picked to serve

Today I was picked as an alternate for jury duty. I'm not happy being an alternate. That's like being a stand-in... all the work and none of the glory. Still... I can study human behavior without worrying about making a judgment.. I could have gotten out of the whole mess with a plea of "only God can judge us", but I have no working a/c and 40 bucks a day is 40 bucks.

If my friend hadn't said "step up to the plate", I might have given my usual excuse of being too stressed out to be a jurist, but citizen guilt took hold and I'm ready to bat.

While being screened as a potential jurist, I thought back to last nite's fun, seeing Bruno, the movie... Bruno, in hopes of transferring his Austrian tv host fame to LA, gets an extra spot playing a jury member on a tv show. His job is to sit quietly, but of course, Bruno plays to the camera, showing a myriad of bizarre over reactions to anything the actor- D/A. says. He even lights up and smokes.

Courts are by their nature very theatrical and I felt like cracking up any number of times while sitting up there... We had to tell the court what our profession was ... no surprise that no one admitted to being a housewife... unemployed, but not a housewife. Anyway, the guy behind me said he's a dj. When the lawyer asks him again if that's his work, he says yes, then mumbles under his breath, "I do it to stay out of trouble."

Surreal!

The DA asked me what kind of films I make..I should have said porn, but told the truth( after all I had had my right hand up in the air), documentaries... I didn't mention that one of my subjects, Abbie Hoffman, said he couldn't be tried by a jury of his peers as he had no peers...or something like that.

Can't say anymore as lips sealed... no speaky about the case.. good opportunity though to eat Vietnamese food on the lunch break. And ofcourse, step up to the plate.

Obama's comparison to Felix shows good judgment

After reading about the Krugman/Ferguson fight, and the Scot's derisive comparison of President Obama to Felix the Cat, I decided to check out Felix for myself to see if Ferguson was being mean. I tuned into my cartoon collection and caught Felix starring in The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg. In this wonderful vision of economic excellence, Felix's little goose Goldie lays lovely eggs that Felix turns into shiny coins for his community at the Relief Bureau. Friends and neighbors line up and peacefully receive their share of the wealth, without quibble, all for one, one for all, and enough to live well. It's a scene that any true social democrat would be pleased to be part of...but sadly for Felix, Captain Hook wants Goldie for himself and steals the goose away. Of course, the goose refuses to lay for such a greedy individualist and is almost cut open until Felix arrives to save the day and save Goldie!

Hooray... Felix returns the Pirate's stash to the people and now Goldie is dropping those egg/coins directly without Felix having to make them. The villagers easily collect coins, filling up their pockets, hats and shoes. no more struggle, peace of mind for all.

If Mr. Obama were as lucky as Mr. Ferguson says he is , and could pull off a Felix move with health care, jobs and economic parity, then it would indeed be acompliment Ferguson offered. Perhaps Krugman, Ferguson and Mr. Obama should sit down with a beer, and find their inspiration while watching the cartoon.

almost went postal

Sad times ahead for a country that once so loved its post office. no more dog biting postmens' ankle scenes in movies... no more "honey, should we give the postman something for Christmas".. no, at least in NYC, the postal system is working hard to make itself quickly extinct.

take today, where the newly pristinized 14th st post office had 7 empty windows and only two filled by less than happy workers... not their fault, but still... it just burns to know that someone in the back is having an extended coffee break while the line snakes around the joint the rhumba party... not to mention the benefits these workers get..

and then the delivery folk.. for some reason they can not ring a doorbell for a UPS package... it would require them having to wait an extra 3 minutes for the tenant to descend and sign the slip... instead they just shove the pink paper into the box, write 3rd delivery attempt and saunter out without looking backwards..

This puts me and you in the unhappy position of returning to the post office to wait in line while some really slow moving object takes their good old time to find it...AND as witnessed only last week, the object has often been sent back because it wasn't picked up because most people have more to do than kill 45 min a day at the post office...

Now if the post office sold beer or coffee and had a checker board set up ..that would be one thing..but even with the info ambassadors strolling through the lines in hopes of calming the enraged, it still lacks the charm of the old general store...


Will I miss Saturday deliveries.. well, shit yes. Who will my dog bite on the weekend?

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