An Ordinary Day at the Zoo

Saturday, I took my son to the zoo for the third time this year. And as usual, there was nothing extraordinary there, but I did see some extraordinary feats by some of nature’s finest specimens. Now we have all seen at some point a passenger sticking their legs out the window. When I was driving to the zoo, however, I saw for the first time a driver sticking her leg out of her window. And she had her foot rested on the left side mirror. I was amazed at how limber she was and at the same time a bit concerned about her ability to control her vehicle. Perhaps that is why she had a huge crack in her windshield.

Then on Colorado, I saw in the Shotgun Willie’s parking lot two beauties in bikinis doing car washes. If I did not have my son with me, I would have definitely stopped for a car wash as my car could use one and they seemed very capable.

Finally, an indication of the other end of Darwin’s evolutionary spectrum; I advise all of you to avoid the KFC on Colorado. Apparently it is a sit down restaurant as it takes 20 minutes for you to get your order. And when you ask for a status update, they have no clue who is handling your order.

Cougar Nation Rejoice

You are about to get your own beauty pageant.  I can see it now – Zac Effron as emcee, perhaps Perez Hilton as a judge.

Racial Profiling

Is racial profiling an issue in law enforcement?  Yes.  Is racial profiling an issue in Cambridge, MA?  Undoubtedly.  With that said, I think Prof. Gates was wrong in how he addressed the issue, and Pres. Obama was wrong to say the police acted stupidly.  Law enforcement officers are forced to make split second decisions multiple times a day.  They will not always act perfectly.  They will not always keep their prejudices out of their decision-making; they are human just like us.  This is not to say their decision-making should not be challenged or questioned, but if the person being “profiled” is not at physical risk or harm, the time to do that is not during the incident itself.  The damages to his rights, if proven, can be rectified through the legal process; the risk to public safety cannot.  If Prof. Gates was an intruder, the presumption of ownership and/or rightful occupation that Prof. Gates would have liked to have been applied, would have imperiled the ability of the police to control and resolve the situation.  Prof. Gates has had ample opportunity to protect his rights and raise consciousness as to the issue after the incident and that will usually be the case.  The ability to maintain peace and security does not usually lend itself to such after-the-fact resolution.  As a dark-skinned individual who has been presumed to be a member of the Islam nation, I know that if I am pulled aside in an airport security line, the best way to approach it is to cooperate.  Raising a scene offers no additional protection to me and only raises the likelihood that I will be further delayed from moving on.  I have every right to challenge the search at some later point.  I know the social contract protects my rights, but it does not protect me against every perceived slight.  And it does not allow me to dictate unilaterally the process as to how my rights are protected.

Athletes and Hotel Workers: Passion or Coercion?

I try not to cast stones in regard to sexual assault claims involving prominent individuals because I try to balance my concerns for the victim with the need to ensure that all claims are fully vetted in our legal system. So while I am a huge Big Ben fan, I will not jump to any judgments as to what happened behind that closed door. I am fascinated, however, how the Internet has transformed the issue of privacy of the victim. Reputable media outlets try to protect the victim by not identifying the victim. This protection has been eviscerated, however, by the Internet. For instance, not only is the name of Ben’s accuser now public (BB actually named her in his statement) but pictures of her are now all over the Internet. This made we wonder about other accusers such as the person who accused Kobe of sexual assault. Sure enough, her name and image is all over the Internet. In fact not only has she been identified, but some other women have been misidentified as the accuser. But publicity can cut both ways, and if the following disquieting video on You Tube is accurate, victims can use the Internet as a forum as well. Alas, this does not draw us closer to the truth; it only ensures that the rumors and questions and innuendo will continue to percolate.

Getting Real

Hard to imagine, but DC has never had a Real World.  That slight is currently being remedied as filming is ongoing in the capitol city.  Of course, a more entertaining DC Real World would be to put a mix of politicians and politicos in a house together and see what transpires.  Then again we get to witness that “Real World” daily on the front pages of the newspaper.

Meanwhile, the Real World Cancun rages on, and I literally mean “rage” as apparently one of the women is a “cutter.”  She also has engaged all the other cast members at one point or another in a fight.   She is so hated by the guys that they are trying to goad her into doing something that will make her leave the show.  They came close last night as she destroyed a glass divider in a closet.  But she survived the show without doing anything else, so the cast remains in tact (they have had people who either had to leave the show for good or take a break to deal with similar issues).  More conflict appears to be in store for the young “innocents”.

The Boys are Back in Town

I must say that I am quite enjoying the new Entourage season. While Vinny did need some comeuppance for becoming too much of a star, the show really clicks when they are living the high life. And Sloane (Emmanuelle Chriqui) is quite sublime. But, of course, True Blood, is HBO's real gem.

Bag Bruno

I saw Bruno over the weekend and all I can say is don't even go for the DVD on this one. I got into Sacha Baron Cohen with Da Ali G Show and primarily when he interviewed famous people who unsuspectingly thought he was for real. I then became a fan of Borat because he used a reprehensible but buffoonish character to expose the prejudices of even more unwitting prey. But on Bruno unfortunately he runs his schtick into the ground; it is simply a rehash of Borat with more reprehensibe protagonist.

I did see a good movie on DVD, Revolutionary Road. Sam Mendes recreates an American Beauty-esque landscape in which disquietude brims below the surface of seemingly genteel suburbia. But at its root, this movie is not about that dialectic, but the decay of a marriage -- plain and simple. Leonardo gives a solid performance, but Kate is the real center of this vehicle. A mesmerizing performance.