Reunion Time

My parents and I spent Christmas 1994 on the divided island of Cyprus. One day I should scan some pictures and perhaps post memories of the trip. But that will have to wait until Christina and I sort through the possessions that have been scattered, tornado-like, through our home while the basement renovations are under way.

Anyway, an article in today's Washington Post about the country caught my eye. Cyprus is due to be added to the European Union in a couple of weeks and the Turkish part had better join up soon or be left out of the process.

I hope it works out. I enjoyed our trip, but it is a small island, and we saw most of the Greek part. I figured I saw enough that there wouldn't be a need to go back until reunification opened up the Turkish parts. Also, somewhere in our house is a Coke can I have from Cyprus that I'm saving to drink when the two sides are made whole again. I suspect it will taste fairly awful by now, but I'm looking forward to drinking it. Unfortunately, the history of things makes me suspect the drink will stay on the shelf (or wherever it is) for a while.

Where were you?

Today is the anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I learned (or was reminded of) this while listening to the Tony Kornheiser radio show while running errands and lunch.

Tony said that the Kennedy assassination was the single most memorable news event for people of his generation, surpassing man walking on the moon or September 11.

I remember a conversation I had with people during the '80s about the fact that our generation didn't have any news event we all remembered where we were when we heard about. (Looking back on how young we were then, it seems a tad silly.) I think the best we could come up was where we were when we heard Reagan had been shot. (I remember coming home from school and my grandmother telling me that.) One guy said, "Of course, we all remember where when the Pope was shot." The rest of us looked at each other uncomfortably.

A year or so afterwards, Challenger exploded after liftoff, and I think that held the most distinct place in my memory until September 11.

What about you? What holds that place in your memory? If September 11, what was it before then? E-mail me. I asked Christina, and she mentioned (besides September 11), the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, in part because it happened on her birthday. I hadn't thought of that, but I have distinct memories of my mother waking me up to tell me about that. (I had a weird sleep schedule back then, and she had a weird work schedule.) My parents' anniversary January 28, so they get to see news clips of the space shuttle blowing up every year on that date. I know somebody who has a September 11 birthday. The Onion did a funny piece about this ("Second Birthday in a Row Ruined by Terrorism"), but it appears to be on-line no longer...

Least Exciting Inventions

I just went down to the supply room to pick up a box of Kleenex. Walking back to my office, I read on the bottom of the box that "Our SIGNAL feature lets you know when you need a box." Silly me, I always based it on whether or not there were tissues left in the old box.

Mysteriously, the feature is not described further. I was left to wonder whether a recording was activated that said, "New box needed," repeatedly until the box was replaced. Thankfully, a quick web search cleared up the problem. In fact, "different colored sheets indicate when a new box is needed." Well, that's a relief.

Of course, now I'll be over-using the tissues, just so I can find out what color they are.

Other links

• This guy is more easily impressed.
  
  
• The Kimberly-Clark Professional (makers of Kleenex) web page features a pointless use of Shockwave, so I can't access any information about it.
  
  
• Ah, Amazon reveals it's "peach". Think I'll add a few of these to my wish list.
  
  
• Hmm, in New Zealand, it's blue.
  
  

Frida

Christina and I went to see the movie Frida last night. I expected to hear more about her naturally curly hair. What? Oh, wait, that's Frieda, from peanuts...sorry for the confusion.



Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist, and the movie chronicles her tumultuous life, including her marriage to Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean. Wait, no, Diego Rivera, the muralist.

Anyway...it was an enjoyable movie; it painted (no pun intended) an interesting picture of her life, and made me want to find out more. Christina found an interesting article in the Washington Monthly that explores Kahlo's life in depth. I think it's good that the article was written by someone who hadn't seen the movie (last year), but it helps sort out differences between the movie and reality, for one thing.

It's a very rich movie that raises in my mind questions about the personal versus the universal in art. Christina and I had an interesting conversation about that on the way home last night. But, hey, this format doesn't lend itself too well to pensiveness, so here are some random thoughts.

I was totally unconvinced by Geoffrey Rush as Trotsky. I didn't believe the accent, I didn't believe the age (apparently only 10 years too young), and I didn't believe the beard. In general, I thought the acting was top-notch.

The Landmark Bethesda Row is a really cool theater. In general, when you want to see an "independent" film, you have to go to some cramped and dingy theater, unless you're lucky enough to catch one in an old-style movie house. But this place is a multi-screen stadium seating modern theater that specializes in independent movies. And it's only half an hour or so from home, so I hope to see a lot more movies there.

Not Me

If you do a Google search for "Jon Grantham", most of the hits have to do with me. A few have to do with this guy in Indianapolis who plays Squad Leader. I exchanged e-mail with him around 1995; he seemed cool. Once in a blue moon, you find something about my father. But now there's an art teacher out there with my name. Weird.

Hmm, there's also a British Land Use Consultant.

Haircut One Hundred

Somehow this web site made it onto a cool hair cut web page on CacheBeauty.com. Weird.