Bergman

Just a snippet: In an interview published in 1972, the critic John Simon said to Bergman, "It must be a great responsibility, I was thinking, just to be you; because film is probably the most important art today and I think you're the most important filmmaker in the world. To be the most important man in the most important art is a terrible responsibility." Simon is a contentious and disagreeable fellow, and no doubt the remark struck some people as fatuous even then. But it was not inherently ridiculous to suggest, 35 or 40 years ago, that the director of "Persona," "Smiles of a Summer Night," "The Seventh Seal," "Wild Strawberries," "The Virgin Spring" and "Cries and Whispers" might be the most important artist in the world.

The meeting

Almost 20 people attended, and only four of those were CPO employees... My friend T. was unable to attend, so I went alone. The organizer was definitely in favor of human-based solutions, presumably so that he can use his organization to funnel the money to whom he wishes. Fortunately, most of the people in attendance seemed to favor more capital-intensive solutions, such as security cameras. A compromise of some sort will probably be reached. Afterwards I went to the bar and ran into my neighbor S., who was out shopping. We had three beers and watched the Cubs pull out a win against the Bonds-less Giants.

Safety in an unsafe neighborhood

There's this neighborhood safety meeting in a couple of hours, which I'll attend with my friend T. Nothing will come of it at all. The meeting is about how to best spend this $75,000 grant from the city. The plan, ostensibly, is to spend it on "safety ambassadors", who will do fuck all for the safety of the neighborhood. What we need is a more prominent police presence, and more incentives for owner-occupancy in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, these plans are not politically appropriate in our neighborhood, since they are likely to offend the sensibilities of the public housing delinquents who make up the bulk of the neighborhood, and upon whose backs the neighborhood social service agencies receive funding. I think we'll go for beers afterwards.

Once

We saw Once this afternoon. A good movie, but I would rather it had a bit more plot and a bit less music (although the music was excellent) simply because I enjoyed the characters and I didn't feel like I got to know them well enough. It was beautifully filmed, too.

Sunday

Sundays I normally have lunch and a beverage or two with my friend H. Today, however, I had a big fight with my wife and wasn't able to do this. I took my mom produce shopping instead.

Realizations

I discovered last night that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale bottles are no longer 'twist-off.' Ouch.