I'm watching a show on CBS with Jean Triplehorn about folks out on La. on the bayou. Pretty good so far. Great costumes and scenery.

At this very moment we are watching "Rich In Love" with Albert Finney on Lifetime. He has an American Southern "drowl" with an undertone of his great Eng/Irish accent.I am not sure if he is English or Irish,but it is great. I have never seen this before.

I'm flipping between Letterman and Leno and Politically Incorrect.

just new to this web site

Welcome Aurelia, tell us about yourself!

not watching again.

We watched the "Big Comfy Couch" earlier (I wasn't alone!), but tonight at 11:00 I'll be riveted to "Homicide" on Lifetime. The episodes are from last season, but hey, I don't mind watching two seasons simultaneously.

I'm watching the video I took at the Whole Life Expo last weekend and snapping some stills. Is on the front page at http://www.spring.com. Has anyone seen it?

FOX NFL pregame with Terry, James Brown, Howie Long and Ronnie Lott. Talking about the Packers stock sale and today's games. No Packers game on tv!

Did you choose not to watch the Packers game or was it just not televised in your area? I actually was near a tv yesterday and watched game four of the indians/orioles playoff series. Ooooh... from the hottub! Obviously it was NOT my house.

The Indians won but the Braves lost, it's still possible to have a totally politically incorrect World Series if the Braves make a comeback and the Indians win another.

politically incorrect is all in perspective. You simply can't not offend some of the people some of the time. I hope it's Indians v. Marlins

Siskel and Ebert reviewing the Devil's Advocate (up/down) and the new David Dukovny movie.

Isn't that the guy from x-file?? He's not in Devil's Advocate. BTW
a FANTASTIC movie as I elaborated (but only briefly) on in the movies conference.

It is the guy from the Xfiles.

I've never watched that show, but I saw an interview with him yesterday on (I'm embarrassed to say it) Howard Stearn's "E!" show. Hey, what can I say? There's not much on at 11 p.m.

Is anyone else holding their breath in anticipation of tonight's "Homicide meets Law & Order II"? These are my 2 favorite shows.

No, but thanks for the alert!

You didn't need to bother with the "alert"--what a disappointment! I have lost all respect for both shows. I've never seen such a poorly contrived, ill-written episode. Oh well, it's sweeps month. Guess they knew they'd have a captive audience by combining the 2.

C'est la vie I guess. I'm watching the video I took today of the Brewfast in Austin, now playing at http://www.spring.com Check it out!

Terry, that is so cool how the pictures are in a loop. It still looked pretty chilly to be standing around drinking beer, though.

Everyone had so much beer they seemed oblivious to the cold. Actually, I barely noticed it. I got drunk on images.

*chuckle* you are too much!

The Giants game. Just got home from Armageddon. I took Shey, who's visiting from California.

who won?!?!

Shey probably!!!! . . . .

The Flintstones

Oh! I loved the one with John Goodman - he can be surprisingly handsome at times when he's less fat. He's very masculine.

The Banana Splits

figures!

Now, the Hair Bear Bunch is on...

and being watched by the king of hair in all kinds of places . . .

Cow and Chicken

I have really got to check this show out that's getting rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic!!

YOU MUST!!! Wer, last night I saw the one where Chicken joined the plastic surgery team of his school, and where they had to make the photo realistic beaver at the end - I was a'crawling! Did you see that one?? Lord, that's one funny cartoon!!

nope, I've missed that one... currently watching the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show...

Don't know that one. Rocky and the Bullwanker, you say? Interesting.

Autumn: Homicide and L&O are my two favorites also. Homicide isn't as good as it used to be, unfortunately. The network wants them to be more traditional in their filming and storytelling to attract more viewers. But let's face it, that show is never going to be warmly embraced by the average TV-watching American. I think Andre Braugher is the best actor on TV, it's too bad he left the show. NYPD Blue is a joke next to these shows.

currently watching Dexter's Laboratory (the episode where Dexter meets Mandark)

Mandark? How does that one go?

George, I really miss Crosetti, Beau and Kay Howard and feel they "made the show" for the first few seasons. But with the loss of Braugher, nothing will be able to resurrect/mainstream it to receive the popular as well as the critical acclaim (sigh). As far as NYPD Blue goes, you obviously are not "smit"ten with all things Jimmy Smits (especially his butt). All joking aside, though, this one is the grittiest and by far the most disturbing of the 3 cop dramas. It is the only one that interferes with my sleep.

Ooh, I like gritty cop dramas - hope it'll show here too.

Unclear, Autumn, which one do you think is grittiest? Homicide, right? I always felt Frank and Tim were the center of the show. When it began Tim was the new guy, so he served as the POV character for the audience -- we learned about the Homicide squad through him. And Frank with his religious values provided a strong moral voice to counteract the cyncism. BTW, did you see Wednesday's Law and Order rerun? It was about the retarded girl who got raped by her classmates but acted like she consented to it because she didn't want to be thought of around school as "the retard who got raped." Very powerful, especially the last few scenes where she explains this to the attorneys willing to keep on fighting for her. One of their best episodes; I was very moved by it, especially that actress' performance

No, no, no! NYPD Blue is the grittiest cop show BY FAR. Law & Order is the intellectual one, and Homicide is somewhere in between. I did not see that re-run but remember it very clearly. Now which L&O cast is your favorite? I for one cannot get over Chris Noth's departure, and as engaging as Sam Waterston is, I still miss Ben. One of my favorite episodes (there are many!) is the Colombian hit-man Guytan (sp?) who shoots up the couple in the restaurant. Cerreta is wounded (his final episode) by a bl ck market gun dealer and everyone associated with trying to bring Guytan down winds up falling out of a window or something. The ending was downright chilling. (re: the episode this week; I suppose the actress isn't really mentally retarded, huh? The characters on these shows can really act!)

i'm not watching anything but my monitor...

I don't know why, but for some reason I never saw L&O until a few years ago. I never saw any with Noth or Michael Moriarty. I like Jerry Orbach's character the best

Yeah, he's got a great character. There's a lot going on with him this season! Will he avenge his daughter's murder? Tune in and find out! You can catch re-runs of L&O on cable channel A&E network twice a day--I practically have all the scripts memorized! I saw an ad tonight for a new show "brought to you by the creators of Law & Order"--New York Undercover? Something like that. Have you heard of it? I'm not really looking to add another program to my lineup (between the TV and the computer I don' spend much time on things I should be doing).

Imagine, if you will, Riette watching Jay Leno in Switzerland!

Last night was a particularly good one. Lord, that man is funny! We're always behind, so you always have to think, what happened that and that week. But last night he had the one about Clinton's biggest horror being an intern with braces. HA-ha!!!! And the frog expert from Australia who brought a big bull frog, and said the way to get him moving is to blow softly on his rear regions. And Jay said, 'Just like with Clinton, really.' !!! That was stunning!

I can't talk about his routine then, cause it would be a spoiler if you're running behind Ree.

How cruel you are, Mr. Walhus!

And I thought I was being kind! You know I have the tv programmed to flip on for 15 minutes on NBC at 10:35 pm every night just to catch the opening monologue.

Oh, that's clever! Do you think my tv could do that? That way one doesn't have to remember to switch over. I also watch it mostly for the opening monologue - the actors/singers are normally not half as funny as Jay. I love it when he asks people on the streets these questions about animals and so on - some of the answers are hysterical! And his Clinton jokes are unbeatable.

I saw some program about this guy who gets a paper a day early and then spends and hour (well his whole TV day) making sure the bad things don't happen... I did not find it very compelling. That's the only tv I've seen since some time in August when I saw Conan O'Brien for the first time. Now that man was FUNNY!

that show was called "Early Edition" and i did not think it was that great, either. and conan is *the* funniest late nite talk show host, period.

No way! Conan isn't HALF as funny as Jay!

Riette, you've gotta be kidding. Conan, Andy and Max are great. Im especially like the guy who does the Clinton imitation, and the one who does Don King.

I'm not, George! I honestly don't find Conan particularly funny. Perhaps he's too subtle - after all, I AM a Boer. The only thing about Conan that I find hysterical, is his head - he has the biggest head I have ever seen on a person. Physically, I mean.

You people stay up way too late!!

And when do you go to bed?

Wow, little ree ree! What happened to you last night? We're getting addicted to your presence!

no kidding. missed you riette!

On school nights, 11:30. The girls have to get up at 7:30. (*sigh*) I miss summertime, and getting up at 9:00 every day.

Still no Riette, this was her last known post. :-(

i sent her an email and no response. i am getting quite concerned.

Yep. Wonder whta happened, she's been so constant and she didn't say she was going on a trip or anything???

WER might know something... he's been gone for awhile too though.

Sonja here: Ri�tte has told me alot about this Wer man - I hope he comes back before I go. He is the kitchen mafia man, isn't he? I have to say I don't find Conan funny at all. He reminds me of an old boyfriend who was also a bad clown impersonator.

Ahh...Riette's busy entertaining her evil twin! :-) Hope you are enjoying your visit to Zurich, Sonja. Haven't your little nieces grown since you last saw them?

Sonja here: Hi, Autumn. Ri�tte's taking the little ones to playgroup right now - we'll be going to our favourite town, Chur, today to do some shopping. Apart from the odd bit of sulking on her part, we're having a great time. And yes, my little nieces are alot bigger than last time. Last time the little one, Elza, only started walking, and was really babyish. Now she walks, and climbs, and chatters away incessantly - and one understands every word of it. She's a really clever little thing. And Isa, the bigger o e seems very mature. Like, she makes her own drinks even! Gets a chair and a glass, pours a bit of syrup into it, then some tap water, and that's it - doesn't give her mom any problems. Even butters her own bread. At three! Don't think we learned that until we were six or so... And the most amazing phenomena about this child is: she actually ties her own shoelaces. They're an incredible pair!

i think i was learning how to wave bye-bye when i was six. ;)

Well, they've got the quickness from Sonja. She used to be my interpreter when we were small - she was talking by 18 months, and I by three. No wonder Mum thought I was slightly retarded!

I am retarded, but then so is Mum. She would consider this a compliment. She really likes me cuz I say stuff like this to her all the time. She still shows me how to eat my food. She uses her mouth when she does it, but that's still a little hard for me to pick up. She's very positive and tells me it won't be long and I'll get the hang of it.....but all the effort sure wears me out. I really try, and every day I work on it some.

You know, I know JUST how you feel! But sometimes I don't try - sometimes I don't remember to.

Have fun in Chur--have taken the train thru there on our way to my husband's favorite place, Flims.

Thanks. Had a really great time. While we were there, Riette and Sonja and me bought lotsa postcards of Flims....and saw 2 films....and one movie. Didn't have time to catch any flicks, though. If we'd just gone to Flims, we coulda managed it all, easily. We also bought 14 postcards of Baltimore. I came so close to almost forgetting to mention that. But I didn't forget. Or wait, did I?

And did you stop off, Autumn? Don't you find it just the most beautiful stretch of railway? Jim: No, you didn't. Baltimore was great - best ostrich trifle I've ever had. Can you remember which films we saw in Flims? That's the part I keep forgetting. The movie was 'Red Sonja', that much I remember...

One film was called "Sonja's Red Fiat" The second film was "16 Sonja Nights, 17 Riette Days" They both started out with scenes where a woman was found dead in an elevator with the wrong husband, and then the elevators got cleaned up by Sophia Loren in a red kimono. But these films turned out to be about fertility dances that Freud used to teach his patients. They were reinterpreted by ginkgo birds at different pubs around London. Sometimes,too, a sheet of light would be pulled over a sheet of dark, and that was from a slight distance of scattered blue. It was after one of those that I heard a fly buzz and out of this room came this professional ice carver whose face looked like a horseface, plus you could hear his heels tapping on the tiles as he walked, but he says this to the main character (who had just swum the English Channel all the way from Boston to the Florida Keys), "That was my dad in there, in that room I came out of, I saw his last moments alive and he spent them saying this to me---"If I were death, I'd at least say hello"---and then I stayed in there with him to see how the dead bury the dead, but it didn't happen, he just lied there like a shovel on his bed and didn't move." I realize now that they were the kind of films that Autumn is really moved by and can't get out of her mind and has to go back to and see again and again. Do you see her alone on the mountain? She's wearing a blossom in her hair. Oh, and there goes Sonja again, we better hurry and grab her---she's chasing down her Boulevard dreams this time.

Oh yes, I remember now. It was very gothic - but was it art?

Is art really art? The art that we think is the greatest work of art may be looked down on by the person who created it---that person might feel that something created when they were a kid, and was rough and unsteady, might be the only art they ever created. And they might feel that everything that came after their kid creation was just accomplished facility or ability but was done under competitive strain, and no real true feeling did they feel when they created it. A person looking at a crummy work of art can say it's great art, because of what it does for them every time they look at it. And if what it does for them is what great art does to people, maybe art is just in the eye of the beholder. But is it really art? Is art really art? Don't we wonder whether art is really an acquired taste? Did I know I'd say all this when I started it off? Sheesh, no, it just blurted out. What can I say? Nothing? Should I have said nothing?

You don't know how often I've thought whether art exists at all the past few weeks. I wonder if there is any truth in the art that comes after kid-hood. I'm not so sure at all. For example: I've always thought of an artist like Beuys as a truly BAD artist. But what if what his creations (be it a pound of butter slapped onto a white wall or not) are indeed a true expression of his creative energy? And what if the 'good' artist really just do what they do to impress, to make art look like ART? To please? Where is the truth in that? Where is the art in that, except the art of self-glorification? Then there is the other side. Is it really possible to create something that isn't inside you already? But if that is true, then who can tell what art is? Who can say this person is artistic, and that person not? Is the 'lesser' artists expression of himself not just as worthy as that of the 'good' artist? And if so, then WHY has art become such a factory?

"You don't need pants for the victory dance."

And ya don't need victory to dance without yer pants. I wonder if the word art is haunted. It's such a loaded word. And that question, 'but is it art?' is bandied about so rhetorically. I think art has to do with the expression of one's sense of beauty. And isn't there also beauty in ugliness? Doesn't art, to be art, have to be creative or original, at least for the person who's creating it? Doesn't it have to get at or present something that the creator is just then coming upon? An opening to something spontaneous and full of surprise? Doesn't it have to have a realness about it....in other words, a real impact that takes beauty in where it can be genuinely felt like a breakthrough of some kind, however personal or naked in its dance? Doesn't it dance through you and touch you? Doesn't it touch off stuff inside that takes chances with courage and some experienced truth? It might be like nothing or something someone's watching on tv right now....

Perhaps. I've not felt that spontaneous 'realness', that sense of surprise for two years. The work I did for my first exhibition - now THAT was what touched me, what surprised me. There was such a sense of expectation and excitement with each of those first works. And I still consider them to be my best. And then I started getting attached to galleries, and everything just changed. The one boss would want to see how my work works in 3-D, the next wanted to see the kind of lines and colour I use in human figures, and so on. And that's what I had to produce to get exhibitions that I thought would be important. Producing what others thought I'd be good at. They still thought it was good - but for me they were unnatural leaps. How much fun it would have been to discover those things by myself, in my own time! It makes me miserable to think I let myself be categorized like that.

If we do things because we conform to outside forces that compel us to act against our will, we create internal resistance which turns into an auto-immune disease (one where the body turns against itself). Art needs freedom. To be free, we have to understand what's going on in our reactions, otherwise what's going on in them (the ones that are impinging on our art) will parasitically subsist on us by eating away at our generative capacities, our creative spirit. If we don't feel free with each thing we try with our art, it will affect not just the art, but also our sense of what's going on in how we create it. This is probably going on in what most anyone is watching on tv right now.

Way to bring us back on topic, Jim!

Yes. Sorry about that.

Boring stuff.

Fortunately it is in the other room with the guy who stares at it all the time. I am in here with the most intelligent people on earth...much better in here!

I've got some Clint Eastwood movie off to the site, it's not my main focus (the tv).

Yeah, I know...I have some sort of sports on which does not captivate me right at the moment. Like some of those interminable pre-ProBowl hype programs or local golf which would put me to sleep otherwise. I love great golf, btw, just not the small time stuff pro-am going on behind me.