rail.

04:26 pm: Hey, man... *sucks on a joint* you're... like... making everything so harsh...

To what extent do modern film-makers live in an alternate universe all their own?

Here's an advertising blurb for a film called, "The Whackness".

It’s the summer of 1994, and the streets of New York are pulsing with hip-hop and wafting with the sweet aroma of marijuana -- but change is in the air. The newly-inaugurated mayor, Rudy Giuliani, is beginning to implement his anti-fun initiatives against “crimes” like noisy portable radios, graffiti and public drunkenness. Set against this backdrop, Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) spends his last summer before college selling dope throughout New York City, trading it with his shrink (Ben Kingsley) for therapy, while crushing on his step daughter (Olivia Thirlby). Famke Janssen, Mary Kate Olsen,and Method Man round out the cast in this edgy, bittersweet, and funny coming of age story.