My new shopping article for NWsource.com

It's live!

Who knows how I missed this...

...but here it is now, better late than never:



Thanks to Jill for tipping me off. I'm really going to miss this year's election-themed comedy shenanigans.

Bring it ON

My first Jew-ish.com article is live!

Exciting.

"I don't know if you're going to use the word 'terrorist' there..."

Read it and weep. And pray, if you're that sort.

I rode a motorcycle today!

First time ever! The related Jew-ish.com article, a profile of a local Jewish motorcycle club, should go live the second week in November.

In other news: Happy almost-Halloween, everyone!


The Kibbutz has seven -- count 'em! -- jack-o'-lanterns at this time, and if I want to have a costume, I'd better get cracking. Sarah Palin? The economy? Headless John the Baptist? These are all possibilities.

I've single-handedly derailed the future

Perhaps if I'd carved an Obama pumpkin, this wouldn't have happened.

Happy birthday, Red Blue Green!

Friday marked this blog's first anniversary/birthday/year of existence, which I somehow neglected to make mention of or celebrate in any way. I've come a long way from my first post (and an even longer way from my MySpace blog, which I began in December of 2005), and I'd like to start an anniversary tradition: the embedding of a video wherein Thom Yorke performs the beautiful song that gave Red Blue Green its name. Enjoy!



Of course, I could also take a modified version of the survey I used to kick off the MySpace blog nearly three years ago:

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The Survey
Name:	Neal Elliott Schindler
Birthday:	February 9, 1979
Birthplace:	Detroit, Michigan
Current Location:	Seattle, Washington
Eye Color:	Brown
Hair Color:	Brown
Height:	5'9"
Right Handed or Left Handed:	Right
Your Heritage:	German/Jewish
The Shoes You Wore Today:	Black Eccos, as always
Your Weakness:	Pasta/noodles
Your Fears:	Ending up alone; not working up to my potential
Your Perfect Pizza:	Every vegetable imaginable needs to be on there
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	Getting on more solid footing career-wise, creatively, and emotionally
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:	BTW
Thoughts First Waking Up:	(yawn)
Your Best Physical Feature:	Eyes, I'm told
Your Bedtime:	11 p.m., ideally
Your Most Missed Memory:	Spain
Pepsi or Coke:	Coke! But only in a glass bottle, with real sugar
MacDonalds or Burger King:	Yuck
Single or Group Dates:	What does "group date" mean these days, anyway?
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	Jeez
Chocolate or Vanilla:	Vanilla
Cappuccino or Coffee:	Decaf soy mocha
Do you Smoke:	No
Do you Swear:	Yes, too much
Do you Sing:	Not as often as I'd like to
Do you Shower Daily:	Yes!
Have you Been in Love:	Oh yes
Do you want to go to College:	Been there, done that; would like to go to grad school, though
Do you want to get Married:	Absolutely
Do you belive in yourself:	Not as much as I'd like to
Do you get Motion Sickness:	Occasionally, when I read on the bus
Do you think you are Attractive:	Not as much as I'd like to; sometimes I do
Are you a Health Freak:	Heavens no
Do you get along with your Parents:	The remaining one, yes
Do you like Thunderstorms:	God, I miss them
Do you play an Instrument:	Guitar! Not too well, though
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol:	No
In the past month have you Smoked:	No
In the past month have you been on Drugs:	No
In the past month have you gone on a Date:	No
In the past month have you gone to a Mall:	No!!!
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos:	Not a whole box...
In the past month have you eaten Sushi:	No
In the past month have you been on Stage:	Goodness no
In the past month have you been Dumped:	No
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:	C'mon
In the past month have you Stolen Anything:	No!
Ever been Drunk:	Of course!
Ever been Beaten up:	Yep
Ever Shoplifted:	Not that I can recall
How do you want to Die:	Peacefully, painlessly; what a strange question
What do you want to be when you Grow Up:	A writer; a filmmaker; someone who continually creates
What country would you most like to Visit:	India or another Asian country
Number of CDs I own:	I have nearly 10,000 iTunes
Number of Piercings:	None
Number of Tattoos:	None
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	(sigh)

Statesman, candidate, comedian

Can I call you Joe?

Say it ain't so, John. Crikey.

Future imperfect

Just in time for tonight's final presidential debate, some wild wag has imagined a Palin White House -- and it doesn't look good. (Hint: It's interactive and requires sound.)

Jon Stewart, on the other hand, took a trip into the not-too-distant past to uncover the truth about McCain's recent stump speech, whose purpose was to "reboot" his flagging campaign. Nice try, Johnny Mac.

This looks freaking awesome

A ringing "endorsement"

Technically, The New Yorker doesn't endorse candidates, but the Comment in this week's Politics Issue (which also includes George Packer's excellent article on white working-class voters in Ohio) is a thoughtful, persuasive, and ultimately moving essay on why Obama is the better choice. I love the magazine, and have been reading it since I was a teenager, but rarely has it given me chills and made my heart beat faster. That this eloquent piece gets a collective byline ("The Editors") only moved me more. Bravo.

If campaigns were won on gall alone...

...Palin-McCain would roll to victory. Good heavens.

"I pray to God that people have enough time to let this register with them and start again, connecting the dots, and understand the contrast between the tickets," she said.

Yeah? Well, here are some dots, you fantastic hypocrite. As for your old man:

At an event Friday in Lakeville, Minnesota, McCain referred to Obama as a "decent person" and praised him as a "family man" after two voters expressed fear over Obama being elected.

But the Arizona senator was met by a sea of boos when asking the crowd to be more respectful toward Obama.

When the crowd began to boo, McCain told them "No, no. I want everyone to be respectful."

Grrr.

The newest Obama sticker

I plunder yet again from The Evil Beet for this timely gem, a reference to the second debate that will likely become passé the moment the third debate begins. I'm watching it at Central Cinema, by the way, and so should you.

Overheard on Facebook

This has to be one of OINY's better recent posts. Thanks to Kim for cluing me in -- appropriately enough, via Facebook.

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and "Pictures at a Revolution"

Two raves this week. The first is for Woody Allen's latest movie, which I finally saw -- and enjoyed considerably more than I thought I would. The music (almost entirely Spanish) is lovely, Allen's insertion of neurotic babble into the mouths of his characters remains at a bearable minimum, the whole thing is sexier and fresher than we've come to expect from late-period Woody, and the film contains what may be my favorite shot of the year. (It's a throwaway depiction of small fireworks on a warm summer night, but it shows in a second or two how firm Allen's grasp of place really is. And besides that, it's just plain magical.)

Even the narration, which has irritated more than a few viewers and critics, was something I got used to pretty quickly. It's not unlike Little Children's narration in that sense; initially it seems superfluous and in the way, but by the end it's hard to imagine the film without it. Cruz is a force of nature and steals every scene she's in, bringing a welcome touch of Almodóvarian melodrama to the movie; Bardem is effortlessly suave and, when he needs to be, complex; and ScarJo and Rebecca Hall both bring what's needed to their roles, though Patricia Clarkson makes her small but important role even more evocative of the yearning and sadness everyone's trying to channel.

Maybe Vicky seemed better than it normally would have because I'd seen the dreadful Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist the previous day, and maybe I was just in the mood for a romantic dramedy set in a country I really wish I could revisit -- but I'm actually thinking it could be one of my top 10 for the year. (If you've already seen the film, this priceless companion piece from The New York Times is a must-read.) Either I haven't seen the right movies this year, or it's been a pretty lackluster one so far, after the relative cinematic riches of 2007. I know that, as is often the case around this time of year, most of the best may be yet to come, but still. WALL·E is the only 2008 film I can recall that, to my mind, surpasses Vicky, but that probably just means I need to search my memory banks. Probably. (Come to think of it, American Teen may be bound for my top 10, too.)

In other movie-related news, I'm thoroughly enjoying Pictures at a Revolution, Mark Harris' bravura telling of the run-up to the 1968 Oscars, wherein Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, and Doctor Dolittle were the Best Picture nominees. Never have I so happily read a nonfiction book with 400+ pages. I can't recommend it highly enough, even if you're not a cinephile, since the fascinating character profiles are somehow both breezy and substantive. Those adjectives apply to the book as a whole, and I've never learned so much about how movies are made -- what an arduous process it can be, and how collaborative it almost unavoidably becomes. Great stuff.

Just when you thought your VP debate-watching party couldn't get any funner...

...here's this. Well played, Steve and Brendan, whoever you are.

In other vaguely political news: The inevitable Katy Perry fallout hits Texas.

No TP at the OC

My alma mater, like the nation, appears to be experiencing a financial crisis. Thanks to Greg for the heads-up. Maybe I should have upped my annual donation this year...