Back in the Habit

So I saw An Inconvenient Truth tonight. Worthwhile stuff. Absolutely. For one, it gave me something to post on this blog besides a commentary on how I've been remiss in my postings. But more importantly, it delivered one of my all-time favorite quotes. From anyone, ever. Seriously, here's a sentence not many people will ever get a chance to say:

"I went to the North Pole... and I went under the polar ice cap... in a nuclear submarine."

Now in case the ridiculosity of what this man just said somehow gets past you, let's break it down by parts.

1. "I went to the North Pole..." Honestly, what percentage of the world's population will ever be able to say that? If you managed to survey the 100 most well-travelled people on Earth, maybe one of them (maybe one) would've had a reason to think about going to the North Pole.)
2. "... I went under the polar ice cap..." I'm sorry... under the polar ice cap??? Just take a minute to wrap your brain around that one. And just when you find yourself sitting in a movie theater thinking How the hell does a person get under a polar ice cap?...
3. "... in a fucking nuclear submarine." (profanity added for emphasis). At the end of the sentence, I involuntarily paused to wait for the punchline. No punchline folks. And the fact that it all just rolled off his tongue so smoothly, as if there was no difference between saying Scientists say the ice caps are melting, and I came up thru the ice caps in a nuclear submarine. ... Incredible. But maybe that's just me.

(Sidenote: Ironically, The Generalist and I recently had a conversation in which his incredulous reaction to the sentence "I flew a plane," eventually led me to assert that I would have no reaction to the sentence "I drove a submarine." At this time, I'm going to have to retract that assertion. wow.)

Also from tonight's outing, the trailer for the World Trade Center movie got me thinking that there are a few movies that I'll probably either never see or never see again. In particular:

• The Passion of the Christ
• United 93
• World Trade Center

I have to say that watching well-meaning people go to their deaths isn't any way I'd wanna spend my leisure time.

In automotive news, I've recently become acquainted with the BMW 330Ci Coupe. When I say "become acquanted," I mean I've become aware that they exist. Now, I've never (ever) been a fan of BMWs, but this car is beautiful to me. Only this model, and only in white. And chance has it that there are two of them parked near my apartment building on a regular basis. Always near the front and always clean. Turns out, though, that no amount of maintenance or spotlighting can make up for the garishness of a big-ass yellow boot anchoring your shit to the concrete. Which got me to thinking...

The baseline sticker price on a 330Ci is $37,600. The standard fine for a parking violation in the City of Chicago is $75. I've never paid the note on a $37,000 car. But my hunch (and I could be wrong) is that if indeed one can afford to pay the note on a $37,000 car (and one is apparently managing well enough since one is parking one's car on a public street in main view and obviously not worried about it being repossessed) then one can afford to pay a $75 parking ticket.

I have a similar, but less intense, hunch whenever somone walks up to me smoking a cigarette and asks for money for food. I feel like I know some people who would say that smoking is a form of self-medication and is thereby an absolutely rational behavior for someone who lacks basic resources like food. I don't doubt in the least that this is true. I do wonder how they paid for the cigarettes though. My natural curiosity I guess.