So as I am a very good human being, I woke up early this morning to work out. ESPN got boring so I was watching the Today Show.

Sidebar: Recently I became obsessed with the notion of morning shows - that they were one entertainment phenomenon that, by virtue of my never being up or watching TV at the time, I had never gotten into and hence I became convinced that there was something I was missing. Well, after watching off and on for a few months now, I can safely say, there is nothing. I know why they picked Matt Lauer and Katie Couric - because they are both so mind-numbingly, achingly, dull. They have soft voices and they are cuddly (but not too cuddly) and serious (but not too serious) and extremely asexual. And that's pretty much all people who have to get up early in the morning can take. You can't take Tom Green at 7am. It just doesn't work. Incidentally, I've never understood why MTV then programs Rap in the morning. I don't want to hear 'Back That Ass Up' while I'm eating my toast. But hey, that just me.

Anyway, so this morning they did a story on the Ramseys (as in JonBenet) having taken lie-detector tests, and passed. Combined, John and Patsy took five tests and passed. Now, aside from the fact that lie-detectors are inadmissible anyway, the Ramseys HIRED an "expert" to conduct the tests behind closed doors. The FBI requested to at least be present, but they were not allowed. And then the parents had the gall to hold a press conference about how relieved they are and how this proves their innocence. Total bullshit. Of course, it's not even funny how transparent and weak this move is - (if they are so scared of being tried in the public eye, why do lame-o shit like this?). I feel the same way with the OJ thing - it's all in their behavior. They are not behaving like innocent people. They haven't from the beginning. Similarly, OJ. Were I accused of killing a loved one, I would freak. I would absolutely raise holy hell. Indignation would fly - not shifty guilty fleeings or evasions. (What if after all this, the Ramseys did not do it? Oops.)

So after the story, Katie had this polygraph expert on for an interview. Now, I'm a pretty good judge of when I'm being "sold", be it by a car dealer or a telemarketer or an undercover religious freak. This man was no impartial expert. The fact that the millionaire Ramseys hired an expert in a field of criminology still thought of as hocus-pocus to administer their tests, and then also SPEAK for them, should fool no one. And certainly not Katie Couric. But I think that coloniscope must still be lodged up her ass, because she asked the lamest, easiest questions - softballs that would make our own Larry King disgusted. And the "expert" reacted to the slightest bit of speculation with indignation and hostility. This guy was no impartial expert. This was a hired gun, and the fact that Katie let it totally slide, makes me ill.

Elsewhere...

...I had rehearsal for the film I'm shooting right now, with the newly (and finally) hired female lead. The girl turns out to be the female lead on a new high-profile sitcom that I've not yet seen. As I've said before, the lead is one of the leads in a huge upcoming summer movie. Me: I'm in a short film on IFILM! I was on Days of Our Lives for one episode!

And with this, I expect to be intimidated, and I'm not. I don't really have much to say about this, but it does bespeak something about my trust in acting as an equalizer. That on stage (or in front of the camera), you are the character. And any other actor with whom you're interacting is simply their character as well. And you play the scene. Thus, if I'm Al Pacino's best friend on a movie and in this scene I have to yell at him for fucking my girlfriend, if I believe the situation, it doesn't matter that he's Al Hoo-Wah Pacino. And I find myself able to do that with these actor. I can forget about the fact that they're discussing upcoming press junkets in New York while I'm fretting that I have to go get a new shoelace for by boot and I'm not sure I have enough money. Sometimes you surprise yourself in a good way.

Finally...

...I didn't mention it, but this past weekend I saw Fight Club again, The Game again (both David Fincher films!), and Galaxy Quest. I love the first. Have serious problems with the second. And enjoyed the third, despite it being silly and ultimately unmemorable. I really really liked Tony Shaloub and the head alien, played, I think, by Enrico Colantoni. Very very funny vocal choices, that guy. Ooh, and after posting about how much I love Fearless in Beth's forum, I opened a copy of Film Comment I got in Austin, to see an article called, "Learning To Land: An Appreciation of Peter Weir's Fearless". Made me very happy.