Month: June 2003

Had a highly enjoyable weekend. On Saturday, went to see Capturing the Friedmans, which was every bit as great as the critics say. (As usual, don’t trust Kenneth Turan — the man is rarely right.)
Director Andrew Jarecki got the participation of most of the Friedman family for this documentary — but not the family’s middle son, Seth, who didn’t want to be interviewed. Trivia: Seth Friedman is better known to ’90s zine readers as the guy behind Factsheet 5, the epicenter of the zine world. (It was sort of the Blogdex of the pre-blog era.) He also edited a great book on zines, The Factsheet Five Zine Reader.
Seth’s taken down his web site, replacing it with just one sentence: “Due to concerns about my privacy this site has been removed.”
Those who’ve seen the film will find this piece by Debbie Nathan (the reporter in the movie) enlightening.
Last night, I trekked up to Denton to see the Pernice Brothers. Great show, if too sparsely attended. (Maybe 60-70 people.) Joe, the head Pernice, was in fine form, and guitarist Peyton Pinkerton dished out licks of such high quality that they matched the majesty of his name, one of the finest in rock history.
The one downside: Joe dedicated one of the songs (“Bum Leg” off the Big Tobacco album) to his brother, whose house he said burned down Saturday. I presume he meant Bob Pernice, who’s a guitarist in the band (but isn’t playing on this tour). Sad news.
A final piece of trivia: Joe revealed during the encore that “Grudge Fuck,” his classic song from his days in the Scud Mountain Boys, was written in response to the Gin Blossoms’ hit “Hey Jealousy.” His girlfriend at the time thought “Hey Jealousy” was a touching song about reclaiming a lost relationship. Joe: “I knew it was about getting laid.”

I just found out that my Pew Fellowship will also include a 2.5-day training course run by the Centurion Risk Assessment Group. It’s called “Hostile Environments and Emergency First Aid Training,” which is a shortened version of this five-day program.
Among the issues covered: ballistics awareness, how to react to a hostage taking, the pros and cons of wearing personal protective equipment, mines and booby traps, working with helicopters/light aircraft, and my personal favorite, “Controlling bleeds (gunshot/stab/mine blast injuries, etc.)”
Basically, British ex-Marines will yell at me for extended periods of time. Boot camp for budding foreign correspondents. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am.

Never mind all my Chanda optimism. She just lost in straight sets to 27th-seeded Silvia Farina Elia, 7-6 (6-8), 6-3. Frustrating.
She is still alive in doubles with Daniela Hantuchova, who’s gone into a slump after (for some ungodly reason) trying to lose weight.

Evidence No. 2,304 that crabwalk.com gets things done: Remember that post last month about monkeyphonecall.com and its Dallas connections?
Well, it just so happens that a crabwalk.com reader also works for D Magazine, our local city mag. Which is why in this month’s issue, you’ll find this crabwalk-inspired piece (second item).
Among the revelations: Mr. Monkeyphonecall has grossed around $10,000 with his e-biz. That’s more than amazon.com! And this great quote: “When I was a kid, my mom always used to tell me, ‘Lars, just do what you love, and one day you’ll figure out a way to make money doing it.’ I think she intended that I would love being a doctor or an attorney. But the truth is, I just love making monkey noises.”
Sadly, the article only uses Lars’ first name. I have no such restraints, Lars Hundley of 5200 Martel Avenue!
(Also, props to Adam for uncovering Lars’ connection to origamiboulder.com, which my research had not uncovered. Now complete with vaguely offensive Charlie Chan dialogue!)

I’ll be in Denver from July 11 to 16 for a conference and a little R&R. If there are any Coloradan crabwalk.com readers in the hizzouse, the first beer’s on me. And any advice on fun things to do in Denver would be appreciated. (Note: I don’t need any advice on things to do in Denver when you’re dead.) I’m thinking of climbing one of the easier fourteeners.

Now that ol’ Strom has finally kicked off, it’s a good time to mention the little-known fact that he has a black daughter. (Well, “fact” may be a bit strong, since there’s a nest of half-denials around it, but I sure as hell believe it.) More here, including all the pertinent evidence.
Not that I would wish harm on anyone, but I’m not in the habit of shedding tears for unreconstructed racists like Strom and Lester Maddox. Particularly those hypocritical enough to build a career attacking the “mongrelization of the nation” while spreading his bigot seed wherever he damn well pleases.
One last link disproving the oft-repeated myth that Strom suddenly became a racial moderate in his old age.

Now taking all applications for people who’d like to see the Pernice Brothers Sunday night at Rubber Gloves in Denton.

Chanda wins again, 6-4, 6-4 over a pained Amy Frazier. Next is, as predicted, Silvia Farina Elia. I’m just not seeing any difficulty for C.R. until the quarters.
Here’s a good Chanda story saying that “[n]ever in her 12-year pro career has Rubin been in a better position to reach the final of a Grand Slam.” It’s positive enough that I’ll forgive the writer’s silly Louisianaisms (“the whisper-quiet young woman from Carencro, La., a Lafayette suburb where there are more bayous than streets” — puh-leeze).
Did I not mention that Chanda won at Eastbourne last week, beating Capriati before finishing off Conchita Martinez? Or that it’s her second straight year winning Eastbourne?

I’m not sure I can read this guy’s web site ever again. Too scary.

I have to agree with Gene Weingarten: the third paragraph of this story is truly magnificent.