Carpetbagger

Feeling almost back to normal. My voice is still a bit hoarse, though. But it feels good to be back at work and resuming my regular routine.
Over the weekend, I watched a film called Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes). Cameron Crowe did a remake of this movie a few years later called Vanilla Sky. The remake was okay; a lot of unnecessary exposition and a little too smug in its references to certain pop culture imagery. But the original Spanish version is really good. You should check it out if you can. I can’t say too much without giving the whole plot away, but the original has a much more nuanced perspective on the main character and his psyche. Crowe did away with a lot of that subtext, like he didn’t trust American audiences to get at any deeper meaning. If you compare the two, you’ll see what I mean.
Okay, film geek mode OFF.
Al Franken is thinking about challenging Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman in the 2008 election. Norm Coleman is a former Democratic mayor of St. Paul who became a Republican mostly because it served his own political ambitions. He’s the American cheese of Republican senators; bland and artificial. I certainly would love a Democrat to take back his seat, but I’m not sure Al’s the guy. He hasn’t lived in Minnesota for many years and I think he’d have to work hard to convince us that he can reconnect with those Midwestern roots. Maybe he can do it, but he needs to get out of New York pretty soon and start hanging out in places like Brainerd and Ely.