A Magical Night

I had the pleasure of attending the Getty Villa's College Night last night. It was a perfect October evening. We drove up in the late afternoon and arrived just before sunset. There was almost no traffic getting there (well, with the help of the carpool lane.) Light Santa Ana winds were blowing, yet Malibu was not on fire. (A small fire did break out near the new Getty this morning). All together classic Hotel California weather. Which is fitting as the Getty Villa would be my version of the Hotel California:



The event was free to college students from around Southern California. The museum served a nice Mediterranean buffet in the atrium and there were free soft drinks. Everything was charmed and charming.

On the "Mr. Getty's Favorite Statue" tour, we had an interesting conversation with the lovely young French(-Canadian?) conservator about Heracles's missing penis. I also ran across this little masterpiece in the Dilettanti exhibition:



Titled "Pan Enjoys a Goat," it inspired a pretty young Asian woman who walked by it while I was studying to cry, "Disgusting!" I'm sure she meant, "Intriguing." She must have been from Loyola-Marymount.

It has been a magical month of October in Southern California. I will miss October when I die. I will miss October in about a week and a half.

October Perfection

This the kind of October I dream of. Warm, smoky Santa Anas at the beginning of the week. Indian summer paradise at the end. And how have I taken advantage of it thus far? By showing up at the office each day like a clown.

What I missed today:


Cardiff-by-the-Sea


Oceanside Harbor


Life sucks, even when it's not that bad.

Taxes

I'm a big supporter of taxes. Progressive taxes. Tom Friedman expressed my position excellently in his column today. (I did not hear Palin's remark from the debate as I have studiously avoided these farces, but reading it made my blood boil, too.) Friedman quotes the sagacious Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.:

I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.

I had not heard that quotation before, but I'd seen something like it. From The Sweepers Calendar:

Every two or four years or so, a cadre of politicians, campaign advisers, and speech writers will try to buy your vote with a tax break. Keep in mind that the intelligent radio program that you have just heard, the poem you have just read, the medication that you are presently taking, were probably subsidized in some part with federal funds provided by United States taxpayers. Meanwhile, the trickle-down economist, the laissez-faire plutocrat, among a number of more or less likely possibilities, would have already converted it into a Lady's Rolex on the arm of some Westchester investment broker's wife — or, more probably, that of his NYU student mistress. Let us never forget to thank the United States taxpayer. And let us never do away with him or her. There is no more civilized and humane creature in the world.

October: Why I Live in Southern California

The weather today is why I live in Southern California. Look at this:



85 degrees at the beach. 66 degree water temp. Fun chest-high combination swell.

So how did I take advantage of this miraculous day? Sat in my office and look at it on a computer screen.

A fellow developer was laid off yesterday. I almost envy him.

Disapproval

I take a little pride in saying that I was part of that 10% that didn't approve of Bush even right after 9/11. Now that his approval rating is diving to historic lows, the contrarian in me is almost inclined to approve of him. Almost.

I didn't vote for him in 2004, but I'm happy he was re-elected. His administration has managed the mess created in his first term about as well as it could realistically be managed. The surge has made the best -- which isn't that great -- of a bad situation. I don't think Kerry could have stopped the economic collapse. And at least we won't have to listen to delusional conservatives trying to pin the miserable state of the country on a hapless Democratic administration. Well, we will, but for the time being, they will be rightfully scorned or ignored.

So who am I voting for in the next election? Gore. I'm voting for someone coming up with a god-damned time machine and going back in time and electing Gore.

First Santa Anas of Season

Forecast for this weekend:



So there's that to look forward to.

Oh yeah, I missed some good waves today:



Shit.