:: Health Care 2010 ::

Just for the record, here’s some of what I think about the health care reform business.

1. There should not be a mandate in the bill if there’s no public option. I think there should be a public option, but if for some reason that can’t work right now, there’s nothing good about requiring people to have coverage from corporate health care companies. That doesn’t do anyone (except the insurance industry) any good.

2. Refusing coverage based on pre-existing conditions is bad, and should be dropped. Too bad we can’t just have a bill that takes care of that little problem by itself.

3. It shouldn’t be illegal to buy prescription drugs from Canada or any other place where they can be made more cheaply. Again, it would be nice to have this by itself.

4. Until there’s some form of real campaign finance reform, we’re not going to get anywhere meaningful on this or any other large issues.

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:: Leaf Trails ::

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:: Danman Productions Wraps ::

My friend Dan Kraus, published author, cinematographer, future Miss America adjudicator, has been publishing his old teen movies on his blog. There are quite a few, and I haven’t watched nearly all of them (though I particularly enjoyed The Blob). Dan has just posted the last one, the culmination of Danman Productions: The Godfathers: Part Two. It’s now 70 minutes long, cut down from its original length of over two and a half hours. Dan took his expertise at film editing and cut it down to what he originally envisioned, and posted it. His writing about the movie is elegant, and I’m pretty sure I can’t wait to watch it.

Incidentally, Mac users, I love ClickToFlash. Aside from blocking Flash silliness, you can download the H.264 source videos for any YouTube video, which I use all the time. Highly recommended.

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:: A Brief For The Defense ::

My friend Laura is a graduate student studying poetry, and I blame her for an uptick in my interest and appreciation for poetry over the past year or two. She pointed this one out today, and it really spoke to me.

A Brief for the Defense, by Jack Gilbert

Here’s a favorite piece:

We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.

This is a really good thing to remember.

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:: I’m With Coco ::

First, I’m sure anyone reading this has probably already done so, but just in case you haven’t, make a donation to help relief efforts in Haiti. Just a few days ago I played a little benefit show with the excellent Diana Lawrence, and through her tremendous efforts and those of the friends who donated goods to the silent auction we hosted, and the help and donations of all our friends who came by that night, we raised almost $1000.

Next, I own a television, but I don’t have cable, and my digital broadcast TV connection is pretty flaky. I watch almost everything I watch on DVD or over the internet. My nights are often busy with work or playing gigs, so I don’t get to watch Conan O’Brien’s crazy show as much as I’d like to. Now, of course, it’s over at least for a while, and that’s disappointing. I spent a couple hours tonight catching up on some episodes on Hulu, and it just reinforced how sad it is that he’s losing the Tonight Show. He’s a total class act, really funny, not afraid to do things that are weird, and never boring. I feel really lucky now that I got to see his show back in December while it was looking like he’d be on for quite a while.

Pretty much all the episodes and clips currently available on Hulu are going to be worthwhile viewing, but Conan’s last remarks are really touching and worth spending four minutes to watch.

I miss you already, Conan. And I’m sorry for thinking of you as Coco during this I’m With Coco campaign.

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