JUN 29 :: [sweet justice] Justice Sandra Day O'Connor eloquently puts it:
"A state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens."
Her sweet words ring again:
"It is during our most challenging and uncertain moments that our nation's commitment to due process is most severely tested and it is in those times that we must preserve our commitment at home to the principles for which we fight abroad."
That almost brings tears to my eyes.
[busy news day] Ahh, I love cool, gloriously sunny summer mornings in the 60s. Now, on with the stories: The Supreme Court tells the Bush Administration to fuck off (à la Cheney except with less verbal violence) regarding indefinite detentions of terrorist suspects, the US quielty handsover power in Iraq to its people, and Canada re-elects the Liberals to another term in government - albeit stripping their majority power in Parliament.
It is sweet, sweet justice that on the same day this Administration is quietly trying to let slip the turbulent occupation of Iraq to the hands of the Iraqis, the Supreme Court rules 8-1 that this Administration's sickening attempts to keep terrorist suspects locked up without charges or hearings is unconstitutional. Both the Court's most conservative (Scalia) and most liberal (Stevens) Justice agreed - in an almost unanimous and decisive opinion (what on earth is Thomas thinking?) - to rein in the President and repudiate his Administration's arguments for indefinite detention.
Eight to one. That's about the same proportion of America that thinks the Bush Administration is reprehensible in its preposterous and absurd exhortations that terrorist suspects, citizens of the US included, should be stripped of all constitutional due process rights, including the right to an attorney. A majority of Americans cannot fathom losing those undeniable rights which this Administration so callously dismisses and now, a huge majority of the Supreme Court agrees. Yay, Supreme Court!
As for the handover, here's what the Sydney Morning Herald had to say:
"This was not the handover that Bush envisaged for Iraq one year ago, shortly after his Mission Accomplished speech. Back then, he promised Iraq was heading for democracy and stability that would help transform the Middle East peace process. He expected the triumph in Iraq to be a plus for his re-election campaign. Now there is a palpable sense of failure and Bush needs to put some distance between Washington and that crisis-ridden country."
Yes, it's the "Baghdad Surprise". No Bush, Cheney, Rice or Rumsfeld. Secretive, low-key, back-room, anti-climactic. What, no celebration? Has reality finally set in? What a bunch of bumbling idiots.
As for Canada, her people elected their first minority government in 25 years. Paul Martin's Liberal Party was given a fourth consecutive mandate and elected to 135 seats in the new House of Commons which is 20 short of a majority (which means they'll have to collude with one of the minority parties) but still ahead of the Conservatives. Most of the Liberal losses were due to a wipe-out in Quebec (where the Bloc became a force to be reckoned with yet again) but they held ground decisively in Ontario and the Atlantic states (plus Vancouver); results that mirror the liberal-conservative divide in the US - coastal states voting Democrat and the heartland going for the GOP. Still, only 99 of the 308 seats went to the Conservative Party; the rest going to left-leaning parties (incl. the NDP and the Bloc Q).
When faced with a choice between progressive (Liberal) and back-ass-ward (Conservative) policies, the Canadian people chose the former. Will Americans do the same?
JUN 28 :: [second half] Believe it or not, we are 3 days away from the second half of 2004! Gosh, why do I always make drama out of nothing? Giggle. So, what about my weekend... let's see, Fri night started off with my favorite slab of meat (OK, maybe second favorite *wink*) at Annie's (Queen cut, of course) followed by JR's then Apex. I was quite the dancing queen at Apex but in the sea of shirtless toothpicks with bobbing heads on the dance floor, I felt decidedly fat. Sigh. Don't these queens eat?? Or maybe it's something else? :) As Margaret Cho so eloquently put it: "Why diet when you can have crystal meth". Saturday was spent indoors (ugh) prepping for the dinner party and what a dinner it was. Tony decided to go all out and cook up a storm for the Summer Solstice Celebration and it was quite the success. From shrimp ceviche to lemon-buttermilk sorbet, and orange curry pork to to-die-for-pavlova, it was very yummy indeed. We had a grand old time before Sunday's fun day hanging out in the sun, shopping at H&M, and watching the movie. I'm kinda getting tired of H&M (at least the short sleeve stuff anyway) but they had some cute long-sleeve shirts that I might go get in the fall. The Loews Georgetown theaters were insanely packed for Fahrenheit 9/11. Shows were sold out and people were standing in long queues waiting to get seated. Now if only it did this well in Middle America!
July is turning out to be a crazy month. We are still contemplating Rehoboth for this weekend although it looks like we might just stay in town instead. Next weekend is Mike/Gary's black tie (emphasis on black tie... in JULY!) wedding reception celebration at Union Station followed by my indecisive desire to go to Vegas to meet up with Tony (the thought of 5 hours in Ted is nauseating). Then, NYC and KC and before you know it, it'll be August!
[it's hot] Yes, summer is hot but what's hotter is Fahrenheit 9/11! Searing, scorching, incendiary... We went to see it with Rick last night in Georgetown and lemme say this: bring LOTS of Kleenex. I haven't cried this hard at a movie since Titanic (yes, I'm a girl). Biased editing and slanted views aside, this movie had its moments. The 9/11 attacks were shown with a black screen with the audio in the background. Tear-jerking. Lila Lipscomb steadfast devotion to her country and the heart-breaking lost of her son to a war based on lies was stunningly emotional. When she read the final letter from her son, her emotions leapt out of the screen and overpowered the audience (the lady sitting behind me was crying so hard she was whimpering). When she stood in front of the White House - hands on her knees and bent over - with no more energy left to be angry at the occupant who duped the world into this war of choice, she only motivated us to pick ourselves up and fight this injustice that is emanating from the White House.
The other parts that were moving were the scene where the black lady was pleading for the truth behind the 9/11 attacks; begging for an investigation, an explaination, a reason for the loss of her one and only which has crushed her life. And then there were the horrific pictures of wounded soldiers, Iraqi civilians and the immense sense of loss that is felt on both sides regardless of who the victors were.
I've always been known to be pro-peace; not necessarily anti-war. War was absolutely justified to liberate Kuwait and much delayed but much needed in Yugoslavia. But the only thing I can say to the people out there who are pro-war is to go see Fahrenheit 9/11. The images of Baghdad burning, the destruction, the innocent people... What did they do to deserve the overwhelming destructive firepower of the US military raining down on them? How can we so callously choose to start a war, much less a war based on lies and deception?
If anything, this documentary made me realize that yes, I am indeed VERY very mad at the Bush Administration for starting this war and I know this because I couldn't even muster a bit of laughter during the first half of the documentary when Michael Moore showed the President's goofiness (I lightened up later). Walking away from the documentary, I can only pray that the people responsible for starting this nonsensical, senseless, barbaric and absolutely unnecessary war will be held accountable and reduced to the rubbles of history. I shudder to think how history will judge America and her people if this Administration gets away with it. Shame on all of us if we let that happen.
To sum it all up simply and nicely, a quote from the NYT:
"We attacked a sovereign nation, and we went in there and we did things that the United States shouldn't have done. I feel that we went after the wrong people, and it's unacceptable, and it's absolutely ridiculous that innocent people are dying over there in Iraq, and our own troops are dying for a cause that is not just."
JUN 25 :: [tgif] Amen. The weekend couldn't come soon enough. How could I neglect to mention our fun Wed night at the ML seminar? We brought a whole contingent with us (for the free food/drink, of course) although I must say it was a surprise to find me at a "dry" event :) Long story short, I got a Tiffany bowl (!!) from my advisors (they're so sweet) and Gary did a superb job "selling" his book. We capped off the night at Firefly; nobody said anything about staying dry ;)
More severe storms later. Sigh. At least the weekend looks good. Fahrenheit 9/11 comes out today. I'm ambivalent but will most likely go see it. Cheney got testy on the Senate floor (the Post actually printed the word "fuck"!), Bush got testy with a reporter, Ryan is dropping out of the IL senate race, the Iraq war *is* a mistake, Bush is getting investigated (as he should) for the CIA leak... this must be Bush's annus horribilis (as it should). The final nail in the coffin? November 2nd.
[unintentional] I *so* did not intend to get drunk last night but I did and I still am! I *so* need to swear off mixing my vodka (cosmo), rum (mojito) and tequila (margarita) in one night coz it gives me a bloody headache! I am so juvenile. Duplex cosmos are evil! :)
Moore on the right-wing's attempt to shut his movie down:
"That's the difference between our side and their side. Even when we disagree, we're respectful of freedom of speech. But when they disagree, they try to shut you down. Well it's un-American. And it's wrong, and people are not going to stand for it. People in this country don't like to be told they can't watch something or see something."
Things that make you go "hmm..."
"Have I got it right? The president orders the humane treatment of prisoners. The secretary of defense says it's O.K. to threaten prisoners with dogs. The president praises the secretary of defense for doing a "superb" job." - NYT
Horrific injustice, international revulsion, specious legal arguments, indifference toward human rights of captives, staggering moral error... And WHO is held accountable? Nobody. This Administration is not only morally bankrupt and lacks credibility, it is grossly inept at handling the war on terror.
JUN 24 :: [gradual democracy] This is a good article about the winds of change in China - politically and journalistically. It's hard to imagine, from the vantage point of the freedom and liberties that we enjoy in the United States, that the Chinese put up with the oppression living under Communist Party rule on a day-to-day basis. And it is hard to persuade die-hard democracy-loving folks that an instant switch from totalitarian one-party rule to multi-party democracy would most certainly cause unimaginable consequences - almost all bad - for a country of 1.3 billion people. Certainly, one cannot imagine that freedom can be a bad thing.
But it can be without the proper knowledge and tools of democracy - rule of law, the respect of it, and an educated middle class who will choose to voice their freedom through a ballot box rather than with a knife or a gun. Nonetheless, freedom in China is closer than it's ever been; pushed by the inexorable forces of social and economic change that are occurring at breakneck speed. So what can we do to push them even further? Continue to spread our culture, our beliefs and invest in their future, create opportunities for their young and before long, they will hunger for the same freedom we have enjoyed for the past 2 1/4 centuries.
So I just wish Senator Kerry will quit with the whole demonizing trade with China thing and twisting free trade into fair trade. It might be good politics but it's dumb policy.
As oppressed as journalism in China may seem, when asked what is important about journalism, a current journalism student and future editor/reporter replied: "It is important to respect your readers and their needs. And it is important not to be afraid to ask questions of even important officials." Now if only that were true here in the years since 9/11, the leadup to the Iraq War and its aftermath.
[juicy] Ooh, so many juicy bits today. Where do I begin?
"...there's not much comfort in these documents, which only confirm that the Bush administration fostered a culture of permissiveness regarding the treatment of prisoners that ultimately led to the Abu Ghraib disaster... While Mr. Bush's 2002 memo does not condone torture, it opens loopholes in the treatment of prisoners that the military could drive a Hummer through - and some clearly did."
"This partial view of the thinking of the administration on the prisoner issue did provide, once again, confirmation of how this president and his team consider themselves above the rules that bind ordinary mortals. From the start of his presidency, Mr. Bush has resisted scrutiny and regulation, taking the position that the public should recognize that his people are good people with good intentions, and trust them to do the right thing."
"The nation, of course, has always held to a different tradition that relies on the restraint of the rule of law rather than individual goodness. The debacle at Abu Ghraib shows how badly things can go when average Americans are let loose from those restraints, or allowed to believe that such restraints do not apply to them. The political and moral disasters of this administration, from the current dreadful state of American prestige abroad to the injustices perpetrated on innocent Americans erroneously suspected of terrorist ties, show that the same thing applies to the people at the top." - NYT Editorial 6/24/04
"The documentary includes endless shots of Bush golfing, taking vacations and shaking hands with Saudi oil tycoons at fancy hotels. Moore revives the old pre-Iraq war stereotype of Bush as a hapless, inarticulate bungler but with a twist; Bush is portrayed as lazy, a failure of will and not genes." - WP
"Failure of will and not genes." - OUCH!
So, y'know... I initially (and mistakenly) included a quote from the WP Editorial but I retracted it once I found the source. Of course I'm boycotting the WP Editorial. Those nasty bastards are shameless in their non-apology for their drumbeats to the Iraq war. Why do I even bother with reading the WP? I should just subscribe to the NYT. Except that the NYT is not local. Sigh. Dilemmas.
"President Bush's concrete offer to cajole North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program is a turning point for an administration previously caught between two conflicting approaches to one of the world's most isolated, impoverished and dangerous nations."
"...perhaps as notable as Mr. Bush's turnabout is what it is missing: the kind of threats that surrounded his confrontation with Saddam Hussein last year. Though American intelligence agencies have warned Mr. Bush that North Korea is probably putting the finishing touches on six or more nuclear weapons, the president has sounded almost no public warnings about the threat the country poses, or given voice to the fear that it could sell its excess nuclear technology to terrorists or other states."
Nary a peep on North Korea but full-blown hyperbole backed by the crushing power of the American military on Iraq. Double standards? From THIS Administration?! No! Say it ain't so.
JUN 22 :: [lethargic] I'm just really, really tired today. I was really, really, really tired yesterday but today just really, really. The past week from Pride all the way to going out 4 nights in a row this past weekend has just taken it out of me. I need sleep. I'm a baby. I need my 8 (at least) hours. Good news is the dermatologist said I had nothing to worry about with the darkened skin around my thumb. Apparently (get this), it's caused by lime juice on my skin being exposed to the sun! They even have a name for this condition (it's some 7- to 8-syllable word so I'm not even gonna pretend to spell it out). And since I'm a total lime juice whore (gotta have 'em in my cosmos, y'know?), that's what it is. How funny.
So I bought both Hillary and Bill's book from Amazon today. It'll arrive some time next week at the earliest. And I don't even read! I just wanna say I own them. I'm quite silly, aren't I?
[dumplings] So today marks the 5th day of the 5th month in the Lunar Calendar. It's quite significant for the Chinese as we celebrate the Dragon Boat and Dumpling Festival today. I looooooove dumplings and as a little kid, I remember devouring huge quantities of dumplings every morning before school. These are not the dumplings that you get at dim sum. These festival ones are special in that there's no dough; they are pyramid-shaped and filled with sticky rice, mushrooms, egg yolk and pork, and the whole thing is wrapped in banana-leaf. Delicious. You can almost make a whole meal out of just one dumpling. I wonder where I can find one...
JUN 20 :: [fathers] This is terribly belated, I know. I'm so useless. Because of the 12-hr time difference, I had three windows of opportunity to call my dad - noon on Saturday (to catch Father's Day at midnight in Malaysia), Saturday night or Sunday morning. Well, let's see... I woke up late and did brunch on Saturday, I was pretty much drunk and unaware on Saturday night and I didn't even get up on Sunday till noon and even then I was in no shape to call anybody (it might seem like I'm proud of all this but really, I'm not :)). So all of Sunday passes by and it wasn't until Sunday late night (Monday morning in Malaysia) before I called my dad. Shameful.
Anyways, so yea I love my dad. Happy Father's Day and all. The oversight was unintentional. Nonetheless, I would be deluding myself if I didn't mention that my mom was the one who brought us up, not my dad. He was mostly at work and earning a living for the 4 of us (mom included). It was so easy to fault him for everything that went wrong then; primarily a lack of attention which I mistook for a lack of love. Then there was the lack of patience on his part which very quickly exploded into a hot-tempered argument. Of course, now I know it was all just job stress and the burden of caring for an entire family. It doesn't get easier to appreciate fathers for their contributions to a family but it does get easier to understand and love them as the children get older. I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for my father's unwavering devotion to make enough money to feed us well and send us to highly-respected colleges. And I love him not just because of that but also because of all the sacrifices he had to make to give us a better life. Sacrifices that I will never have to make and therefore, will never understand how hard and how important. Thanks, Dad!
[summer solstice] Summer solstice occurs today. The sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer which marks the beginning of summer blah blah blah. Oh who the hell cares, summer has been here since April at least and we've had really long days which is awesome. Officialy though, the sun rose this morning at quarter till 6 and will set tonight at half past 8 although I'm pretty sure the sun lingers on till 9+ (I wouldn't know what time the sun rises since 6 o'clock only happens once for me :)).
Appropriately, we attended a summer solstice dinner at Equinox with Tom/Gen, Rob/Mikko on Friday night. It was great fun and the food was yummy. The wines were free-flowing and of course we got drunk. After that I had a mojito at Lauriol Plaza with Rick and then JR's for a bit. Not too wild. Saturday started off with brunch at Firefly with Ben/Mike followed by coffee with Chris at the Circle and then Harry Potter with Rick in Georgetown. The movie was good; it started out slow and boring (no, really... I almost walked out) but the ending was amazing. Very entertaining. The other entertaining part was we actually set out to watch Fahrenheit 9/11 but Gen "misinformed" us (silly girl :)) about the opening date so we ended up watching the wizard instead. After that, we piled into Rob/Mikko's house for the Sangria Party. Let's just say the evening was perfectly fun and happy until the tequila shots came out. I think I blacked out but I have no idea. I do remember that the food was, as usual, phenomenal (ribs! finger-lickin' good). Today has been a perfect Sunday - 70s and very sunny (blinding solstice sun) - except for the fact that I woke up with a killer hungover that won't go away. We did brunch with Jane at Dupont Grille whereby I consumed a camel's worth of water and OJ (no mimosas for me, thank you). Then we carded some stuff up to Rick's (gurl, you need some furniture). Dinner tonight will be at Padmini's... Yes, can you tell? The solstice weekend has been another crazy one for us. I barely have time to shower these days. Ooh, and what is this about my elder bro coming to visit? Stay tuned!
JUN 18 :: [a friendly embassy] Last night's event at the Finnish Embassy was a blast! It started off with a miserable afternoon rush-hour commute that took me 90mins to travel 20+miles due to massive thundershowers that brought the entire metro area to a standstill. Many, many fabulous cosmos and hor d'oeuvres later (Mikko makes the yummiest finger foods), the silent auction and the live auction begins and it was just a fun time. Things went for hundreds and then thousands of dollars (the alcohol helps to open up wallets) and it's all for a good cause. Adam, the Executive Director, gave a heart-warming and poignant speech about the organization's cause and he shared it with all of us in attendance in a very gripping way. Bravo.
But I have attended so many events at the Finnish Embassy that I neglect to mention one of the main highlights of any function there: the Embassy itself. The first thing that makes this Embassy so friendly, accessible and warm is the fact that it is not monumental. It's not overbearing, there are no 20ft high concrete walls, no guard presence, no barricades and no jersey barriers. The building itself is a triumph of minimalism and contemporary architecture, blending in with the lush greenery of Rock Creek Park - it's like a glass-enclosed tree house floating amongst the trees and nature herself. A simple yet majestic swooping staircase leads to the main event hall which is walled in by 2-storey high floor-to-ceiling glass which gives the illusion that the park is an extension of the hall. There is also an outdoor walkway that stretches deep enough into the park to make one feel at one with nature, even though the bustle of Massachusetts Avenue is barely a hundred feet away. Everything from the intimacy of the event hall to the wonderful staff and congenial Ambassador (who gives great speeches and is a very generous man) makes this place very uniquely un-Washington in its openness and unstuffiness. It truly is a little slice of Finland in DC.
[conservative views] Yes, I read Andrew Sullivan's blog on a daily basis. I don't agree with him on many issues. So why do I read it? Because of this:
"...some on the right are now busy saying that any criticism is tantamount to treason, that torture can be justified, that disasters (such as Abu Ghraib) should be kept from the public, that a vote for Kerry is a vote for Osama, and so on. Such reflexive, brain-dead defensiveness is not a key to success. It's a recipe for failure."
Articulate reasoning of the far-right's nonsensical views by a fellow conservative is a HUGE breath of fresh air. Why don't I just get the same thing from liberal blogs? Coz I'm already on the same page as them. It's more fun to watch the conservatives beat each other up. And it's also very calming to know that there are conservatives out there who don't put up with the constitution-amending and torture-supporting crap from the far-right. It helps balance out my (sometimes) extremely liberal views (particularly on social issues).
JUN 17 :: [only one of me] Sigh, I know. I have two conflicting events tonight: John Kerry's GLBT fundraiser at 1223 (oh alright, MCCXXIII) featuring Barney Frank and Cheryl Jacques and a Metro Teen AIDS auction event at the Finnish Embassy. Well, of course we are choosing to go to the Mikko-catered event at the Embassy even though we've shelled out $100/pp for BOTH events. Oh well, all for a good cause (beating Bush and helping teens with AIDS - actually, doing the former will also help the latter :)). Either way, I have a fabulous outfit for tonight so I'm ready for a party!
So, we are in yet another severe thunderstorm watch/warning today. We have had these watches/warnings since, oh I don't know, April?! Something about split jetstreams and contrasting air masses over the mid-west and mid-Atlantic regions. Even though the temperature is not too awful (high 80s), the air is suffocatingly humid. Nobody talks about the cicadas anymore. The humid part of the DC summer has descended with full force!
[searing] Ooh, I love a good roasting. Check this out from Andrew Sullivan today on why Bush hasn't governed as a conservative, or with competence for that matter:
"Let's list a few: the WMD intelligence debacle - the worst blow to the credibility of the U.S. in a generation; Abu Ghraib - a devastating wound to America's moral standing in the world; the post-war chaos and incompetence in Iraq; an explosion in federal spending with no end in sight; no entitlement reform; a huge addition to fiscal insolvency with the Medicare drug entitlement; support for a constitutional amendment, shredding states' rights; crusades against victimless crimes, like smoking pot and watching porn; the creeping fusion of religion and politics; the erosion of some critical civil liberties in the Patriot Act."
Awesome.
JUN 16 :: [stunning] Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change:
"Our security has been weakened."
"Never in the two and a quarter centuries of our history has the United States been so isolated among the nations, so broadly feared and distrusted."
"...manipulation of uncertain intelligence about weapons of mass destruction... a cynical campaign to persuade the public that Saddam Hussein was linked to al Qaeda and the attacks of Sept. 11."
"I think we will in time come to be very ashamed of this period in history and of the role some people in the administration played in setting the tone and setting the rules."
"...adopted an overbearing approach to America's role in the world, relying on military might and righteousness, insensitive to the concerns of traditional friends and allies, and disdainful of the United Nations."
"Motivated more by ideology than by reasoned analysis..."
All this coming from officials under the Bush 41 and Reagan Administration as well as former ambassadors. The gist? Bush 43 = foreign policy disaster.
[the truth] 9/11 Commission today:
"...no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States"
Bush/Cheney, listen up: No matter how many times you repeat something that's false, it'll never be true.
[delirious high] I'm still coming down from the delirious high of the Re-Invention concert. So it's no surprise that I'm secretly (well, not anymore) contemplating going to Madonna's concert in Philly on 7/4. It's a short 3-hr drive from here so why not, right? I want more Madonna! Well, I can't decide whether I had such a good time two nights ago because of Madonna or because I was in the company of good friends who are equally Madonna-crazy. If it's the latter, then it's kinda pointless to see her live again (especially at $300+ ticket prices!). I just feel like I didn't get to see and absorb everything that was amazing about the Re-Invention tour. Am I crazy?
Regardless, I wanna note some of my favorite "re-invented" songs that Madonna performed on Monday. First and foremost, the montage on the giant screens to The Beast Within set the tone for the evening. Very cool and edgy. Loved it. When she emerged and struck a (yoga) pose, I almost came. Vogue (lip-synched?) was essential in getting the entire crowd pumped up but as much as I would die to hear that song sung live again, it was the same song as the album but with different moves and a cool outfit but nothing compared to the 1990 MTV VMAs performance where Madonna dressed as Marie Antoinette.
Nobody Knows Me was FAR more spectacular than the album version! One of the highlights of the concert. The moving walkway and her solo dance moves were outstanding! Frozen was a vocal powerhouse for her (I still can't believe she sang most of her songs). The military punk rock segment of American Life, Express Yourself, Burning Up and Material Girl was out-of-countrol! The V-stage descended from the ceiling for A/Life and from where I was sitting, this was as close as we got to Madonna. The Stop All Wars message was pretty brilliant as well since I'm hugely anti-war. The most memorable part of the evening had to be when Madonna messed up the beginning of Express Yourself and she started off with "Don't go for second best..." and then she said "Oh Shit!" and went back to "Com'on BOYS, do you believe in love?". Way cool. The rifle dance sequence and the marching was a superb re-invention of that song. Awesome. Oh, did I mention the dancing men in cages and the nuns dressed in mini-skirt length robes? Yea, baby.
Hollywood started playing and I wish Madonna had performed it. Oh well. Then it was the cabaret segment - gorgeous outfit. Hanky Panky was fun, Deeper and Deeper was awesome - she sings it as a sultry ballad. Die Another Day was lip-synched, I guess, so nothing special. Then she is strapped to an electric chair and her best voice of the evening sings Lament (from Evita). Bedtime Story comes on and the crowd is still screaming; no breather.
The religious segment followed and this was my least favorite segment (too preachy) but when Like A Prayer came on, I think the entire arena almost collapsed coz this was the performance of the evening!! The segment kicked off with Nothing Fails (one of my fav songs from A/Life) and Don't Tell Me (good song but boring rendition - no re-invention here). After Like A Prayer, she sang Mother and Father which is my least favorite performance of the evening (overtly preachy) but she ended the segment with Imagine (John Lennon) and I almost cried. Beautiful. The final image with Saddam and Bush almost cuddling was priceless.
Finally, the Guy-inspired bagpipe-toting, kilt-wearing Scottish dancers came out and Madonna brought the house down with Into The Groove and Papa Don't Preach wearing a "Kabbalahists Do It Better" T-shirt. Nice. Her surprisingly powerful voice made us feel very special in Crazy For You - one of the highlights of the concert (for those of you sitting to the left of the stage facing it, you'll be very very happy). Very intimate, she sang some of it a cappella and dedicated the song to all of us who have stuck with her for the past 20 years - Me! Me! (yea, right, I was barely 7 in 1984) The final two songs of the night - Music (with the awesome effects of a fake disco ball) and Holiday - were a blur to me coz I was jumping and dancing and screaming so hard I almost forgot where I was.
The concert was very electric and full of energy; totally fierce. Not a single lull in the performance. Madonna herself portrayed an endless supply of energy and her voice was surprisingly powerful and it'll blow you away. If you like Madonna's music even remotely, you must see this concert live. At the end of Holiday when confetti blasted out all over the crowd, I thought to myself: "Am I in Heaven?". If so, Madonna is my goddess. Woo!
JUN 15 :: [good intentions] I'm not getting hawkish (in fact, I am at the extreme end of this opinion spectrum) but I like to absorb and ponder over the other point of view. Stephen Ambrose in Citizen Soldiers:
"Imagine this. In the spring of 1945, around the world, the sight of a twelve-man squad of teenage boys, armed and in uniform, brought terror to people's hearts. Whether it was a Red Army squad in Berlin, Leipzig, or Warsaw, or a German squad in Holland, or a Japanese squad in Manila or Seoul or China, that squad meant rape, pillage, looting, wanton destruction, senseless killing. But there was an exception: a squad of GIs, a sight that brought the biggest smile you ever saw to people's lips, and joy to their hearts."
"Around the world this was true, even in Germany, even - after September 1945 - in Japan. This was because GIs meant candy, cigarettes, C-rations, and freedom. America had sent the best of her young men around the world, not to conquer but to liberate, not to terrorize but to help. This was a great moment in our history."
It's poignant and it was true then. What happened since? What has caused the world to question our good intentions? "Our behavior should be dictated by our own standards, not based on who our enemy is or how he might behave."
Amen.
[12 hrs later] I'm still floating on cloud nine. What a great concert! My feet are hurting today from jumping up and down way too much last night. But surprisingly, my voice is not hoarse unlike after the Drowned World Tour 3 years ago. The people in front of us - typical of the staid and conservative Washington concert- and theater-going crowd - would beg to differ though. What is it with people who go to a concert and sit down and not even dance or cheer or scream to the music? What's the bloody point? I screamed so hard I almost forgot how much our tickets cost! Screw everybody else :)
Anywho, the concert was an overwhelming assault on the senses. At the end when confetti rained down like a blizzard of happiness to the song "Holiday", I was like OMG, is it over? This is way too short! Then I looked at the time and it was like 2 hours later. Awesome. Oh and just like 3 years ago, the A/C was turned off. I expected it but it was still hot as shit and it wasn't until an hour into the concert before I adjusted to the heat. Then again, it might've just been Vogue that got me moving so hard that I was sweating buckets. Ohhh! I can't believe I left this out last night: I bought a Madonna wrist band! It's red and it's got an uppercase gothic "M" on it followed by "'04". Way cool. Oh and if any of you saw a crazy asian boy jumping up and down singing "Holiday! Celebrate!" over and over again like a broken Energizer bunny rabbit on the MCI Center Metro station platform last night, that was me :)
JUN 14 :: [re-invention] OMG, Madonna was fucking phenomenal!! We (me, Tony, Chris, Nicole, Rob and Mikko) went to her second show at MCI Center and had a complete blast! We started off the evening with three Cosmos each at Zaytinya and then we rushed to the arena only to patiently wait for the concert to start at close to 9pm. It was kinda funny coz everybody expected her concert to start late and most ppl were still in line for beer at 8:30. From Vogue to Like A Prayer, Material Girl to Crazy For You, and her newer songs Nobody Knows Me and American Life, I almost lost my voice screaming so hard. The audience was a little subdued but who the hell cares, I was there for a good time! The concert was a sensory overload and it felt like it went by really quickly coz at the end (when Holiday came on) I was like "has it been 2 hours already?". Definitely a great concert. There were some underwhelming songs but the whole thing was a phenomenal production and I wish I could see it again (closer to the stage, though). Madonna is my idol!!!
JUN 13 :: [pride week] The week/weekend is finally over! As always, pride week was totally fetch (yes, I am trying to make "fetch" happen) - full of craziness, energy and fun-filled excitement! I'm exhausted to say the least. This past week has been one big party after another. It started on Tuesday night with the bachelor auction at JR's, followed by another crazier night at JR's on Thursday night. That morphed into a pre-Pride party at Chris/Dave's on Friday night and another at Kevin/Dan's on Saturday afternoon. That was followed by the Parade and more festivities at JR's and today, we just spent 5 hours celebrating Capital Pride at the street festival. Phew!
I guess my crazy weekend really kicked off on Friday (well, I was out till 2am on Thursday but let's not stretch the definition of "weekend" too much or I might get used to it). The national day of mourning was perfect for taking the day off work and lunching at - where else - Lauriol Plaza with mojitos in hand on the rooftop. Total happiness. That was followed by shopping for my pride weekend outfits at Universal Gear and a brief rest before more festivities at Chris/Dave's where Chris conveniently skipped using a glass and went directly into doing shots from the grappa bottle itself. Needless to say, the evening ended prematurely for him and pricelessly for all of us :) Somehow, a few of us ended up in Secret's against my free will which I didn't have much of since I was completely wasted as well.
But wait, there's more!
The Parade last night was fantastic. Weather was on the chilly side but still lots of bare skin to be seen. The Results float was, of course, the highlight. JR's did a great thing by putting up a tent outside to accommodate the masses which would've otherwise packed the bar to uncomfortable levels (which happened on Tuesday night! I could barely breathe, much less move). Although, it must've been some silly ANC thing when they had to shut the tent down at 10pm. Hello? It's Pride weekend! Let them operate it till at least midnight.
Today started off with helping Chris drag a bunch of stuff to his rental unit (gurl, you owe me) followed by (and not a moment too soon) mimosas and brunch at Dupont Grille. Then it was off to the festival! I did get an autograph and a picture with Wes Culwell (Boy Meets Boy) which tickled me to death (he is *so* hot). Contrary to previous years, I didn't even walk the entire festival collecting trinkets. We kept running into - literally - everybody and finally just parked our asses at the beer garden and drank all day. That was the other unwelcome change - no more walking around with booze. How strange. It was a perfect day, though, to be out and about; 70s and not too sunny (I wish it had been sunnier).
I'm completely hyped up about Madonna's concert tomorrow. I'm so excited I can barely breathe!!! Happy Pride everybody :) Now off I go to get some much needed rest...
JUN 11 :: [day of mourning] Today is a national day of mourning and a federal holiday. And at sunset, Ronald Reagan will be buried at his presidential library in Simi Valley, CA. In a few minutes, I'll be headed out the door as his casket is taken through the streets of DC - barely a few hundred feet from my house - to the National Cathedral. I'm so lazy; I couldn't muster up the desire to go to the procession on the Mall or view his casket in the Capitol but since it's passing so close to my house, I've got my camera ready! I've even got my blue "USA" T-shirt on :)
Jokes aside, everytime the TV pans to Nancy Reagan, my heart breaks. Her love and devotion is reflected so clearly in her eyes. To see that love and devotion and to think about her loss is heart-breaking even if this has been expected for awhile now. Seeing her stand by her husband till death do they part - a love so strong and genuine - reduces me to tears. Even if I don't see eye-to-eye with the Reagan presidency, I can definitely relate to the unending, undying and unselfish love between Mr. and Mrs. Reagan.
OK, the departure from the Capitol ceremony is about to start. They just showed Nancy kissing the casket in the Capitol rotunda. My heart goes out to her. Time to go before I start crying...
JUN 10 :: [what are you hiding?] We are a civilized people living in a civilized nation. Or are we? If we are, how could we possibly come up with a memo that concludes that as commander in chief in time of war, the President is "bound by neither federal law nor the tenets of the Geneva Conventions that ban torture as a means of extracting information from detainees"? How could we possibly assert that "interrogators could inflict severe pain on a detainee with impunity as long as the intent was something other than to torture."
These are other HUMAN BEINGS we are so brazenly concluding that we can torture. These Justice Department memos that Ashcroft is so pathetically hiding from the public are so beyond the bounds of a civilized nation that it makes you wonder if we haven't descended into the moral equivalence of our enemies. There is absolutely no justification for torture, ever. There is no way to rationalize barbarity.
That's not all. Nicholas Kristof, an OP-ED columnist for the NYT, writes Beating Specialist Baker on 6/5/04. Read it. It stunned me to silence and made me sick to my stomach.
"They grabbed my arms, my legs, twisted me up and unfortunately one of the individuals got up on my back from behind and put pressure down on me while I was face down. Then he the same individual reached around and began to choke me and press my head down against the steel floor. After several seconds, 20 to 30 seconds, it seemed like an eternity because I couldn't breathe. When I couldn't breathe, I began to panic and I gave the code word I was supposed to give to stop the exercise, which was `red.' . . . That individual slammed my head against the floor and continued to choke me. Somehow I got enough air. I muttered out: `I'm a U.S. soldier. I'm a U.S. soldier.' "
Baker has permanent brain damage. And there's more. The military first denies the incident and made efforts to undermine Baker's credibility, then concedes that his injuries were a result of intentional physical violence - or an "accident" as the military now calls it. Does that sound familiar? Anybody? Covering up and then owning up when the facts are crystal clear?
And Ashcroft continues to refuse all calls to release the March 6, 2003 memo. What are you hiding? What in God's name are you hiding?
[cynical] OK, I'm in a far more cynical mood today. Part of it is because my blood pressure is still high but everything else seems to be fine. I watched the funeral procession yesterday (on TV; I was too tired to stand in the crazy heat). It was quite moving. But with all due respect to the deceased, this whole Reagan thing better die down soon or I'm gonna start screaming.
First and foremost, Reagan was a social conservative in almost the same hues as Bush 43 (who is a total ass). Reagan ignored the AIDS epidemic in the early 80s, he is anti-abortion and is vehemently against gay unions. His economic policies saddled the nation with a crushing debt load that we are still painfully paying off today and most of his policies were tantamount to a war on America's poor and disadvantaged, enlarging the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. To say that Reagan single-handedly ended the Cold War is to discredit and dishonor the other Presidents before him who worked tirelessly to contain the "evil empire" and the millions of American and Western European military forces who stood eye-to-eye with the Soviet Union for half a century. And don't get me started about Iran-Contra, and selling arms to Saddam's Iraq and the Taliban.
He may have been a great and popular President. But he was not beloved by the poor and the vulnerable, the needy and the disadvantaged, minorities and much of the rest of the world. And singing his praises while at the same time airbrushing out his miserable failures is a huge injustice to history and to the millions of Americans and people around the world who remember him differently.
JUN 8 :: [weeklong chaos] The chaos that surrounds a state funeral will descend on Washington, DC tomorrow as Reagan's body arrives at the Capitol. It's funny how much you learn from a huge news headline like this but Ronald Reagan will be the 10th president to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda, a rite last observed for a national leader when Lyndon Johnson died in 1973. Though Harry Truman died a month before LBJ and Richard Nixon died 10 years ago, neither president laid in state in the Capitol in accordance with their family's wishes (Truman's state funeral was in Independence, MO and Nixon had his in Yorba Linda, CA).
Ronald Reagan's will be the 12th state funeral in which the deceased has lain in the Capitol. Only presidents, presidents-elect and former presidents are entitled to state funerals. The presidents whose state funerals included lying in state at the Capitol were Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. In addition, Gens. John Pershing, in 1948, and Douglas MacArthur, in 1964, were given state funerals.
So traffic and logistical chaos is expected in DC for the next three days. The Beltway will be shutdown as well as a wide swath of the National Mall and the surrounding area for the procession tomorrow. In addition, kings and queens and presidents and prime ministers from the world over are expected to attend the memorial service on Friday (along with their entourage of traffic/logistical nightmares). Friday is a federal holiday (probably not for us, but we'll see) and the whole country will come to a complete standstill on that day.
I'll probably stay home and avoid all this chaos. We'll see. We're headed to see Chrissy Gephardt tonight on Capitol Hill. I have a follow-up doctor's appointment tomorrow and then DC shuts down for the state funeral. Stay tuned!
JUN 7 :: [drugged part deux] Alrighty then. They're allergies (who would've thought?). Allegra works. Everything else is just icing. Allegra makes me drowsy (yea, I'm a wuss). Drugged again. On a Monday. Wheeeeee...
So yea, Reagan died on Saturday. I was 11 when he left office. No recollection of him whatsoever. Some things I hear about him are fab, some are bad. Oh well, he was - I guess - an important enough man and the country (and the world) mourns his death. I'm ambivalent but respectful. I still don't like that Bob Barr shoved Reagan's name down our throats at National Airport. But that's not Reagan's fault. Nancy is cool. She needs to tie Bush down and beat him senseless with a stem cell (or lasso it around his neck). Go Nancy!
Summer is definitely back. 80s today and 90s the next few days. That's good coz the weekend was a bust weather-wise. Cold and miserable (60s!) on Sat and Sun. Plus the constant rain didn't help. Yesterday was nice though. We pretty much hung out with Rick/M2 all w/end. Saturday, we went shopping and then the movies (what else are gurls sposed to do when it's raining outside?). I wanted to watch anything, Rick vetoed Shrek 2 and M2 vetoed... well, everything. But we all agreed on Mean Girls! Giggle. We left the theater and were like those girls in the movie have nothing on us! We were way meaner, bitchier and more plastic than any of them could ever aspire to. Giggle. But the part when the mean girls started trotting out to Naughty Girl and the Milkshake song was totally fetch!
Anywho, party party party on Saturday night. Had two drinks (I'm actually listening to my doctor?!) at Duplex and JR's (each) and came home way too early. Sunday was pretty much the same except for a fun brunch with Gen at Dupont Grille (poor Tom was sicky) and more happy times at JR's - where I had a WAY-too-close encounter with the leather/S&M community. Anyway, the weekend was pretty relaxing actually. A whole bunch of partying and in bed by midnight every night.
Oh wait, am I supposed to drink while on Allegra?
JUN 4 :: [drugged] So my doctor prescribes FOUR types of medication for my ailment (woohoo!). And they work too. One for my nasal congestion, two for my cough - one of which is codeine - and Allegra for my allergies (whatever). Codeine?! Giggle. I could seriously pass out on this stuff. Oh and I had to get a chest X-ray. No fun. Hope everything's OK. Oooh, and I got a TB test as well. I tried to tell my doc that I had it during my INS medical a few years back but of course, there is no record of that (it's the bloody government) so I had to get pricked again. Sigh. And lastly, apparently I have high blood pressure. I'm supposed to start monitoring my blood pressure regularly. What a pain. This is like so not a good start to June. Wanna hear the five things my doctor said I should practice to reduce my BP? (1) Less salt intake (we don't eat much salt); (2) Eat more veges (my doctor almost fell off the chair laughing when I told him I don't eat veges coz they're "green"); (3) Do cardio exercises 3 times a week (hello? doesn't he know I'm not into manual labor?); (4) Drink less (like this is EVER going to happen); and (5) Lose weight. ?!?!?! Apparently I'm not "significantly overweight" but I could lose some. Gimme a break. Growing up is such a pain. All these new medical issues crop up. What a bore.
Oh yes, my car is running so well it's like brand new. Can't I just pay $600 to make my problems go away? No?
JUN 3 :: [fixed?] My car is fixed but I'm not. It says something about our healthcare system when I can get my car fixed within a day but I can't get a doctor's appointment until the day after. I guess I'm better off being a car :) Anywho, our trusty mechanic (thanks, Nicole) fixed my poor baby for less than $600 - 2.5 hrs of work. Not bad considering he had to replace the radiator, the hose and the thermometer (that's why the temperature gauge was whacked). I'm very pleased :)
I'm still suffering from this persistent cough and stuffed up nose. Allergies? Infection? Who knows... Hopefully the doctor will fix me up tomorrow before the weekend starts. Already I've turned down 4 or 5 events this week coz of my medicine head (I *love* Nyquil). Sigh, what's a party girl to do.
[one down...] How many more to go? 4, in fact. Rumsfeld, Rice, Cheney and Bush. Tenet presided over two of the biggest CIA intelligence failures in modern history - the 9/11 attacks and the "slam dunk" WMD case for the unprovoked war on Iraq. And he resigns today. But instead of bowing out quietly, he delivers a ringing endorsement of Bush's miserable failures on his way out. What a disgrace. No matter how many times you repeat something that's false, it'll never be true. Together in denial, together they will fall. Accountability 1, Bush Administration 0.
JUN 2 :: [ill] Sigh. Not only am I ill today (I felt it coming from a mile away), my car exploded last night. First, me (of course). My nose is running and I wanna say it's pollen-induced but I'm not sure. The nasal drip is causing my throat to hurt and when Kiat's throat hurts, the whole world suffers. I'm a total whiney wuss about my throat (maybe it's because it hurts when I try to swallow :O).
So I was driving home, top down yesterday looking fearlessly (yea, right) at the cicadas buzzing around me when suddenly I noticed the temperature gauge in my car hit the red zone. I knew enough that I should find a safe spot to pull over but moments later as I was getting on to 123N, the engine explodes and smoke starts pouring out. I made it to a residential area and called for help (read, Tony). An hour later, we (BMW and Tony; I have no clue where my engine is) diagnose that the radiator hose had detached from the radiator (I have no idea what I'm typing about) and consequently the coolant fluid spilled out and caused the smokey effect (cool). We patched the hose temporarily until we could get the car to my mechanic's and filled the coolant but not 2 miles later back on the toll road, the car overheats again. It's now 7pm and I'm starving. I call BMW for a tow truck but the earliest they could dispatch one was 90 minutes (!!!). Luckily, a nice tow truck guy pulls up and offers to take my car to my mechanic's for $90. Saved! We get home at about 9pm. Exhausted.
So my poor sickly baby blue car is sitting at the shop today wondering what's gonna happen to it. I know the radiator needs to be replaced (why?? the only thing that broke was a piece of plastic and they need to replace the whole damn thing???) but god knows what else since the car would not stop overheating. Needless to say, I'm not happy that my 6-yr old car which has been running perfectly with very little maintenance is now in intensive care. The only time it's in the shop is for routine maintenance (oh and there was that one time when I totally mangled my front bumper on a curb - damn low profile cars - and it cost me $600 to fix!!!). I do love my car and everytime I consider trading up, I shoot the idea down coz I really do love my car, broken plastic pieces and all. Pout. Woe is me.
JUN 1 :: [cicada mania part deux] What do you get when a cicada flies into your windshield? Little spots of yellow goo, eww. Alllll over my windsheild. Not pretty. I broke down and wiped it down with a wetnap. Quite gross. The cicadas are still flying around like swarms of locusts. I think they have slightly better flight techniques now though. They seem to be able to fly in straight lines (and directly into my windshield).
So, have I told you about my cicada juice story? It seems that when I told my mom about the cicada phenomenon in DC (she doesn't quite grasp the millions/acre part) and how freaky and frightening they are, she just brushed it off and said that I shouldn't be so freaked out coz I've eaten them before. ?!?!?! What was that again, mom? Apparently, when we were younger (and way more naive), my mom used to boil cicadas and made us drink the juice as if it was just one of those roots, twigs, berries, etc. that herbal medicine is notoriously famous for. And what, pray tell, was this "juice" good for? Skin! Of all things. I guess we all wanted our skins to be as smooth as exoskeletons!?!? Yes, my name is Kiat and I drank cicada juice when I was younger.
My Memorial Day weekend was just OK. It rained a lot and it was not quite perfect weather in Atlanta which made for bad pool time. My eyes were kinda scratchy and I was sneezy the entire time (I attribute all that to different kinds of pollen down there). Plus, I ate too much good food (burp). And then we were stuck in Atlanta's airport for an additional hour and then another hour circling Dulles due to thunderstorms. We were home at 10:30 last night; 2 hours later than expected. And have I told you how much I dislike RJs? They are horrendously cramped and uncomfortable. At least I've learnt my lesson and I bring a huge bottle of water onboard with me (see 9/15/03). To top it all off, our hosts were less than warm this time around. Whatever. Thank God I'm back in DC!
29 :: sweet justice
29 :: busy news day
28 :: second half
28 :: it's hot
25 :: tgif
25 :: unintentional
24 :: gradual democracy
24 :: juicy
22 :: lethargic
22 :: dumplings
20 :: fathers
20 :: summer solstice
18 :: a friendly embassy
18 :: conservative views
17 :: only one of me
17 :: searing
16 :: stunning
16 :: the truth
16 :: delirious high
15 :: good intentions
15 :: 12 hrs later
14 :: re-invention
13 :: pride week
11 :: day of mourning
10 :: what are you hiding?
10 :: cynical
08 :: weeklong chaos
07 :: drugged part deux
04 :: drugged
03 :: fixed
03 :: one down...
02 :: ill
01 :: cicada mania part deux