On the "Palin Can't Name a Supreme Court Case" meme

yeah, i know most of you would expect me to mention Edwards or other cases around the creationism debate, or even Loving which I've mentioned before, but no, one actually is bigger to me.  The odd part is not what the court decided itself, but how bad reporting on an issue and a case can actually influence how a case is interpreted by future judges and lawyers.  The case in question is Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, which is often considered to be the "corporations are artificial people" case.  ( details... )

so, faire...

...i've gathered so far in back-reading that Adventurers weekend was wet, and Oktoberfest weekend was insanely busy (per its usual if it is dry).

any other excitements?

my fav Paul Newman film...

...still has not been released on DVD, in any country.  But it's a great film.

The fact that I was in Italy when it was announced (and is where this film is set) brought it to mind all the more clearly...

catching up...

LJ caught up, plurk "marked as read", email caught up (mostly deleted!), voicemail junked (it all was), so all that's left is work email (at my own pace 'cause i'm not going to work today).  oh, and the last 2 weeks of columns from my fav online authors, which i'll probably collect up and print to read over lunch.

the "character" of Venice

There are films where the location is as much a character of the film as the actors portray, if not more so.  The Fisher King's portrayal of NYC is one example, as is Ratatouillie's impressionist presentation of Paris.  A favorite example of the setting as character is the U.S.S. Nimitz in The Final Countdown - say what you will about the cheesy plot or the action flight sequences, the SHIP is the real star of that film and performs beautifully.

Venice is certainly a setting that has no choice but to intrude itself into the films it is featured in - the character always comes through no matter how it is shown.  Films I have that include it are the two recent Casanova's (Tennant and Ledger), iJones 3, and some beautiful footage of the 4th Crusade portion of the Doge's Ball from Carnivale (if I ever get rich, we'll be at this ball - already have the costumes and bought masks that match them beautifully), featured in the Terry Jones Crusades documentary. 

Plus, of course, Venice as a character is the whole point of Dangerous Beauty.

So now that I've just about fallen in love with the place (the only other times that has happened has been Cape Breton Island and the Highlands of Scotland, so this is new in falling for a place that is not part of my cultural & ethnic heritage), what other films are worth seeing for seeing Venice as Venice?

(btw, 2 weeks, 20+ gig on 8 memory cards between 2 cameras including lots of short videos which my camera can do - it'll take me some time to pull them off though i'll try and get a few highlights up today...)

"you can not serve two masters"

A wise teacher said this about 2000 years ago (or so it was written down around then), but the sentiment is far truer than the original context, of a money-man asking what he can do to enter the Kingdom.  Yes, the obvious, "money" or "a good spiritual life" is certainly true (would that the money-hungry evangelical and catholic churches have remembered this parable and lesson over the centuries...), but it runs far deeper than that.  It applies to everything, including the ethics of business itself.( continues with comments on the ethics of public companies, employees, HR outsourcing, and the current crisis... )