This could be the last blog post of the year, depending on if my annual leave request is granted for Monday....

For those of you wondering what I decided to do on Christmas, the answer was "Charlie Wilson's War". I've been looking forward to seeing this movie for a while...basically because Kenneth Turan declared it was more appropriate for 1998 than 2007. That warmed my heart given that the past decade has seen a precipitous decline in the quality of movies overall. Now I realize some are going to say this has been going on since the 70s...but really...anyway.

I decided to drive into North Cougar County to see it, as a little diversion from my normal routine. Although I left with plenty of time, I got turned around and didn't get to the theatre until about ten minutes before the start of the movie. The problem wasn't that they were sold out. No, it was that as I entered the cineplex, I saw this horrific line for refreshments. Normally I don't eat at the movies, but um, nothing else was open for lunch so I had to pony up more than my ticket for two greasy hot dogs and a huge, cup-of-diabetes. The poor, seemingly naive workers there who mostly appeared to be high school kids labored under the intense pressure of the mob scene. It was kind of like trying to get food from UN relief workers in some Third World hell-hole. (Either that or the stands at the LA Coliseum.) The ensuing calamity meant that I missed the previews, the Army National Guard ad...and whatever cheesy intro there was. But I appear to have entered the film just as the first scene began, and a nice couple allowed me to quickly take the seat next to them, so Bob was my uncle.

Realize, although I've seen a few movies lately, this one might be one I recommend least to others and not because I didn't like it. No, it's because this movie is a policy wonk's dream. The reason is because its treatment of government is absolutely hysterical, and true. It's an adaptation of an eponymous book by George Crile published in 2003 which is considered non-fiction. But the script was writing by Aaron Sorkin, leading some to proclaim the movie feels like a big episode of "The West Wing". Unh, uh. President Bartlett and his staff were never so profane, so hedonistic, or so irreverent as Charles Wilson and company. And that's why I loved it.

The film struggles in part because of its length, however. It felt as if despite its zing that too much had been edited out to keep the focus on the laughs...which is not quite necessary in my opinion. No sooner did the opening credits finish than the Texas Congressman already has learned of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and popular resistance there courtesy of Dan Rather. Yet Wilson was not a policy heavyweight, and as such had to use creative means to fund the cause...including help from a wealthy socialite Joanne Herring and a rough-and-tumble CIA agent, Gus Avratokos. Herring is played by Julia Roberts and surprisingly flat. The latter meanwhile is a superb, potentially Oscar-winning turn by Phillip Seymour Hoffman who will make you forget all about that Capote guy. Hanks is decent as Wilson, but unspectacular.

Yet because of the plot's design, character development ends up mashed into an almost vignette like design. This is too bad...because some of the best scenes are the least dispositive ones. This includes Hoffman's unbelievable tirade at his superior, Wilson's debauched romp at a suite in Caesar's palace, and a constituent meeting over the First Amendment in Wilson's office. But all are drowned out by CNN clips that help distill for the viewer what exactly happened. Sitting on a defense subcommittee, Wilson was able to support the Mujahedin by virtue of the fact that Congress had to vote on the subcommittee's recommendation blind. And so the movie's compactness makes it appear that it happened all overnight. But in all actuality, story begins in 1980 and ends almost a decade later. More conspicuously, you will find absolutely no mention of one Ronald Reagan...which seems a little incredulous. Flawed though it was, I'd rather see another ten movies like it than "I am Legend".

Speaking of politics, my team leader, Marcel, asked me who I think the frontrunner is for the Republican nomination. I'm honestly in the dark about this for a couple reasons. Most notably, aw-shucks darling Mike Huckabee has recently began to talk about his support for the national sales tax. You know, we abolish the income tax but you pay 30% consumption tax on everything, payable to Uncle Sam. Given how reliant states are on sales tax revenue, this is per se a bad idea. But the former Arkansas Governor had the right idea...talking about now, during the holidays likely is the right strategy. Only the true winguts are paying attention, they will eat up, and meanwhile you can walk into the Iowa Caucus next week as if nothing ever happened. Yeah, how about that...did you forget that voting for our next President begins before the end of the college football season these days?

Looking at the polls, (and realising most of my readership votes for the other party) my hunch is that Rudy Giuliani has an infinitesimally small edge. Reason being, Giuliani is a good candidate if the electorate (specifically the Republican primary vote) feels positive about Iraq and interventionist foreign policy but pensive about economic issues. While you may feel that our Mesopotamian Adventure is still going poorly, among conservatives there is growing consensus that in fact "the surge is working". But it's true that Giuliani no longer has much to point at among polls in the early states.

When I left work early on Friday, I didn't have to come back for several days. But alas, I ended up deciding that if all annual leave days are the same, I might as well show up to work when I knew everyone would be leaving early. But even so, the pace this weekend was slow finally for the first time in a while. It would be all downhill from here, except next month there are likely to be vigorous negotiations over the budget in Alta Sonora. But even that may not last much beyond January. And even if it does, the truth is that once the budget is published and becomes public information I won't  have to be as guarded as I am now.

And so there was something, almost palpable, that changed in me a couple days ago. I don't know really what triggered it, but I began to feel a greater sense of peace and confidence. But no, I didn't try to commit suicide only to be saved by an angel eager to get his pair of wings. Although, as you will see, I did spend some time down at the river recently.

So where was I? Saturday Duane and I met up to watch the first half of the BYU UCLA bowl game...one Pioneer Purevision Las Vegas Bowl to be exact. And as you can imagine with Nevada's sizeable LDS population the crowd was overwhelming pro Cougar and a few Bruin Backers shivered in the near freezing air. Before he left to be with his family, Duane asked me what he thought the final score would be. (At this point it was 17-13.) He predicted BYU 49, UCLA 20 and I told him, "Nah it will be closer." (In case you missed it, BYU prevailed because UCLA managed to have their last second field goal attempt blocked.)

But let me tell you, I was so pissed after this game. See the story goes like this...UCLA as many of you know fired its coach earlier in the month ostensibly figuring it could do better. And court other candidates UCLA has only to be told that it's not for them. This is not unlike what happened to Notre Dame in 2004. But even after giving you this perfect metaphor for my dating experience, I'd be remiss if not mentioning that for UCLA the game created more problems than it solved. While the squad played its heart out and looked hungry, it still managed to give the win away...all while commanded by an interim coach who is also a candidate for the job permanently. So do you give DeWayne Walker credit for steering them to an unexpectedly strong showing or downgrade him based on his seeming willingness to settle for a field goal to win it...despite how close they were to the end zone at game's end?

Personally I do not see Walker sticking around if he's not made head coach. The Athletic Director in my opinion, overreached by firing Dorrell and not dealing with the personnel problems at offensive coordinator and potentially strength and conditioning. It also doesn't help that both Dorrell and Walker are black and very good at elevating blacks in their coaching tenures. AD Dan Guerrero doesn't care: he found Ben Howland to replace Steve Lavin and thinks he can find that type of person for football. I've already warned some friends this was UCLA's last bowl game of the decade...yet no one believes me. [Sigh]

Sunday, as my laundry swirled around at the apartment I made trails for The Real Pueblo Grande. It's a giant mound built by the Hokoham tribes around 1500 years ago. The Real Pueblo Grande is thought to be a control center for one the canals the Hokoham dug flooding from the Salt River. However as you might have heard...today the Salt River is always dry and creates a pretty barren landscape for Alta Sonora. The reason for the change was not natural, however, it was because the Federal Government began the eponymous Salt River Project, a huge dam further upstream for flood control purposes. Yet the canals still exist, buried underground. Naturally I'm totally bummed out because had this system of waterways survived I would have endless opportunities for kayaking. But even though there's a revival movement afoot, I'm stuck going to a bunch of artificial lakes where the only wildlife I see is going to be trout and cougars. But I digress.

Duane invited me to his place for Christmas Eve dinner...causing me to decide to go into work for a least a little while. But what do you know, we had a "brushfire" of sorts and I ended up leaving the office around 4pm. (Realize everyone but my team leader and I were long gone by then.) Perhaps not the most satisfying weekend all in all..but it will do.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest, and therefore darkest day of the year is December 21st. This is also true at my job. It was the craziest and most stressful so far. But the best metaphor came from the monthly appearance the Governor herself made on National Public Radio [link].

At just after 30 minutes in, host Steve Goldstein asks her the question you have been waiting for: won't the employer sanctions law affect the economy? Yes, that's right someone finally asked. And in the same way, this week was one in which I finally asked. About the big picture, about what's going on with my colleagues, about all the nagging things that had been building up. And my sisters asked, "are you coming home for Christmas or not?"

The net impact is that I have another very demanding month at work probably. But after that things should settle down...although I decided against going home for Christmas because I wanted to save my energy. I'm also building more camaraderie at the Factory and learning more about more fun things to do in the months ahead.

For now are the darkest and coldest days in Alta Sonora...ahead it only gets sunnier and brighter...and really, really, really hot.

At long last, I finally had some visitors to my apartment. But they didn't stay long. No it was all business...and as you can imagine, they weren't exactly happy to be there. The mattress store deliveryman didn't call as he should have...but he and his son did drag my new bed into my place as promised Saturday morning. After struggling to sleep well all week...I finally was ecstatic to get a more permanent arrangement.

Socially I wanted to think of something to do...but with the weather being pretty cold out here lately, I decided to see the movie "Juno". Now, don't get me wrong...what I'm about to tell you in no way diminishes that this film is very good and I would recommend it to pretty much anyone. Keep in mind I went to the 8pm showing, figuring I would eat dinner afterwards. (This seems like a good tradeoff given that I haven't hit the bars in almost a month now.)

So anyway, I find that even by 7:30pm the theatre is full of people already sitting down, waiting for the movie to begin. And then "Screenvision" begins. Now, this is not to be mistaken for ads or trailers..."Screenvision" is literally a privately produced infomercial that has several different sponsors. I thought to myself how much it's changed since the 1980s when the only company that advertised before coming attractions was the LA Times. Given that the Times is doing so well these days, I am not sure what great sales pitch was made to Verizon Wireless, Volkswagen, JCPenney, and the National Guard. Each had almost cinematic quality ads...and I'm sorry guys but it doesn't work.

Really mindblowing was that the National Guard ad was actually a music video by Three Doors Down on their new album (apparently paid by US taxpayers). If you want to view the add...go here...[link]. Still, you have to wonder how desperate our nation is that it has to use such tools to market itself to the audience of a PG-13 film. Yeah you heard that right...that obviously means the ad is targeted at people much younger than high school seniors. For those of you who somehow think we are leaving Iraq during my life-time...yeah this commercial suggests otherwise, in my humble opinion.

But just as incredulous as you are to find out after all this I'm still going to talk about the movie itself, so was I to finally see the opening reels of "Juno". The eponymous heroine is a resident of the great state of Minnesota. She has an acerbic, yet intelligent quality that helps her glide through her junior year of high school...that is...until she gets pregnant. The story develops just like her progeny, beginning at the night of conception and ending soon after the child's birth. Juno, however, chooses to eschew abortion and put the kid up for a adoption. It's a plot  that you figure would make the Conservative Coalition ooze with excitement. Except that's not possible since she doesn't marry the father, leave school, and spend the rest of her life in the kitchen barefoot and bearing more spawn. No, she decides to find a perfect couple to give her baby the best life possible. And as you can imagine, the rest of the movie is about the consequences of her plan.

Ever since I saw "Election" in 1999, I've waited for a film like "Juno". It treats adults and teens both as equally savvy and intelligent. It's a rare piece these days that doesn't make all adults look stupid for teens, and there's rarely a movie for us grown-ups that deals with teens at all. But even if you disagree with me on that point, recognize there are cracks in the plaster. First, the writer Diablo Cody (Brooke Busey-Hunt) is undeniably talented and has gained popularity for her unusual road to fame...including the time she spent as a stripper in Minneapolis. But at some points the writer has taken too much liberty to use teen-speak that makes you wonder if you are watching "A Clockwork Orange." This over-production reminded me of "American Beauty". Meanwhile, unlike UCLA film grad Alexander Payne's insistence to film "Election" is hometown of Omaha, Nebraska...Director Jason Reitman instead filmed much of the work in Vancouver, Canada. This wouldn't be a significant issue except that the picture is organized by four separate vignettes tied to the seasons: "Fall", "Winter", "Spring", and "Summer". As someone who has been to both Seattle and Minneapolis more than once, I can tell you that as the movie progresses, Vancouver does a less and less believable job of filling in for the Twin Cities and it actually affects in my opinion, the quality of the movie overall.

I ended up going to bed very late and sleeping all morning on Sunday. Then I made an unsuccessful sojourn to two separate Wal-Mart to exchange my air mattress for one that wasn't defective. But alas, within the time I bought the item...the Corporate Office decided to stop accepting those items having been removed from the box. So I now I am not sure what to do, trash the broken mattress or try to get it fixed via the warranty. In any case, I knew there could be one more tough week ahead at work...so I took it easy at night. At least the holidays are just around the corner.

Morgan Stanley has issued a full recession alert for the US economy, warning of a sharp slowdown in business investment and a "perfect storm" for consumers as the housing slump spreads. [link]

It finally happened. This week was cold enough that I wore my suit jacket to keep warm...not to appear formal. Other developments at work have been equally banal. First, I figured out the mystery of the cups at the Watering Hole. It turns out that the contractor didn't want people to realize costs were going up. So instead of charging more money for a 20oz fountain beverage, they kept the price the same and start to stock 16oz cups instead. In a way I'm happy for the change...less sugar in my diet.

Meanwhile at the office there's a new face: the technical writer which helps to edit our submissions for the budget book. But otherwise, busy though we might be, the real action is happening outside. And I'm not talking about the weather.

"Arizona's economy is currently in a recession," said [Marshall] Vest, director of the Economic and Business Research Center for the University of Arizona. "I think we may as well accept that fact that this feels like a recession.
"We should start focusing on how long and how bad things are going to be." [link]

No, this isn't a soundbite from CNBC... it's testimony to the Legislature's Finance Advisory Committee. But it's hardly the talk of the town this week. As much as a showdown on the budget looms, lawmakers were upstaged by some other, more salacious news. And in Cougar County and the rest of Alta Sonora nothing stirs interest more than taxes EXCEPT immigration.

A federal judge late Friday tossed out the lawsuit challenging Arizona's employer-sanctions law, setting the stage for a quick second round of legal action before Jan. 1, when the law is set to take effect.
U.S. District Judge Neil Wake ruled that the business and Latino groups aimed their legal fire at the wrong targets in suing the governor and the state attorney general. Instead, they should have brought their complaint against the 15 county attorneys charged with enforcing the law. [link]

Rest assured, the parties to the suit have already refiled the lawsuit and will visit the judge next Tuesday to hear if he will issue a temporary restraining order against the January 1 deadline. Sponsors of the law are some of the state's most powerful legislators...and already they have voiced their displeasure with those claiming it's unconstitutional. No article mentions any sort of relationship between the law and an impact on state tax revenue, though there was this report from the Silicon Desert on Monday:

Some Chandler businesses are taking a hit this holiday season as their main clientele - undocumented immigrants - leaves the city before the state's new hiring law goes into effect on Jan. 1.
Shops, such as Quintero Jewelry & More, are struggling to stay afloat as customers either pack up and move or save money while they see how the new law will affect them... other things are adding to business owners' stress: An overall economic downturn, especially in the housing and construction markets, also is causing job losses for many undocumented immigrants, making them more likely to rein in their spending, economists say.
As a result, some businesses in Chandler that are usually bustling with customers this time of year seem like ghost towns.
"We have many illegal (customers) around this area, and all of them have left for Mexico, Guatemala, New Mexico," said Teresa Quintero, who owns Quintero Jewelry & More, inside Plaza del Sol shopping center near Arizona Avenue and Galveston Street.
"Now, we can't even pay half our (store's) rent." [link]

I think the glass may be half-full in this case. After all, in this state ghost towns are pretty good tourist draws. I'm not sure if it will make up for lost revenue (certainly not for the state budget) but you never know....

Another weekend, another dose of rain in the forecast. So much for lamenting boring and gorgeous weather, we appear to be headed for a real winter.

I hit my head on the fridge at work (don't ask) because I had to put something in there for our staff Christmas Party Friday night. However, it was hardly licentious...most of the former and current employees of the Office have children. But it was an engaging excuse to go to explore the areas west of Pueblo Grande. With no drainage on the roads and plenty of trucks around, it was an exciting time let me tell you. The party was only slightly less rewarding, but I rarely had conversations that could escape work.

The Director made it a point on Friday to ask me if I was okay (about my head) so I went to the urgent care center near me the next day. As it turned out, they found no cause for alarm but as the day wore on I thought I might be having more complications. In any case, that has yet to prove true. Afterwards I went to pay for my bed. But as luck would have it, they were booked solid for deliveries that day (it wasn't raining at this point) and they offered to bring it by on Tuesday. Well obviously that wasn't going to work so I have it scheduled to arrive this Saturday when (so far) there's no precipitation in the forecast.

By this time I began to run errands...to the hardware store...to the optometrist (who was already closed) and the like. It wasn't long before I found myself walking around Macy's, in utter shock at just how deep a sale they were having. Eventually I had dinner nearby and went home...slightly exhausted and ready for a quiet Sunday.

I have Sunday brunch at this place which is walking distance from my residence. It's a family run operation and the food is amazingly good. All of Cougar County is known to come there. Anyway, the manager told me that he had tried to wave at me in the parking lot outside the hardware store the day before. But to no avail, because as you can imagine I've been consumed by various unfinished business. With the skies menacing again, I decided against kayaking and headed to the bookstores in Pointy Rock. Most unexpectedly, one of the servers at the place I go to for Monday Night Football noticed me but didn't tell me about it until the next day. It was very shocking, since I never feel that I run into anyone I know.

But there's a simple reason for that...no coworkers live within miles of me. But it's also that in my singleminded pursuit to make friends, I have failed to let things grow organically. Some things just have to wait.

It's been one of those weeks at the Crunk Factory: one that started out as unremarkable and quickly becoming utterly demanding.

For example, I've recently caught onto a burgeoning conspiracy at The Watering Hole. Recently, the place started to stock a new brand of cup for beverages. (Going from sytrofoam to paper.) But instead of stocking a 16 oz size cup, it instead put an 8 oz one in its place. Prices still only list 44 oz, 32oz and 16...but yet...somehow....no 16 oz cups are found anywhere. Naturally I'm convinced this is a ploy to get us thirsty creatures to buy a bigger size of drink. But The Watering Hole is popular because it's seen as a good value and such behavior is inconsistent compared to what its clientele expects.

In other news, I'm still in disbelief that UCLA fired Karl Dorrell. This is seriously the end of our competitiveness for the rest of the decade. DeWayne Walker, defensive impresario and recrutiing mastermind...probably won't want to stay with just any new head coach. And what skipper doesn't want to pick his own staff? This is probably the worst decision of the Dan Guerrero era. Candidates already are turning the job down. And we only had a guy who wanted to stay.

That's it for now.

Cougar Country has proven one of science's great hypothesis true: global warming is real! After all, how else does a huge storm of subtropical moisture find its way here...in December? But that's exactly what happened on Friday, the day I had already scheduled for my eye exam. So I was already thinking my weekend would get started a little early. And then the fire alarm started. Oh yes.

It's one thing to see the State Capitol evacuated. It's another thing to do it in a soaking downpour, with metropolitan law enforcement swarming on the complex. However, none of us really wanted to get wet...so we hung out just outside the doors underneath the cornice formed by the building. But as Duane pointed out, if there really had been a fire would we really wanted to stand where the structure could have fallen on us?

Luckily for the taxpayer, it turned out to be a false alarm triggered by some construction upstairs. But by the time the building filled back up, I had an appointment to catch. And so I hit the road.

Driving in the rain isn't what you aspire to in this town. Poor drainage means streets can and do flood. And this was the first real rain I have experienced since moving here. Fortune smiled though, and I made it to the optometrist with no problems. After extensive consultation a couple things were revealed: my problem a couple years ago was not isolated. Apparently more than a few people have struggled with the old brand I had. But I have no signs of damage, so the doctor prescribed a new set of lenses and a cutting edge cleaning solution.

And with that I was off to Macy's. Something isn't quite right you see, when a department store has sales every weekend. But that's precisely what Goldman Sachs has done. And for that I've benefited quite handsomely buying new outfits for work. As luck would have it, I ran into a sales associate there who was very helpful and so I had been back several times to talk to him. I didn't expect to find him there on Friday but he was. The cold weather had forced me to buy another pair of jeans and before long he and I were chatting up a storm. He mentioned a friend's birthday at Pussycat later that night, so I took down his number. His pal flaked, but it didn't matter because I was feeling tired.

The weather started to break on Saturday and so I made trails for J.D's Lounge at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort. It's here that the USC Alumni Club of Phoenix meets to watch football on Saturdays. Now the interesting twist was that this was the week of UCLA playing USC. But it's happened to me before that in order to ensure that I go somewhere the game is...I end up in a hostile venue. Meanwhile, I ran into a guy who had just moved her because of his internship in medicine. He's an Trojan for life...going to both the undergrad and medical schools before heading off to residency here. But as luck would have it, his planned internship in New York City fell through when the hospital closed, and he made trails to the Sonoran Desert. Realizing he didn't know anyone, I gave him my number. For the time being he still gets his weekends off so you would think it would be easy to suggest something. But guess what's in the forecast again: yes you guessed it...more rain!

Apparently though my air mattress is quite jealous. During the weekend it decided to stop staying inflated fully. Earlier I had only added air after a couple of days and found it quite comfortable to sleep on. Coleman pledges that it will not leak, so I'm left to wonder what caused the mechanical failure. In any case, the bed has become very uncomfortable as my abdomen ends up in sinking almost a foot below my head. Talk about waking up with a stiff neck. Or perhaps the mattress just knew that I was about to have the real bed delivered this week? Nah no way...that's almost as unbelievable as global warming....