I have had a canker sore all week. I would have said I had a cold sore, but I just learned that canker sores and cold sores are not the same thing. Cold sores occur outside the mouth, canker sores inside the mouth. And canker sores are not contagious. So that's good to know; thinking I had a virus of the same family as genital herpes ravaging my body was unsettling. I was actually doing some stock research to avoid studying, and found out that a company I was considering manufactures a cold/canker sore product, which led me to this realization. The company, Closure Medical Corporation (CLSR), looks promising, but is a bit richly valued, so I intend to purchase their canker sore product and make my decision based on it's efficacy. Unfortunately, my cold sore is almost healed, but I should get an idea (and I'll have the product handy the next time a canker inflammation strikes).

An interview with David "Mr. McFeely" Newell.

I'm back from Vegas. Actually, I got back Wednesday. Had a pretty good time. Lost a little money, but not too much. Was winning until the last night, when I just got hammered. A miracle comeback Wednesday morning, before I headed out of town, helped make my loss more manageable.

I left for Vegas Monday morning. As I mentioned, I got my oil changed over the weekend, so that my car would be prepared for the drive. When I stopped in Temecula for gas, I figured I should check the oil, make sure they filled it up all the way. I open the hood, when I discover they failed to replace the oil cap. Oil was all over the engine and the underside of the hood. So I had to find a Kragen and buy a new oil cap. So that pissed me off; I guess I won't be going back to Evans Tire after all. Other than that, the drive was plesant enough; I listened to Peggy Lee, Johnny Cash, and the Urinetown soundtrack on the way to Vegas.

Checked in to Green Valley Ranch around 2:45, and found my room about as nice as I remembered them being. Unfortunatley, construction of the new wing of the hotel blocked my view. But I still consider Green Valley Ranch the nicest hotel I've stayed in. Big room, big bathroom, very comfortable bed. A comfortable plush chair by the window (maybe they could improve on this, with a small couch or something in the king-size rooms). Coffee maker, robes in the room, iron and ironing board, all that jazz. Very nice place to stay. For free, how can I complain?

Well, turns out free isn't exactly free. I've stayed here several times in comped rooms, and this trip, for the first time, was charged a $5.99 resort fee for each night. They've been charging this fee to guests for some time, but apparently they just changed their policy and now charge guests in comped rooms the fee, as well as paying guests. So that pissed me off. Not so much the six bucks, but the fact that I only found out about the fee when I checked my room charges on the television, and saw the fee charged there. If it had been revealed when I made my reservation, I wouldn't have cared ($6 total charge for a room as nice as Green Valley Ranch's is a pretty sweet deal), but to have it sprung on me was aggravating, and will discourage me from staying there again. I filled out a comment card with stern comments about the new fee policy, I'm sure that will make a difference.

But allow me to stop complaining about the fee for a moment; I shouldn't really bitch about that when they did give me a $100 resort credit. Since I didn't feel like getting a facial at the spa, I saved the credit for dining during my stay. Had their buffet for dinner the first night. Didn't care for it; maybe if you're more of a meat and potatoes guy than myself, you'd like it (it's reasonably priced), but it didn't have anything I particularly enjoyed. Ribs were okay. But when the only food really of note in the buffet is the spaghetti squash, that can't be a good sign. The Italian restaurant, Il Fornaio, was much better. I had it for lunch the next day, and really enjoyed the tuna salad appetizer, easily the best thing I ate all trip. The pasta wasn't as exciting, but was still pretty good. I've found that whenever I eat at fancy Italian restaurants, the appetizers are always more exciting than the main pasta dishes. But I was very happy with the food and the service, and the total bill before tip only came to about $20, not too bad a deal for up-scale Italian. I had China Spice for dinner; not bad, but not particularly stand-out. The crab rangoon wasn't bad, and the lemon chicken wasn't bad; a bit bland, but I prefer that to the overly sweet lemon chicken you usually find. I had tempura bananas for dessert, a nice way to finish off a meal. Again, fairly reasonably priced, compared to other slightly up-scale Chinese restaurants in Vegas, but I prefer the cheap Chinese food back home; I would recommend you go for the sushi place next door instead. Expensive, but pretty good. I would have eaten there, but wanted to try as many new restaurants as I could. The Original Pancake House was pretty good, a bit expensive for breakfast. I had the blueberry pancakes; I was disappointed by the meager amount of blueberry compote served with them, but since there was no way I could finish all the pancakes anyway, the point was moot. Anyway, I managed to eat pretty good this trip, and all it cost me was the $5.99 resort fee. So I shouldn't complain.

Gambling-wise, the trip went okay. I won a fair amount right away, then got creamed the last night. Was playing with a delightful woman, drunk on grasshoppers, losing an obscene amount of money. Once stood pat on a total of 6; I'm sure the casino loves her. But she was really annoying me, so I should have just left, but instead I kept playing, and got creamed. I drove out to the Las Vegas Hilton late at night and tried to win it back, but they also cleaned my clock. Fortunately, I had some good luck the next morning, and won most of my original investment back. Got a pair of treys, split them, ended up spliting to four hands, and doubling down on one of those hands, with a substantial bet out, and the dealer bust. So that was pretty sweet. I was very close to getting back into the black, but had to hit the road. The drive back wasn't too bad, I was in the desert still at five, so I missed rush hour, more or less, and only had to contend with fairly light traffic once I got to around Escondido. Pink Martini, Magnetic Fields, and Randy Newman accomanied the drive home. And so now I've been home a day or two, and I'm already chomping at the bit to go back (though it looks like I won't be back until November). I actually found an invitation to go back to Green Valley Ranch on my birthday, for the Halloween weekend. They invited me for a slot tournament, and they are also having a costume contest for $5,000. Unfortunately I don't have enough lead time (and don't think I'd be able to go to Vegas that weekend, anyway), because I think I could win with my costume of Evel Knievel from an alternate universe where he didn't make it over the fountain at Caesar's Palace--just get a jumpsuit like Evel's, and have part of the fountain sticking out of your stomach. I think it's a real winner. Maybe next year.

I got a coupon from the blood bank for a free oil change from Evans Tire. So I figured I'd give them a try. Last time I took it in to the dealer, they tried to sell me their deluxe package, where I get spark plugs and a new air filter for the rock bottom price of $250. So I figured I'd get a tune-up today, since I wasn't paying anything for the oil change. And the guy at the store actually talked me out of it, saying that since I have platinum plugs, I don't need a tune-up until 60,000. So not only did they not sell me crap, they talked me out of buying more crap. So I think I'll use their services again (even if it was a three-hour wait for an oil change).

Having been watching the U.S. Open this week, I realize my dog is not a sports fan. I don't watch sports very often, and Tanner doesn't understand that when I'm yelling at the TV, I'm not yelling at him. So it's been stressful on him, especially with all the great matches. Watching Roddick go down last night was a hoot, though I was sad to see my favorite, Davenport, fall today. It looks like Capriati will go to the finals, if she holds this last serve, but the way this match has gone, who knows?

Of course, about 45 seconds after I type that, Dementieva has a double-break point opportunity. So I guess I should stop jinxing the poor players. A good match, however you look at it, though.

Another piece of the Las Vegas Monorail falls off; monorail again out of service. Yet again The Simpsons looks like the most prescient show on TV. I'm just waiting for the next headline: "Family of Possums Attacks Monorail Riders." "I call the big one bitey."

Of course, none of this will most likely influence my willingness to ride the monorail. I will be very reluctant to drive underneath it in the future, however. So I guess this could actually be good for their ridership.

Since I know you turn to this site for the latest and greatest tennis news, I should follow-up on my previous post to say Capriati was able to follow-through and win the match. A Capriati/Davenport final would be a good match.

I ran yesterday for the first time in about two months. I ran on a treadmill, because it would be easier on my foot, but mainly because it's just been too hot out to run. My foot hasn't really felt that good since I took the splint off, and so I was concerned how it would hold up. It's a little sore, but enough that I'm going to try to run on it again soon. Unfortunately, I'm coming down with something, so it might not be for a few days.

I did enjoy watching the U.S. Open while at the gym. I got on the treadmill when Davenport was serving for match point, set the timer for twenty minutes. The match almost took that long to conclude, with I believe 9 deuces. Really good game, though. I'm watching right now as Capriati tries to carry out a remarkable comeback, serving for match now, also. I'm not a huge Capriati fan, but still it's an amazing thing to watch.

Another Las Vegas Monorail accident shuts down the entire system. Reading about these incidents, all due to employee incompetence, does not make me particularly eager to ride it again on my next trip. Though I've had no problems the times I've riden it (and it sounds like this time, the only people in danger were those walking beneath the track).

I just learned that Pink Martini's new CD, Hang on Little Tomato, will be released October 19th. Very exciting; I absolutely loved Sympathique, and was starting to think a new album would never come. I see they will be playing in Los Angeles, at Walt Disney Concert Hall, for New Year's. I'd love to go see them, and see the much-discussed venue, but don't feel like driving home from L.A. with the drunks on New Year's. So I think I'll miss that, but a new album should provide more than enough satisfaction.

Jesus Christ seems to be on quite a tear; The Passion of the Christ, South Park: The Passion of the Jew, and Jesus Christ Superstar all come out on DVD today. Of the three, Superstar is the only one I could see some day owning; I like the musical, but the movie version was a tad too hippie-freaky for my tastes. Also coming out today is The Alfred Hitchcock Collection. I was a bit concerned when I first saw it, because it is anchored by Strangers on a Train, which isn't one of my favorite Hitchcock films, and I already have North By Northwest on DVD (the new DVD version has an isolated score, which would be awesome to have, but as great as Herrmaan is, I'm not buying it twice just for that). So I was pleased to see the individual movies are also being sold seperately (and reasonably priced, Amazon has them for pre-order at under $14 a pop). Suspicion is the most exciting one of the lot, but there's lots of good stuff here.

I had thought I had a Criterion DVD of Suspicioin, so I went to their website to confirm this (turns out I was thinking of Notorious--confused Ingrid Bergman with a cup of coffee for Joan Fontaine with a glass of milk). While there, I noticed The Bank Dick is going out of print. DVD Empire has it for about $20, the cheapest price I could find from a merchant listing it as in stock. Free shipping if you order 3 or more DVDs, so check out their $8.99 Universal DVDs sale.

And while I'm on the subject of DVDs, I should mention I finally got around to watching Bubba Ho-Tep last night. The movie was just okay, not up to all the hype, but the audio commentary by "Elvis" heightened the experience ten-fold. Very funny stuff.

I unbandaged my foot this evening. It feels pretty good. No pain to report yet. I go in Monday for an exam, and some pointers on resuming a running routine. He doesn't seem to be pushing for orthotics, so if he doesn't think I need them, I won't press the issue. Save a few hundred bucks if I don't need them.

I booked a room in Vegas for just a few weeks away. Staying at Green Valley Ranch. A little miffed about my treatment by my host last visit, but my up-front comps should cover all my needs this trip, so no worries about needing to speak to my host. In the past, when I've stayed at Green Valley Ranch I've barely left the casino, but this trip, I think I'll venture forth a little bit, maybe stop by the Hilton and play there and the Strip (via the monorail...just hoping this doesn't happen to me).

Speaking of gambling, I'd planned to go play poker this evening, but I got busy doing stuff, and decided it was too late. Long drive, and then a long wait for a seat on a Friday night. So now I'm bored. Lots of reading piling up, Summer is almost over, but I don't feel like reading any more tonight.

I was discussing Freaks with someone the other day, when they called my attention to this charming story. Nice to see such progress is being made. Like someone observed in the Freaks DVD, one of the actors gets a drink thrown in his face; in that actor's final film, Mad Max 2, he gets a bucket of pig excrement thrown at him. Such progress.

Not as much fun as watching the Trampoline, but the Men's High-Bar was pretty exciting. At least Japan came up to the plate and clearly earned their gold, if Hamm had gotten the gold, it could've been ugly, and rightfully so. I have to wonder, every time I hear an American on T.V. arguing that the gold medal controversy is just like a referee blowing a call in a game, and there's nothing you can do about it, what the '74 U.S. Basketball team thinks. (I think our team this year is praying for a blown call to pin their failure on)

I've been enjoying the new Freaks DVD that came out last week. I love that movie. Plenty of reviews are out singing its praises, so I won't bother writing another. But the film, and the special features on the DVD, are both awesome. It's a little disappointing that the alternate ending footage doesn't include the cut footage of Hercules and Cleopatra meeting their fates, but I guess that footage has been lost to history. But maybe it's better to use our imagination. Gooble-gobble.

Anyone been watching the Olympics? I enjoyed watching the trampoline, had no idea it was an Olympic sport. The first two athletes I saw fell off the trampoline. The second one, the favorite, hit the mat and just fell flat, right back onto the trampoline. Could I do better? Of course not. But it seems like, if you're good enough to reach the Olympics, you should be able to stay on the trampoline for the compulsory ten bounces.

I worked Sunday, and missed the Women's Marathon. A shame about Radcliffe, but at least she has her world record to fall back on.

I returned from Vegas yesterday, tired but satisfied. It was a losing trip, but I lost less than I won last time I was in town, and got plenty of comps to ease the pain. And had a pretty good time, even though I had a friend in tow, rather then the sweet freedom of solitude in Vegas I so enjoy.

The drive to Vegas went quite well. No real traffic to speak of, and even with two stops, made it in right about five hours. Listened to Shakira and Bob Newhart, an odd combination, I will admit. A cold front was moving in, so it wasn't even that unbearably hot, for those mountain passes where they advise turning off one's a/c. Checked in at Paris, and found our room on the 21st floor. Not much of a view, looked out at some timeshares, with the mountains on the side. Hoped maybe I'd get to watch a thunderstorm in the mountains sometime during the trip, but never saw any. Certainly a very nice room, but I still think I prefer Bally's. The room was big enough, but on the small side for a luxury resort. The armoire was a nice touch. Nicer bathroom than Bally's, with separate tub and shower. No separate water closet, but the toilet was set back in a slightly recessed nook, intended I suppose to give the illusion of privacy. Yet it wasn't set back nearly far enough, so that when one sat on the toilet, one couldn't help but watch oneself crapping in the full-length mirror on the door. Not an attractive sight. But they give you bath gel as well as the standard toiletries, the beds were comfortable, and housekeeping kept things tidy. Water pressure is usually the final arbiter for me in judging a room, but since my foot is bandaged and I don't feel like dealing with garbage bags, I've been taking baths. But the tub was spacious, and reasonably easy to enter and exit without dampening my left foot. So all in all, a good room, but considering it is newer and more expensive than Bally's, I think Bally's wins in the comparison (to be fair, I've only had queen beds at Paris, and king beds at Bally's, so maybe it is somewhat an apples-to-oranges comparison).

Overall, the service at Paris is pretty good. I did have one complaint with how the marketing department took care of me and my comped show tickets. The offer I was staying on was for two free nights in the hotel and two tickets to see We Will Rock You, their new musical based on the songs of Queen. First, when I called a few months ago and made the reservations, they tried to book me on some other offer I'd received, and I had to practically argue with the woman on the phone that I'd rather have two show tickets valued at $200+ rather than some food credit or whatever she was pushing. But I got it straightened out with her eventually, and reserved two tickets for the second night I was there. When I checked in, nothing was said about the tickets until I asked, and the front desk directed me to a line at the ticket office. I wait in line, and they have no record of the tickets. After fumbling with the computer awhile, she figures out that it was a comp offer from a room package, and tells me those tickets aren't available until the day of the show, so I should come back around noon the next day. So I do, no line this time, but still no show tickets. The clerk I spoke to this time was quite helpful, telling me that I need to actually call marketing from the hotel and tell them I want to get the tickets that were reserved for me. Seemed odd, but I was glad that the third person I talked to knew what to do. So I called marketing, she said I had tickets reserved for the 7:00 show, and she'd put them right in, and to check the ticket booth a half-hour later. I check about twenty minutes later, and they aren't there yet. Which is okay, so I leave and come back a few hours later, a bit of a line-up again, and again no tickets. The manager comes out, calls marketing, and goes in the back, and comes out again with my tickets. It seems that marketing never got me my tickets until the ticket office called them. It was all a minor inconvenience, but just seems odd, in that I assume most of the people staying in Paris on comps who play at my level or above received the same and similar offers, and how hard should it be to redeem it? Was the marketing person about to put it in the computer, when she spotted a bee in her office, and had to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to shoo it out a window? That's my theory. What stinks about the matter, though, is that I had rather bad seats, and I think if they had gotten my tickets in at the proper time, I would have had much better seats, since I think they lock up good seats for VIPs until the afternoon of the show. So all in all, I was a little annoyed. I was going to complain, but I would be complaining to the ticket booth staff, who did everything they could to help me, and not marketing that dropped the ball. So I just let it go. Like I said, the tickets cost over $100 with the entertainment tax, so I shouldn't bitch about having to jump through a few hoops for two tickets.

So I got my tickets and saw the 7:00 show of We Will Rock You on Wednesday. The show opened on Monday, so I was one of the first to see it, which is exciting. I was looking forward to it, though also nervous, whether it would be a travesty or a loving tribute. I must say I was disappointed in it, but still felt it had a lot going for it, and certainly by no means hated it. For the first half-hour or so, I did think it was awful, but it improved markedly in the second half. I knew very little about the plot, and was a bit chagrined that the story blatantly ripped off from the classic Aerosmith video game Revolution X, though with less blood. It's the future, and real rock has been replaced by computer-programmed pop pablum called, of course, GaGa. And our hero is Galileo Figaro ("Bohemian Rhapsody" surfaces in fragments as a sacred texts of the inevitable rebellion), a dreamer who channels snippets of rock lyrics (apparently with no filters--everything from "Who put the bob in the bop-shu-bop" to "Who let the dogs out?") and therefore in the only one who can revive rock and roll. The musical, in other words, postulates the novel notion that rock and roll, as it were, will never die. Or die and then come back, like Jesus.

We Will Rock You uses this message of the primacy of rock to attack pop culture, in particular American Idol, which makes it unfortunate that some of the more over-produced numbers sound exactly like a Queen cover on American Idol. It criticizes pop culture, yet jumps at any opportunity to appropriate it for a hackneyed joke. I'll avoid a minor spoiler, and just say one joke that actually was amusing, stemming from the fragments of our culture that made it to the future without context, was unfortunately repeated about a dozen times until the humor was long gone.

But perhaps I'm being too harsh. Musically, the production was pretty good, if a bit over-produced at times. The band was good, as were the on-stage talent. A few numbers involving the whole company were a bit muddled, "Radio GaGa" in particular (which was almost a blessing, as I nearly missed the fact that they changed the lyrics to insert a lame reference to the internet). But "It's a Kind of Magic" just really came together well, early in the show, and was the first hint the show might have some life in it. Unfortunately, the staging of this one, with dancers in some lame "futuristic" uniform, and with the Killer Queen and Khashoggi twirling slowly on some platform, gesticulating wildly as if their spinning was supposed to be a thrilling sight. Sorry, but twirling does not a spectacle make. And it closes strongly, with "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" ending the show. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is tacked on to the end, which is odd, since they seemed to be building to it, then decide that "We Are the Champions" is a more logical closer. But I suppose it's better to throw "Rhapsody" in as a sort of encore then to stretch the story even more to accommodate it.

Let's see, what else to complain about. "Under Pressure" is tacked on in a truncated version, just to advance the plot a little and bring the two love interests together, and seemed a bit too perky. They used, I believe, "No One But You" for a moving musical tribute to musicians who died young. A good choice, and of course it's vital to acknowledge Mercury's passing somewhere in the show, but the decision to also acknowledge practically every other musician who ever died made it feel more calculated and manipulative, offering something for everyone. The musical's casual equating of Freddie Mercury and Elvis is also questionable, no offense to Mr. Mercury. On the plus side, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "I Want it All," and "Seven Seas of Rhye" were all well-done, and the unnecessary references to the Paris Casino thrown into the show didn't do much damage. To summarize, there were lots of problems I had with the show, but musically it was fairly sound, and hopefully will improve with time (it opened on Monday, though I understand this is the London cast, at least in the major roles, so I don't know if that's an excuse). If I paid $100 for a seat, I'd be very disappointed, but for free, it's worth seeing.

Most of my time on the Strip, I never left the Paris/Bally's complex (both because of my foot, and because I like to gamble there). So I ate there a lot. The buffet at Paris was good as usual. I had it for breakfast my last morning at Paris, and wasn't very hungry, but after eating one plateful of food, already felt I'd justified the price. The crepes later were just icing on the cake. It is also the first time I ever saw Nutella at a buffet. But the best meal I had was at the Paris coffee shop, Le Café Île St. Louis. I'd often heard it described as over-priced, and after seeing how over-priced Bally's coffee shop was, I had concerns. But for the quality, I found it remarkably reasonable. Sandwiches for about eight dollars, with generous portions, and plenty of both American and French entrees at under fifteen dollars. Chad had the French Dip (I suppose that marginally fits the casino theme), and could barely eat half. I had Coquilles St. Jacques, and it was wonderful. I'd never had it before, and thought the potatoes were a garnish, but it was actually served on top like a pot pie crust, sort of. But it was delicious, and more then made up for skipping the Paris buffet for dinner and never getting their delicious bouillabaisse. I had a banana split for dessert, which was quite big and good, though it only had chocolate sauce, and no fruit toppings, save the banana. The service was great, and though it was a bit noisy being right by the casino, it had a nice atmosphere. I made fun of what they call outdoor seating, which is seating underneath the canopy painted on the ceiling of the casino, but it actually did have some of the charm of actually eating al fresco. I'd highly recommend it, though the wait for a table can be long (I had a line pass, fortunately).

I spent two nights there, then spent one night at the Fremont. I believe the last time I stayed there, I said I would never stay their again, but this time, I mean it. Unlike last time, there was nothing horribly wrong with my room, it was just small and cramped, and the air conditioning was noisy. I was on the tenth floor, with a view of a parking garage. I only stayed there because my friend wanted to stay downtown. I gambled about a half-hour before I decided I'd had enough of that and drove back to the strip. Downtown is okay for low-rollers, but I think even those with a modest budget can get some good treatment on the strip. I was surprised by how many comps my friend got, just playing Pai Gow and some slots for fairly reasonable stakes. Downtown has some old-school charm, but a lot of it just stinks. I do regret that I never got around to watching the new Fremont Street Experience light show, or getting a $0.99 shrimp cocktail at the Golden Gate, but I don't think Downtown has much to offer me anymore.

I won't bore you with all the details of my gambling. I'll just say I lost money, but not an unreasonable amount. I lost a ton my last night at Paris, when I gambled until 4 AM, just digging the hole deeper and deeper. That session is the reason why I didn't leave a winner, and so I learned a lesson, not to throw good money after bad, and accept a modest loss rather then going broke. But the Stardust was very good to me, as was the Las Vegas Hilton. It was the second time I gambled at the Hilton, and I enjoyed it, and found comps reasonable to get. I didn't consciously gamble there with this in mind, but I realized later it could be good to get in their good graces; if Harrah's merger with Caesars goes through, and they ruin Caesars properties as I'm sure they will, I'll need a new place to gamble. I hear good things about the Las Vegas Hilton, and the new owners seem to be doing a good job of improving the place. There were some real characters gambling there. And the monorail makes it a much more convenient location than it used to be. I could certainly do worse.

So all-in-all, it was a good trip. I lost money, but I saw a show, ate some fine meals, came to realize that Downtown blows, and realized that as long as the other members of your party understand that you came to gamble, going to Vegas with someone isn't too bad. I'm going back in November, though I'd love to work out a quick trip before that.

My foot feels better, the splint seems to be doing the trick. Stopped by the office and got the bandages replaced, so it would hold up okay on my vacation.

I leave for Vegas in the morning. Two nights at Paris, one night downtown at the Fremont. Hope my room at the Fremont isn't as shitty as last time, but hey, free is free. This is my third trip in about as many months, and hopefully I can keep the winning streak going. And I have tickets to see We Will Rock You, which has the potential to be either great or awful, either, as it were, the champion or a big disgrace. This is the first time I've been to Vegas with someone in awhile, which kind of sucks. I don't really enjoy having someone cramping my style while I'm at my real job. Not to mention someone else draining my comp balance at the casinos with their pesky demands for food and stuff. And the need to find mutually-agreeable music for the desert drive. I figure Shakira is pretty crowd-pleasing, as is my Bob Newhart compilation CD. But regardless, I'll be in Vegas in less than 24 hours, so I can't complain about anything.

I was kicking myself last night, when I realized I forgot about Freddy Fender's free concert at the Golden Acorn Casino. But after bitching about it last night, I got a phone call this morning pointing out that the concert is actually tonight. So I'll soon be driving out to Campo. A bit of a drive, but well worth it, considering how disappointed I was when I had to miss him at 4th and B a few months back. He's performing with a comedian and with Highway 101, whom I'm not familiar with, but looking forward to hearing. And I think I have enough in my player's club account to eat free (unless they've deleted me, I haven't been in about a year). Should be a fun night.

I finally got a chance to watch a few documentaries I'd been meaning to see. First there was Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story, a gentle look at the song-poem industry and the people who submit their poetry to be transformed into something resembling music. It's a gentle movie, for better and for worse, allowing you to laugh at the people who wrote some truly embarassing lyrics, without feeling that you're being mean-spirited; the film is equally gentle to those who take their money, trying to avoid the issue of whether these people are serving a market, or are con artists. In fact, after watching the documentary, it's hard to fret over the ridiculous claims of royalties galore in their ads, when it becomes obvious no one sending in their songs really believe they're going to get rich; their actual motive, in absence of financial incentive, isn't always clear, but by-and-large you can see a universal desire to find one's voice at work. And yes, the freak factor here is high (and not just on the submitters side), lots of songs are featured (ranging from the horrid to the hilarious to the absolutely transcendent), and some nice bonus features are included on the DVD. Highly recommended.

Even more highly recommended is How's Your News? I'd heard nothing but good things about this, and I figured it was something I had to see, but I had my qualms. Can sending a group of retarded people cross-country to do man-on-the-street interviews possibly be in good taste? An "as seen on Howard Stern" sticker on the package was hardly comforting. But once you've seen it, questions of it's tastefulness seems to evaporate. Watching the film, one can clearly see the evolution of this project, from films made at Camp Jabberwocky for their personal enjoyment, to a short film shuttled around film festivals, to the finished product. Even with a somewhat larger budget (meaning they got an RV instead of a Volkswagon bus), it still feels like a home movie, and watching it feels, not like an act of voyeurism, but like being admitted into an extended family. I was made uncomfortable at times, when the members of the How's Your News team with the most difficulty communicating vocally are put into awkward interview positions (and it's supposed to make you feel a bit uncomfortable at times, as the liner notes note, "confusion, awkward moments and humor are important parts of living with a disability"). But ultimately, it's clear that they are getting as much enjoyment from the How's Your News experience as anyone, and as Larry takes in the vista of the Grand Canyon or enjoys the dancing of passers-by at Venice Beach, one can't argue this isn't a valuable experience for him.

Ultimately, it's hard to explain what this movie is. But it isn't exploitation, and at the same time, it isn't the Pollyanna-ish, disabled-people-are-just-like-you-and-me message Hollywood likes to package, just in time for Oscar season. As one blogger notes about Camp Jabberwocky, "No one pretends that the campers are just like the rest of us. The campers are who they are. But for much of their lives, they've been treated as less than what they are...." And this film, like the camp, lets them be exactly who they are. And you really, really need to see this film.