This was originally written on 02.18.2001
I'm writing this entry in the library of "The Hostel In The Forest". We arrived at our destination a few hours ago and it feels really good to be off the road. The last couple of days have been a bit of a whirlwind and pretty interesting. The night of my day in Cleveland I ate interesting, chinese food w/ my father and went to his work w/ him while he finished some things. He's taken a second job of sorts doing janitorial stuff around the building so he spends some late nights. While I admire his work ethic, I worry that he has developed a bit of an unhealthy preoccupation w/ money. What is the point of accumulating money, or for that matter any other type of material possesion if one gains no hapiness from it? He always claims that Cleveland is so much better than Boiling Springs, but it doesn't seem like he takes advantage of the added opportunity on a regular basis. I hope that he will quit his night job once my mom moves out to OH.
After that, my dad dropped me off at a club not far from his apartment so I could go to a hardcore show. Due to his extended stay at the office, and the show starting early, I missed the first two bands, but I did get to see Zao, the band I most wanted to see. They were hard and heavy and oh so intense. It was a pretty fun show, and as it ended by midnight, I was able to get some substantial sleep before going back to Columbus.
My dad is a very early riser so he got me up before 6 which meant I was able to get back to Columbus before 9. I packed, checked e-mail, and waited for Varu and Erin to show up. We left about 1 PM and headed south. Erin started driving but eventually hit her limit and I took over. We drove hardcore for hours. Its interesting how driving is considerably less painful when you have interesting company. We stopped briefly in Charlotte fom dinner. We drove on further south before finally stopping south of Columbia. It took us a rather long time to find a room in columbia as it seems all the rooms in columbia were for some odd reason all occupied. Driving from hotel to hotel reminded me a great deal of childhood holidays when we would drive, as if for hours, seeking an inexpensive hotel.
We awoke late and continued on our journey. We continued on our path through the south and stopped in Savanah for groceries, thrift stores, and to check out the Fort Pulaski National Monument. Fort Pulaski was a fort used in the revolutionary war era (though perhaps not the war itself, I'm really not sure?). It was later used as a confederate fort during the civil war and eventuallytaken over by union forces. It was a really interesting building architecturally. The fort was protected on its front by a moat and a triangular island that contains underground munition stores. It was historical and interesting. After a short drive we eventually reached the hostel just outside of Brunswick, GA. It was dusk and we had to drive down this crazy dirt road with these huge puddles. When we got there, we were greeted by Monica who showed us around the hostel. The hostel consists primarily of two geodessic domes which house the library and the common room respectively. Multiple other auxillary structures housed things like the bath house, the laundry room, and the dining area. The rooms for guests are arranged around the hostel grounds. Each structure is unique and gives the hostel a fun eclectic flavor. Perhaps the most alarming structure of all was the compost toilet. Instead of running water and flush toilets you simply cover your "deposit" with sawdust. The fecal matter is then added to compost for the garden? What do you do to urinate? Go water a tree. Our treehouse is the peacock hut, so named because of a wood carving of a peacock on the door of the hut. It is enclosed on two sides only w/ screen which makes me feel as if I will be sleeping in a jungle bungalow or Seminole hut. Having gorged myself on our picknic lunch, I decided to skip dinner and write this journal entry and read more of Catch 22.
posted by geoff on 3/24/2001 12:08:05 PM
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This was originally written on 02.16.2001
I'm relaxing now, in my father's cluttered lakewood apartment, after spending the day roaming about the city. Some kids have headed down to coastal waters for a spring break filled w/ sexual promiscuity and drunken debauchery. I, on the other hand, am on the north coast trudging through the lingering rust belt winter. I don't mind the city though, even when cold, grey skies serve as a constant reminder of Cleveland's hard, industrial history. I like walking around cities, it makes me feel terribly grown up and cosmopolitan. And amidst the heavy, mid-day pedestrian traffic, its significantly harder to feel lonely. I feel a little like Holden Caufield roaming about the city after being ejected from boarding school.
I roam the streets more out of liesure than desperation though. I got to do one of my favorite things this morning, ride public transportation. I hopped on the bus and took a jaunt east to center city. I don't know why I like public transportation so much, but I could ride all day. I like trains the best, but busses are ok too. It might just be because I hate driving, but I also like the bus because it makes me feel so connected - I get in this capsul and with minimal thought and effort, I at my destination. I imagine its a little like what teleportation would feel like. Also, I tend to like the social nature of public transportation. Maybe its just because I watched too many episodes of Seasame Street as a child, but I really like the idea of neighborhoods and community. People driving alone in autos seems like the perfect metaphor for the isolation of modern life.
Before I digress too much, I should mention why I went downtown in the first place. Cleveland is having it's 25th annual international film festival, and although its not Cannes or Sundance or Toronto, its still an awesome chance to see films that one wouldn't get a chance to see elsewhere. I saw two films, selected basically at random, and what follows are some notes about the two films.
The first film that I saw was a fun lbritish comedy called "House!". While, I'm no expert on british film, "House!" seems similar to many of the British comedies, such as "The Full Monty", that have captured the fancy of American audiences. It is a tale of individuals facing tough economic realities and overcoming these realities w/ cleverness and gusto. The plot of the film centers around an aging bingo hall that has fallen on tough times, particularly with the opening of an ultra-modern bingo complex in the same town. The main protagonist, js a likeable young girl who works at the old bingo hall. This character is instantly likeable, as are most of the characters in the film. It seems that many comedies are just a string of jokes or gags and that even the most basic character development is forgotton. Either that or the characters are merely cliches. I found this film a refreshing departure from that. We learn that after the death of her mother, she too has fallen on financial troubles, and it seems the bingo hall offers stability and friendship in her lonely life. However, when it seems the bingo hall will close, and when the girl's aunt comes to collect her half af the family house, what little stability she has appears to be at risk. Luckily, the girl possesses a strange gift that enables her to guess winning numbers. With this skill she devises a plan to save her beloved bingo hall.
This comedy is not what I would call an amazing film, but is, at the same time, a truly enjoyable picture. It is charming and sweet without being ridiculously sappy. It is clever and fun without being obnoxious or hacknayed. All in all, it makes one feel as a good comedy should make one feel: happy and w/ a certain rekindled liking of humanity.
The second film that I saw was a Turkish film titled "Run for Money". In this film, an exceedingly honest shop owner comes upon a mass of American dollars. What follows is the gradual but complete corruption of this man.
While the theme of the corrupting influence of money is by no means a new one, and this film's treatment of this subject was not any more vivid or powerful than others, I thought that this film was still very interesting given the cultural climate that it was written in.
Currently, the Turkish economy is crap, inflation is rising, and the official currency isn't doing so well either. I even read a recent Wall Street Journal article about an impending IMF bail-out. In my econ class, we discussed that in periods of hyperinflation, people tend to keep short term outlooks and are constantly hedging against inflationary pressures. I think this film probably reflects such a cultural preoccupation with money and wealth and makes a statement about the opportunity cost that such a preoccupation entails. Also, I thought it particularly interesting that the protagonist found American dollars and not some other currency. To some extent I think the film may also be a commentary on the impact that a growing western influence has had on Turkish culture.
posted by geoff on 3/24/2001 12:02:44 PM
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Representative Democracy? Yeah Right.
Max sent me this e-mail this morning. It represents just another reason why I am so frustrated with society (and society as reflected in our elected officials). More and more, government and people in power in general don't represent me. In particular, look to the statistics about drug charges and drunk driving.
>Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500
>employees and has the following statistics:
>*29 have been accused of spousal abuse
>*7 have been arrested for fraud
>*19 have been accused of writing bad checks
>*117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least two businesses
>*3 have done time for assault
>*71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
>*14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
>*8 have been arrested for shoplifting
>*21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
>*84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year
>
>Can you guess which organization this is? Give up yet? It's the 535
>members of the United States Congress. The same group of idiots that
>crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest
>of us in line.
>
>I rest my case.
posted by geoff on 3/23/2001 11:48:23 PM
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