This is one of those weeks where I'm too exhausted to do more than comment on a bunch of random notes I made during the week. My exhaustion is mostly due to a business trip to L.A.. There were a few interesting things in the meetings I attended and there is always some value in seeing people face to face, versus talking over the phone. But the travel itself is more and more wearing. Dulles Airport was particularly chaotic on Tuesday and it took about an hour and a half from arriving at the terminal to getting to the gate. We had left ourselves a lot of time, but it's still always stressful to be waiting in long lines. The return was less crazy, but involved a 6 a.m. flight. I just end up repeating my mantra ("frequent flyer miles, frequent flyer miles") to keep from being too irritated by it all.
By the way, both flights involved reasonable movie viewing. The trip to L.A. was on a 767, so there was a choice of films. I had already seen "Sideways" so watched "Hotel Rwanda," which was excellent. I had been afraid it would be too gory and depressing, but the strong material was handled very well. Still, it was definitely a three handkerchief movie. Coming back, they showed "In Good Company," which was reasonably entertaining. It wasn't likely to make any top ten list and it was somewhat predictable, but it was still enjoyable. Particularly for people my age, who like seeing young punks get their comeuppance now and again.
While I'm on the subject of entertainment, the celebrity death of the week is Frank Gorshin. He was most famous as an impressionist, which is an art I have to admit to never having really gotten the point of. But, for my generation, what made him more significant was playing The Riddler on Batman.
In more serious news, I'm somewhat annoyed that the Luis Pasada Carriles case is not getting more media attention. I am hoping the U.S. does, indeed, extradite him to Venezuela. Here's a guy who blew up several buildings and at least one airplane, which certainly fits the definition of terrorism to me. The catch for the Bush administration is that his terrorism was against Cuba. There's an interesting political dilemma. In my opinion, opposing the tactic of terrorism should be the trump card, but I have no confidence that it will.
My final note is a mini-rant on the subject of travel-related taxes. I'm really quite annoyed at hotel taxes of 15% and car rental fees that cost as much as the car rental itself. Last weekend provided a prime example of the latter. Every car rental at Kansas City Airport gets an $8 arena fee tacked onto it. It's an easy thing for governments to do since the people it affects don't get to vote on it. Hmmm, taxation without representation - I seem to recall a revolution that was based (in part) on that.
Copyright 2005 Miriam H. Nadel