I wonder sometimes whether watching movies in Berkeley theaters gives me an unusual perspective on films. Slate has a fascinating article on Sarah Silverman which says about the most memorable moment in cinema this year: "Instead of laughing, we were all stuck trying to decide whether this was some new species of joke or just plain old slander."

What theater was that journalist in?? The 80 year old women next to us were laughing in Berkeley.

Speaking of Berkeley locales and funny perspectives, I was shocked to discover when voting that the person next to me on the voter roll is a republican! Only on one the page. There was also a poll worker explaining to us our choice of paper ballot or machine ballot who was able to quickly explain not just what the difference was, but which company made both the electronic voting machines (Diebold) and which company made the machine which scans the optical ballots (which I've forgotten).

Oh yeah, all the above took place in the local Hare Krishna temple where we all vote.