Friday, December 15, 2000

All I Want For Xmas Is Another Recount



I celebrated Thanksgiving with Jon and Ivana and several of their European friends, two Italians and two Brits. Considering the fact that Ivana is from Italy also and Jon was born in Marin County, that made me the only true American there. It was a fine traditional feast with all the trimmings, prepared specially for the occasion by an Armenian caterer from Santa Monica.

Afterwards we went to see the movie "Unbreakable," which many of us found disappointing. Maybe it was all the hype, but I was expecting something a lot more engaging than that. By comparison, a week later I saw "Best In Show" and was thoroughly delighted. I wonder what would happen if they gave Christopher Guest $10 million up front plus an unlimited budget and two box office heavies to star. Would he put out a dud like "Unbreakable"? Maybe "Best in Show II: Planet of the Shih-Tzus."

As for me, I continue to devote myself to my craft purely for the sake of artistic integrity, untainted by the trappings of wealth, success, fame, encouragement, attention, charity or even pity. Someday my monastic persistence will pay off and my earnest efforts will be recognized for what they truly are: a desperate attempt to gain wealth, success, fame, encouragement, attention, charity and/or pity.

Meanwhile, at work, the case I have been working on for the past two years has come to an end: in short, we won. One of our motions for Summary Judgment was granted, meaning the Judge was able to decide the issue as a matter of law rather than fact. So a lot of pressure has been taken off me and I can now look forward to possibly taking some extended time off in the near future. I may want to travel a little. I hear you can get some good deals on flights to Rome...

One final comment on the Presidential Litigation: I tuned in to see the sincere and heartfelt concession speech of Al "Call the Cops, 'Cause I Wuz Robbed" Gore and the homespun and unrehearsed acceptance speech of George W. "My Dad's Cronies and Powerbrokers Can Whup Your Dad's Cronies and Powerbrokers" Bush the other night and frankly it was quite a letdown. I was really enjoying the dramatic ups and downs of the "Battle for the White House." It was kind of exciting to log on to MSN each day to see the latest twists and turns and read the latest briefs, decisions, polls and analyses. It was also quite an education, I was getting to the point where I could actually name most of the members of the Supreme Court. (Sleepy, Dopey, Happy, Grumpy, Doc, Bashful, Sneezy, Prancer and Vixen)

Anyway, after the speeches were over, I watched a rerun of "West Wing" in which C.J. uttered the strikingly timely line: "In a democracy, sometimes the other guy wins..." It made me feel a little better to know that even though we have to suffer through four years of George W. "the Babbling Baptist" Bush, at least we can still take comfort in the fact that we still have a good man like President Martin Sheen to look up to.

When all is said and done, we all live in Hollywood.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

Love, HWD