Saturday, February 20, 2010 ~ into smiling memory ~ For some months Solomon has been able to refer to the rest of the family (Mama, Dada, Bibi) and to speak various other names (most notably Yaya for Santa). But he could not distinctly refer to himself until the past few weeks. When asked for his name he would prevously enunciate two syllables with the "ah-ah" but then say "no-no" or "noooo" when we would repeat what he said, in order to verify whether that was his name. He didn't want what he spoke to be his name; instead, we were to say Solomon for him.
Now he calls himself Wawa. This is somewhat jarring for me because that's already my own family nickname, established when Kelly spoke her first word. Today he also said "me" in reference to himself. The context was something like "geh meh" (get milk), "peeeeas" (please), "steh steh" (downstairs), "me".
I'm thinking Wawa won't be his permanent nickname for himself, just as Beatrice's first nickname for herself (Bea-tice -- as in "Bea-tice want moh-ooah") has been completely supplanted by the charming Beata, and her first name for him (Yahmin) and her surprisingly apt nickname for him before he was born (Dahhmin) are also receding into smiling memory.
9:00 PM
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~ short reviews of five movies ~ This month I've watched five movies from the public library:
Moon is superb, playful and philosophical in turns. The science is stretched occasionally to fit narrative necessities, but it's generally well done. The director Duncan Jones happens to be the son whom David Bowie mentions before his "Little Drummer Boy" duet with Bing Crosby. Sam Rockwell delivers an outstanding one-man performance -- I even sought out more of his movies, an effort I rarely make.
Sleeper. Having seen this with commercial interruptions on TV during high school and maybe on the big screen in college, I recollected it being mildly funny. I thought it might have some tangential relation to the course I'm now teaching, and had also hoped that I'd enjoy it more, as a more sophisticated, critical viewer. No. It turned out to be surprisingly unfunny -- slow-paced, even irritating at times.
Tampopo. Another film that I saw years ago and hoped that I'd enjoy more as a more sophisticated viewer. Yes. Engaging and entertaining, with the occasional odd vignette.
Nanook of the North. A perfect film at this stage of the course I'm now teaching, to open issues around the selection, arrangement and veracity of documentary evidence.
Frost/Nixon. Along with Matchstick Men, this is one of the Sam Rockwell movies I checked out after Moon. I hadn't known that Ron Howard directed this as well as a variety of other movies I've enjoyed over the years (Splash, Willow, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind). A thoroughly engaging film that took me back to some milestones from my childhood (Nixon's resignation speech), it kept me awake, heart pounding at times, until past 2am last night. Incidentally I also learned that Diane Sawyer had been on Nixon's staff, confirming my dislike for her, based previously on her thoroughly obsequious television personality.
1:58 AM
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010 ~ ha-ha, ha-ha-ha ~ Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl: I did three things today. I responded to your ridiculous inquiries. Or rather, he failed to respond the entire day to public inquiries about his whereabouts.
I drove around the city of Pittsburgh and did an evaluation of the streets and how they looked. Because he couldn't trust anyone else in his entire administration to do that? Being busy is not the same as being effective!
And I spent the majority of my time with the public safety director -- in order to figure out how to manage damage control and prevent the city from being sued, due to his ineptitude (going skiing out of town when everyone knew a major snowstorm was going to hit). 8:49 PM
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