Frank Gehry. American Master?

Watched the Frank Gehry: American Masters show on PBS the other night with the hopes of seeing what all the hoopla is about. I came away with the same feeling I have had since I first heard of Gehry and the Getty Museum in Bilbao, Spain, that of "eh". With all the adoration of Gehry, I started to feel like the only one that didn't like his stuff, and after watching the documentary on PBS where we are shown lots of his work, I can safely say I am even more adamant in my dislike of his work.

While his most famous works, Bilbao, Disney Hall, etc. have that wavy "natural" look(which is anything but natural, IMHO)which is supposed to be somehow inviting and freeing is, to me, jarring and irritating . Good architecture, for me, needs to be inviting and pleasant to look at, not jarring and annoying. Why would I want to enter a building that makes me want to turn away? And don't give me the "but he's making art." He may think he is making art, but he is designing building that people are supposed to want to enter, not run away from.

Disney Hall - a mess


The science building at MIT. Words cannot express how awful this building is. It's like Dr. Seuss on a bad acid trip.


And Bilbao. Yuck! Just because it looks like no other building, does not make this a good piece o architecture.

Torture. Weeeee!

Here's a breakdown of what the Rupublicans and Bush want:

Enemy Combatants: A dangerously broad definition of "illegal enemy combatant" in the bill could subject legal residents of the United States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal. The president could give the power to apply this label to anyone he wanted.

The Geneva Conventions: The bill would repudiate a half-century of international precedent by allowing Mr. Bush to decide on his own what abusive interrogation methods he considered permissible. And his decision could stay secret — there’s no requirement that this list be published.

Habeas Corpus: Detainees in U.S. military prisons would lose the basic right to challenge their imprisonment. These cases do not clog the courts, nor coddle terrorists. They simply give wrongly imprisoned people a chance to prove their innocence.

Judicial Review: The courts would have no power to review any aspect of this new system, except verdicts by military tribunals. The bill would limit appeals and bar legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions, directly or indirectly. All Mr. Bush would have to do to lock anyone up forever is to declare him an illegal combatant and not have a trial.

Coerced Evidence: Coerced evidence would be permissible if a judge considered it reliable — already a contradiction in terms — and relevant. Coercion is defined in a way that exempts anything done before the passage of the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act, and anything else Mr. Bush chooses.

Secret Evidence: American standards of justice prohibit evidence and testimony that is kept secret from the defendant, whether the accused is a corporate executive or a mass murderer. But the bill as redrafted by Mr. Cheney seems to weaken protections against such evidence.

Offenses: The definition of torture is unacceptably narrow, a virtual reprise of the deeply cynical memos the administration produced after 9/11. Rape and sexual assault are defined in a retrograde way that covers only forced or coerced activity, and not other forms of nonconsensual sex. The bill would effectively eliminate the idea of rape as torture.

From The NYT

Don't let the The President have such over-reaching powers.

Contact your Senator.

Background Check Complete

Jimmi over at Jimmi Chronicles' background check has been completed but not without some cajoling on my part (Homeland Security was holding his acceptance because of some sort of shampoo incident on a commuter plane between Phoenix and Pakistan). After I convinced the authorities that the shampoo was only used for hair loss, Homeland Security gave me the go ahead to add Jimmi to my Blogroll.

Welcome, Jimmi!

What Will Be Remembered

Just got off the phone with a friend in San Diego, he asked me what I thought history will remember this time for (I was a history major, so he asks questions like this a lot). I told Jess, my friend, that with the recent revelations about torture, and the passing of the "compromise" bill dealing with torture, I told him I thought history would record how shameful and deplorible U.S. citizens turned a blind eye to this issue and allowed America to sink into the moral sewer with regard to allowing torture. That the idea that this is a Christian nation, is a flat-out lie as is shown by the embrace of torture by so many so-called Christians.

I can't put into words how ashamed I am of this country right now because of the President's embrace of torture and the how the Congress has given the President the green light to continue torturing.

Torture is wrong. America is supposed to take the moral high ground in the world, but because we have a President and Vice President that are lazy and morally bankrupt, we have to live within a new moral sewer.

I Think I Have A Savings Account

I can't look at my online savings account because I don't remember the answer to the damn security question! Secure indeed.

Bringing Sexy Back

From The Stranger

Worse Design Award

Goes to Queerty.

Am I wrong?

Now Seattle?

During my recent trip to Utah, Arizona, Colorado and all National Parks therein (well, not all, just most), my friends Darrin and Greg, who live in Bend, Oregon, said I would probably like Seattle better than Portland. On top of that, another friend, Stephen, out in Washington D.C. also said I would probably like Seattle better than Portland. He said Portland is much too quite for me (I think I'm ready for some quite, though). My sister, on the other hand, didn't say either way (I don't think she wants me to move even further from San Diego - where I am originally from).

Now this is not a problem as I have been planning on deciding between the two cities, anyway. So, in the next year or so, I will be taking a few long weekends up to Portland and Seattle to see which city agrees with me the best. I just think it strange that in the matter on one week, Seattle popped up in conversation multiple times. Maybe fate/kharma/something is telling me both cities would be okay. Whatever. I have given myself 3 years at the outside to make a decision. That means I will be 40 years old when I move...to Portland or Seattle.

Some Trip Pics

This is me and my friend Darrin at Bryce National Park

Me and Darrin's boyfriend, Greg at Landscape Arch in Arches National Park


Walking accross a bridge that takes you into the Navajo Reservation in Utah


Me and Darrin on a trail in Zion National Park

A thunder storm off in the distance at Bryce National Park


There you have it, some pics of my trip on the "Grand Loop" of National Parks.

Quote Of The Day

From The Stranger referring the upcoming musical version of Showgirls:

"The only thing that could make the pool scene any better is singing"

Clown Car

Well, it's what god wants...

Backk From The Wilds

Flew in from Salt Lake on Monday (with a layover in Vegas-what a hole!), took Tuesday off to do laundry and mentally prepare myself for going back to work this morn. I'll have some pics posted this evening sometime.
Did I miss anything other than bad Spinach?

Utah

It's 3:33 am and I am getting ready to leave for my R.V. trip in Utah - hopefully I have everything I need. Utah does have electricity, right? Bathrooms? Laws?

I was on Dan's P-cast last night, if you want to hear it. Let me know what you thought - I won't be able to listen for a week or so.

Anyway, bye, bye...

Update:
Okay, I'm listening to the podcast right now and have decided I sound like a gayer Kermit The Frog

Chaos

Is it wrong of me to hope the office completely falls apart while I am on vacation?

My Parents Already Had Three Kids...

Against my better judgment, it seems I have become 37 years old today.

What other highlights of the day can we expect?

On the bright side, Katie Couric is debuting on CBS Evening News tonight.

Steamy, hot, bad, really bad (I assume), nighttime T.V. is back.

Rosie O'LesboDonnel debuts on boring, bad, really bad show, (this I know) The View today.

What else is happening today?

Vividblurry, Less Vivid

And another one takes a bow

Any Big Plans For The Weekend?

No, I do not have any big plans for the weekend, so stop asking!!

Why do people in my office ask this every weekend? The intensity of the question goes up exponentially on a three-day weekend, too.