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This week, I read Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate–The Essential Guide for Progressives by George Lakoff. It was written a few years ago (pre-’04 election), so it has that kind of “frame” around it. :) As a voter, I’m neither a democrat or republican, (although I lean a little left) so this book was very interesting. I had never thought about politics in the sense of voting your identity versus your self-interest. It’s a great explanation for those that vote Republican over and over again, even though they’re not getting anything out of the deal. It’s like when you want to say to people, “But you don’t make enough to be a Republican!” :)

As far as the nurturing parent / strict father example… I agree, but I guess that’s also what puts me in the middle of the road in politics too. Although I had more of a strict father upbringing, my views are closer to the nurturing parent world view. However, I also have the conservative view of “why should I have to subsidize the laziness of others?”. I really think America needs a 3rd party (not the libertarians, they’re not ambitious enough), that is for helping/nurturing our “family” of a country, but with an end in sight. I don’t like the Republican view of just cutting off funding or the progressive view of “maintenance” funding – stringing along people with a little help instead of helping them with their root issues (job placement, substance abuse etc). It’s the Republican in me… I do have a problem with people being dependent, there should be time lines to get those that are dependent out on their own.

Enough politics for today…

The List: 52 Book | 52 Weeks

Was it really as good as it seemed? Yes, Ebert, it was. I watched The Manchurian Candidate (Special Edition) last night. Excellent! This movie is completely timeless.

And doesn’t Jude Law look like Laurence Harvey?

This film definitely deserves to be on a “greatest films” list. When you think about the plot, it seems fairly simple and boring, but it’s so real. You can feel their pain of living in poverty and needing the bicycle to have a better future. And the cycle continues. Great movie, and the ending was very appropriate.

The Bicycle Thief

75 to go!

Huh? What a weird movie about nothing… I guess that was the point.

The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie – Criterion Collection

76 to go.

This week I reread Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss (notice the proper usage of italics for the book title). I read it several years ago, and thought it was hilarious. Last month I found it on a sale table at Borders for a couple of dollars. Anyway, I decided to read it again. This copy even included a Punctuation Repair Kit, (to fix punctuation errors that you happen upon). If you ever want to know the proper usage for apostrophes, commas, colons, semicolons, or any other punctuation mark, you should definitely read this book.

The List: 52 Book | 52 Weeks