I think she means this Bobby C:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Cannavale

He's simply one of the best actors out there at the moment. He could have been pigeonholed as a "pretty boy," but he's far to real and talented for that.

If you haven't seen the movie The Station Agent starring Cannavale with Peter Dinklage and Patricia Clarkson, add it to your Netflix queue NOW! Amazing performances all around.

I rarely feel "starstruck" when I meet celebrities in a social setting. I think that Bobby C is somebody this straight male would stammer in front of.

It's great to hear that he's involved with the political process. "Pretty boy" ? Ha!

Joan:

You are much closer to the action than most of your readers are. Almost all of us are committed to voting for the Dem nominee in November and many of us still don't have a favorite.

You're far closer to inner-circle than most of us. This is your OPINION blog. *I* would love to hear who you'd place bets for if you were a bet-plain' kinda woman. Please share this with us.

Dershowitz' exercises re: jurisprudence and the "preventative state" as presented here sound engaging and reasonable. He's done a fantastic job over the past couple of years trying to dig himself out of the rhetorical hole he created for himself over his unequivocal support for torture.

I'd like to believe that this change is posture is genuine and not simply a craven reaction to public opinion. Regardless of what motivates him now, I wish he would approach his conversion with more honesty.

"In the hysterical period following 9/11 I voiced enthusiastic support for the torture of human beings by the United States under certain circumstances. Many people of all stripes reacted in horror at this support. For a time, I defended my position for the following reasons [XYZ]... Today, in light of these developments [ABC] I feel differently. Here is how I feel today and here is why I feel so."

See - that's not too hard.

Also a quick note that I was disappointed in Mr. Dershowitz' participation in the rush to accuse President Jimmy Carter of Antisemitism in the wake of the publication of Carter's "Palestine: Peace, not Apartheid."

Facile deployment of the Antisemite label cheapens it, and its misuse against a man who is a true friend of peace should have been beneath Dershowitz.

I hope she ate that horrible bbq'd taro root. It was kind of her to buy it from that guy.

The Great White joke was in poor taste.

I'm underwhelmed with both candidates, but the enthusiasm that OTHER PEOPLE have exhibited towards Obama excites me. Such ebullience simply doesn't exist for Hillary.

Sorry to hear about the death of Mel Fiske. Your mother's story from 1999 about their reacquaintance was beautiful - brought tears. Some friends of mine from Berkeley just had a baby. The great wheel turns on.

Life for women among China's rural poor has much that can be improved upon. Even in 2008 many rural Chinese women are treated as little more than property.

I'm always surprised and pleased to see how forward-thinking and feminist modern, urban Chinese society appears to be with regards to womens' issues. I think that most educated urban professional Chinese women consider themselves on equal footing with their male counterparts.

Unfortunately, most of our used cell phones are still worthless elsewhere in the world.

Most of the rest of the world operates on GSM cellular networks. The US held out for a long time against GSM in favor of CDMA. CDMA phones won't work most places overseas.

The good news is that the US is catching up in with the rest of the world with GSM. T-Mobile is a GSM carrier and most of the grooviest phones one can buy now in the US support GSM.

I discovered a very cool book a couple of years ago - the Lonely Planet Guide to Experimental Travel. It is based upon ideas by a French group called Latourex. One can read almost everything the book contains on Latourex's site - http://www.latourex.org

Some of the ideas are really kooky. There are a few really useful gems there, however. I have used them personally to create positive experiences for myself in Europe.

The ideas are all vehicles for forcing yourself to get out and interact with the city in different ways.

There is a popular YouTube video this week called "Espana es Mora" - Spain is Moor. It is a slideshow of images of Spaniards with obviously North African facial characteristics.

The person who made the video says in comments that he is angry at "nazi" Spaniards who claim racial superiority over their Arab neighbors. His message is that he has seen the Moor, and the Moor is us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j6SQccqjq0

Maureen:

Mary the 1st married then Prince Phillip of Spain in 1554. Prince Phillip became King Phillip II in 1556 when his father abdicated the throne.

Phillip II is the Spanish king for which the Philippines are named.

Andrew:

I love the fact that you cover documentaries so closely. Documentaries are my personal favorite type of movie. They are frequently underrepresented in the media. I can't wait to see this one.

We watched "Crazy Love" about the Pugach/Riss affair last night per your recommendation in May. What an amazing story! My wife and I loved it. In reading about it online elsewhere I discovered that it was a Fisher Stevens film. I fell in love with Fisher Stevens when he was the lead in a show that [I think] was called Key West. It's great to see him working - and fantastic that he created such a remarkable documentary.