Celebration

Tonight I took Kendra out to dinner at the pricey pan-Asian restaurant Pacific Rim, to celebrate the completion of her dissertation. We had spring rolls (sliced on the diagonal, with a lime dipping sauce) and a Thai iced tea to start, then (for her) a tasty salmon entrée and (for me) some messily delicious Malaysian baby-back ribs in a sticky teriyaki sauce. We bit the bullet and ordered the house special chocolate cake, which needs to be ordered twenty minutes ahead of time so they can prepare it individually: a deep cocoa cake with a center still richly liquid, served with sour dried cherries and coconut-vanilla ice cream. Kendra knows the head chef from church, so we got to chat with him afterward about K's dissertation and his new baby boy.

As we were leaving for dinner, we saw two baby skunks in the yard, nosing about for seeds and berries and whatnot. They stayed close together the entire time, wobbling hip-to-hip through the grass in uneven synchrony. They were young enough that their fur stuck out all over, like a pair of black-and-white bottlebrushes. (Aww.)

We watched Control Room at the Michigan after dinner. It's a documentary from one of the Startup.com directors, chronicling the events of the Iraq War through the eyes of Al Jazeera's reporters. And it is only that; its aim is not to expose American journalistic bias (though it does that) or Bush administration doubletalk (though it does that too). If it seems to pull its punches, that is why; the director maintains her narrow focus on Al Jazeera, and doesn't follow the dozens of damning tangents liberals might have liked her to. We are left to connect a lot of dots on our own. But the picture that emerges is compelling and funny and infuriating, and at the end of it all we suddenly have faces to associate with Al Jazeera. Well worth seeing, and it'll be interesting to compare it to Fahrenheit 9/11 on Friday.

Moore campaign finance reform

According to this article in The Hill, which is "the newspaper for and about the U.S. Congress," Michael Moore may be banned from advertising Fahrenheit 9/11 on TV or radio after July 30th. Since the Republican National Convention convenes on August 30th, and since Moore has stated he intends his movie to influence the election, the legal counsel for the FEC says the ads may violate the ban on campaign advertising within 30 days of a primary election:

“The radio and television commercials that you describe in your request would be electioneering communications,” the counsel concluded. “The proposed commercials would refer to at least one presidential candidate. … They would also be publicly distributed because you intend to pay a radio station and perhaps a television station to air or broadcast your commercials. … Finally, they would reach 50,000 people within 30 days of a national nominating convention and or the general election.”

This is, of course, absolute bullshit stifling of a free press and open political commentary. Lack of advertising can pretty much kill a movie. This might not be a problem for Moore, but it might be a problem for The Hunting of the President, Silver City, Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War, and The Corporation, all of which are forthcoming small documentaries critical of the Bush administration.

Now, I don't know how reliable The Hill is, nor how likely the FEC is to follow the advice of its counsel, so don't get worked up yet. This could be another "there's a draft bill on the table!" foofaraw. But jeez.