Vitamin C

Went to see Douglas Coupland speak over the weekend. A fellow Canuck (is that how you spell it?), Coupland is the dude who coined the term "Generation X" back in the early 90s. He's written roughly 10 books - Eleanor Rigby is the one he's currently pitching - and is a frequent columnist in many a highbrow magazine. He ambled up to the mic a little late (and in what appeared to be a coke/codeine-assisted haze) carrying a bag of twinkies, ho-ho's, etc. which he used as prizes in a warm-the-audience-up Simpson's trivia contest. The highlight of the evening was his reading of 6 love letters to Ronald McDonald. Can't say that I was totally compelled to go out and buy one of his books, but his random segue-filled style (and the female Coupland groupies) made for great entertainment.

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By the by, is there a doctor in the house? This new pain I've recently begun to experience is excruciating. 3 appointments so far and still no remedy. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Per our old friend Roddy Piper, just when you think you know all the answers, somebody changes the questions (yes, the last line was lifted from today's SG column, but I couldn't resist).

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Finally saw Hotel Rwanda. A career performance out of Don Cheadle (a far cry from Boogie Night's Buck Swope) that should finally - and deservedly - get him over the leading-man hump. Very heavy movie that attempts to show the world what happened to 1 million Rwandans ten years ago as it stood by watching. The film is rated PG-13. It is about genocide. You know, people, umm, dying and what not. So you can see what my complaint is going to be. How can you make a movie about genocide that's PG-13?!? That was the major disconnect in the movie. I walked out of the theater never feeling or more importantly seeing the full-brunt of what happened. Somebody told me it was the producers' intention to focus the film on Cheadle's character/story and not on the bloodshed. If you're going to make a movie like this (essentially one shot at telling the world the story), I'd think you wouldn't pull any punches. I guess that's why I wasn't in Utah collecting my indie lifetime achievement award last week.