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So far 4 different people have said something along the lines of Can anyone tell me what's wrong with assasination?

The answer being that outside of fictional ninjas and The Bourne Identity, assassination's not as easy as you might think. Especially of paranoid stateleaders with their own army and esecurity personnell, when the local language isn't English and they don't look anything like you. It's a lovely idea (if you want to start a bad precedent), but it's just not something that's terribly feasible.

Today, the CIA thought they had a good idea where Saddam was for short while. So they hit it with eight Cruise missiles. They still probably didn't get him. Because real life isn't like the movies.

Keeping up to date

If you want to know what's going on, here's two useful sources:

The Command Post is a bunch of warbloggers banding together to report news as they hear it.

BBC Reporters is bunch of BBC reporters giving frequent updates on the news as they experience it.

Dumb and Dumber

Business 2.0 lists the 100 dumbest moments moments of the last year here.

Very, very funny.

Magnolia Review

Albert Einstein once said that "not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think."

Small World theory says that every person on the planet is linked to every other one by six people or less (the famed "Six degrees of seperation")

Narrator: There are stories of coincidence and chance, of intersections and strange things told, and which is which and nobody knows; and we generally say, "Well, if that was in a movie, I wouldn't believe it."

Waterspouts can suck stuff out of a body of water and carry it for miles. There have been dozens of reports of falling fish, usually small ones, although a few years back some startled folks in India beheld a rain of eight-pounders. There are also reports of raining frogs, birds, grasshoppers, hay, grain, and so on.

A brief synopsis: Earl Patridge created a Quiz show in the 1960s. He left his wife and married Linda. Now he is dying of cancer and wants to see his estranged son one last time, but his wife is against it. Phil Parma is his nurse, torn between their needs. Jimmy Gator used to be the host of the tv show and is now estranged from his daughter. His daughter is a complete mess and a drug addict. Jim Kurring is the police officer called to her home when she turns the music up loud enough to annoy her neighbours. Frank T.J. Mackey runs seminars explaining how to get women to sleep with you. He is estranged from his father. Stanley Spector is a child contestant on the tv show, Rick Spector is Stanley's father, pushing him so hard to win that he runs the risk of estranging him forever. Donnie Smith was a child genius on the quiz show and has spent his life trying to regain the moments of glory he had then. Later he and Officer Kurring will face each other in the strangest rain.

Exodus 8:2 "And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs."

Narrator: These strange things happen all the time.

Aimee Mann performs nearly all the music. Sometimes they sing along to her achingly beautiful songs. It's one of those albums you have to own.

"The book says, we might be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us."

Live criss-cross, the past returns to haunt everyone and it's patently obvious that sometimes you hold on too long and sometimes you need someone to hold onto.

"Now that I've met you, would you object to never seeing me again?"

For some events in the film there are explanations and for others there are no explanations at all. In that way, it's a lot like life.

Score: 10/10

The obligatory quotes are sprinkled throughout the review.

Thoughts on today

I'm very happy that despite the fact that the majority of my friends list disagree with me on the Iraqi War of Glorious Liberation (2003 remix version) nobody has unfriended me. It means that at least I'm not being horrifically offensive in explaining my views. Or possibly y'all are too lazy to get around to it.

the Magnolia review happened because someone at work posted a negative review that pissed me off. It went along the lines of "This film was odd and too long and confusing. I wish I'd gone out to the quiz night instead." I felt compelled to write a rebuttal and ended up with something I'm very proud of. I realised this evening that a large chunk of the reason I have my journal is my need for affirmation. I found myself wishing that more people would tell me they liked it. Fortunately another large chunk of the reason is because I just plain like writing, so that's ok.

I came home, finished off the bookshelf, went shopping at Safeway for the housewarming tomorrow, did some tidying up around the flat and am now going to bed.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of you tomorrow.