Stream of conscience? (open for debate)

I thought that I would take time to deviate from my path of late. You know the whole political bit... Its a tough deviation for me, I must admit.

First off, I just finished watching Philadelphia. Yes I know, the movie is pretty much a classic now and is quite old, but it is one I did not see. I have to say it was a terrific film, Hanks (Andrew Beckett) was at his best, and even Denzel Washington, who I'm usually not "wowed" by was amazing. Washington played a hire-by-infomercial claims lawyer named Joe Miller. Miller was a last resort hire for Hank's character who sought to press discrimination charges and a wrongful termination suit against his own law firm. Beckett (as everyone must know by now) was fired when it was discovered he was gay and that he had aids. Miller had to over come his own prejudices to proceed with the trial. Well... If you are like me, and you've somehow made it 13 years with out seeing this film, go out and rent it.

Now that I've gotten my blurb on my evening entertainment out of the way, I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on some of the various conversation had this weekend.

Topics:

John first brought up most attractive woman in Hollywood, the consensus was Scarlett Johansson. Next Hayes challenged "Who is the most attractive Man?". The answers here were all different.. which perhaps demonstrates that we aren't women. The guys scoffed and my inclusion of lesser know actor Cillian Murphy... which I suppose reveals I like pretty men? Actually truth be told I want to emulate pretty men.... although oddly enough in my older age I seem to have acquired too much testosterone to even have a fighting chance. (The 3 o'clock shadow, and prominent chin don't help) Hayes picked Christian Bale.... John was busy cursing everyone who attracted a lot of female attention (Josh Hartnett>>mainly because he supposedly dates Scarlett, and Colin Farrell earned the "douche bag" title amongst others).

Another topic: Meth Amphetamines... that's right. Meth labs. Actually in a rather pathetic moment we were all discussing how Meth is actually "used". Really pathetic since I'm sure I learned this (in a class) in college. So... I had to look it up.

The usual route for medical use is oral administration. In recreational use it can be swallowed, snorted, smoked, dissolved in water and injected (or even without water, in what is called a dry shot), inserted anally (with or without dissolution in water), or into the urethra. [22]

As with all addictive drugs, the potential for addiction is greater when it is delivered by methods that cause the concentration in the blood to rise quickly, principally because the effects desired by the user are felt more quickly and with a higher intensity than through a moderated delivery mechanism. In fact, studies have shown that the subjective pleasure of drug use (the reinforcing component of addiction) is proportional to the rate that the blood level of the drug increases. In general, smoking is the fastest mechanism (i.e., it causes the blood concentration to rise the most quickly in the shortest period of time as it allows the substance to travel to brain through a more direct route than intravenous injection), followed by injecting, snorting, anal insertion, and swallowing.

Next on the list... the "High Fidelity/ Nick Hornby" style top ten lists. Actually it was top five songs... which on the spot, I find nearly impossible. (as did everyone) Really it is impossible, but to participate, I thought I'd go ahead and form a top ten list... which of course is really fluid. These would consistently fit into my top fifty for certain. Some of these are very bread and butter, but as far as I'm concerned there is a reason they were so revered to begin with.

Imagine- John Lennon

Let it Be- The Beatles

Here Comes the Sun- The Beatles

Isn't it a Pity- George Harrison

Circle Game- Joni Mitchell

Don't Let it Bring You Down- Neil Young

The Battle of Evermore- Led Zeppelin

Which Will- Nick Drake

You know what.... I just can't do this... its a bunch of crap really, you can't exclude all of the excellent music that's out there! I keep writing things.... then erasing them. Too much pressure. I couldn't even make a top ten artists list, let alone songs. I'd have to come up with some elaborate system of rating.....I'm thinking lyrics slightly over sound... although it seems circumstantial.

Really you would have to make lists for moods, lists for genres, lists for times of the year, times of the day... which they get into in high fidelity, also with mixed success. Lists for songs by an artist, that might be a lot easier.

Well... Gute Nacht!