Life's simple pleasures

At long last, here are a few items that have almost (but not quite) nothing to do with movies.

Had a lovely dinner with the co-editor of the north and his wife last night. We were celebrating some astonishing fund-raising numbers for Corflu Zed. Andy has truly been the hero of the convolution for his fund-raising. My credit card is breathing easier because of him.

Yesterday I received the soundtrack CD for Dil Se in the mail. (Yes, I'm one of the people driving Amazon's stock upwards.) "Chaiyya Chaiyya" really is an insanely catchy song. I could listen to it all day. According to Wikipedia, 'Composer A R Rahman has declared that "Chaiyya Chaiyya" is "a Sufi song". Its lyrics are notable for their use of religious (especially Islamic) metaphors to characterize love, including references to heaven, the Shahadah (Muslim declaration of faith), and a verse from the Quran.'

Sometimes (my beloved) flirts like a flower,
so fragrantly that you may see her scent.
Having made it into an charm, I will wear it.
She shall be obtained as a miracle is obtained.
She is my song, my declaration of faith
(My friend is like a priest to me.)
My song... my declaration of faith...
She moves like the dew.
She walks with the garden of heaven beneath her feet,
sometimes through the branches, sometimes amidst the leaves.
I shall search the wind for her trail!

Today my brother is coming up with his wife and younger son. My brother is picking up a part for his Hobie Cat at the Boat Show. My niece is coming up separately to visit a friend of hers who had a baby recently. All of us are going to get together at some point to visit our Yapese friends in Tacoma. It's been at least a year since we last saw them, I think, so it'll be great to get caught up on family and island news. We'll probably all dream together of going back to Yap some day. Then it'll be back to our house for a slumber party, as my niece put it. Somebody is going to have to sleep on the floor!

Well, better go sweep it then.

Limbaugh knows what time it is

It seems that Rush Limbaugh understands Obama's strategy better than some leftists do. I got these quotes from an Al Giordano post:

Here's Limbaugh, last Monday, January 26, in response to President Obama's calling him out:

"This is a political play and a lot of people I think are misunderstanding this. ‘He's frightened of Limbaugh.' I don't think he's afraid of anybody. He's the president of the United States. This is a political play to marginalize me so that Republicans are afraid to associate with my ideas or any of us. He wants conservatism, mainstream conservatism to be thought of the way you and I think of communism. He wants it thought of as the most foreign, the most offensive, the most extreme manner of belief possible. There are no elected Republicans who are espousing conservatism today, so he's gotta find somebody who is. I happen to be the most prominent voice, but there are many others, so he focuses on me. This is a Saul Alinsky radical rule number 13: Pick the target, me, isolate it, polarize it. It's almost like Colin Powell. We'll kill it, we'll isolate it, we'll cut its head off. That's what's happening here. This is a purposeful effort to get rid of conservatism as a mainstream way of thinking forever in this country, make no mistake about it."

Later on Monday, in response to a caller, Limbaugh elaborated:

"I don't think that's what this is about all. Remember, now, Barack Obama comes from the Saul Alinsky Rules for Radicals school. The Obama way is to get rid of opposition. Not a fair playing field, you clear it. You get rid of your opponents as quickly and as rapidly as you can. What he's trying to do, as I said in the last hour, is marginalize me to the point that Republicans are afraid to mention my name, that they wouldn't dare do this primarily because he wants conservatism to be thought of the same way you and I think of communism. He wants conservatism to be thought of as the most extreme kooky, wacky thing, and that anybody who publicly espouses it is insane or what have you. There is a method here, and it's not a mistake. The guy did this on purpose. The Drive-Bys are running around talking about whether this was wise to focus on me and build me up and so forth. Believe me, he's gotta compliant GOP already. The GOP, they're all out there saying, ‘Well, we hope he succeeds.'"

Game on.

Guess Limbaugh isn't a big fat idiot after all. He actually knows how the game is played.