esrosedotblog

PROKOFIEV

Today's Movie: ALEXANDER NEVSKY(1938): NYT1000Best; Sergei Eisenstein 'masterpiece' and blatant anti-German propaganda pre-WWII; not that there was anything wrong with that.

Prince Nevsky turns back the Swedes; then is asked to repel the German hordes. He demands that the nation states unite into the great Rus and succeeds in the politics and the battle. In the last scenes, the victory speeches mostly say that the krauts will get their asses whipped if they every try it again; about four times. Prophetic. They did; but at a great cost. We have learned the price of bringing all those nation states together into the USSR monolith. And so on.

It is a great picture and does not need apologetic references to the time and place and limits of production. As expected, the acting is over the top; we are just after the silent period. The whole enterprise is a bit operatic; but that is very Russian too. The battle scenes are outstanding. Even when you can see through the artifice, Eisenstein is able to carry us forward into the intensity of it. When the frozen lake breaks open and swallows the retreating enemy, we do not need digitalized effect to be overwhelmed. I would give it a 4 out of 5 if I was in Russia in 1938. Hell, since it was Stalinist Russia, I guess I would have to give it a FIVE! Yes Commisar. But, I do not want the Netflix algorithm to spew out a bunch of Russky masterpieces in my recommendations; so I will give it a 3 on the feedback form.

The big hit for me in all this, is to finally see what Prokofiev (pictured) was writing about when he did the score. The choral parts which are translated on-screen carry the big story line. Music is not used throughout but in small units to underline non-verbal action; battles, large peasant movements, celebrations, religous stuff, and so on. Of course, the sound track is very low fi. But, I have heard the big lush suite and 'know' what it sounds like. I can fill in. I am playing the Cleveland/Chailly/Angel CD now. Da da da-da THRUMMMMMMMM! Both John and Franklin have moved to the back of the house.

I went through a long and protracted period of Prokofiev fever in the 90's and have not yet recovered. If I hear a bit of a suite or ballet I am mush. He is a great guy. It is interesting that he and Eisenstein did this piece for the motherland; then mid WWII Prokofiev began to get in trouble for not towing the party line. Eisenstein did not. He is criticized today for too much ass-kissing. Again, the German hordes were one thing; the Union of Republics another. Monoliths have a way of crushing the arts either by coopting them or cutting them off.

More about Prokofiev at The Prokofiev Page; more than you would ever want to know about our Sergei. Once more, I am humbled by the intensity of TRUE fandom; how low my own flame.

CORRECTIONS:

I suppose everyone knows I go back and sneak changes into entries after the fact. It has occurred to me that when I do so, the reason might be as interesting (yawn) as well as the fact that I did it. So, here goes.

Today, in ROIL (033104) I went back and changed 'darksiders' to 'spooks' in the phrase "Wait until someone discovers the darksiders and footpads from....." The reason? This is what they were called back at the time of the Watergate hearings. Spooks. And, this is what they should be called now. Spooks. This came to me while walking Franklin later. I didn't see a spook, but I remembered the word out of the glompus of my brain and wanted to fix it.

I have also been grasping whenever I want to say how many teevee and/or movies are listed for a certain actor or director. I was reminded, this morning, in an article in the LATimes, that these are called 'credits'! Of course. SO I have changed the comment in ALICE'S RESTAURANT (033004) to say that E. Emmett Walsh has 141 credits listed in his IMDb profile and I will try to continue to remember and use this term in future.

There. Isn't it more interesting to see how and why I corrected something?

ROIL

It is all swirling now; the executive privilege until the end thing; the questions that they should be asking Condi; the back spin and the front spin on who said what to who. I really am not too too concerned about who did what to who back then. What appalls me is the resolute secrecy and fabrication that the bushies seem willing to indulge in to deflect any criticism before it happens; then, the invective and smear machine that gets flicked on when criticism occurs. Blah blah.

John Dean was a past master at secrecy, if not invective. He is in my time. I remember watching him work his way through the Nixon lie machine in the Watergate hearings. He has written a book comparing Nixonian and Bushian duplicity (guess who wins) and is out selling it. There is a nice interview that gives the long and the short of it in Salon this morning: Creepier than Nixon. You can say that again. I was around for him too. Wait until someone discovers the spooks and footpads from this administration breaking and entering somewhere. It could happen. The atmo is right. History repeats itself. It is the next step.

Dean is an interesting guy; the honest civil servant who could only swallow so much. I remember that I loved to watch him. He had this sort of sexy geek personna. His quiet approach to his testimony was deadly in that it was quiet! Careful. The anti-Nixon. Butterfield, the one who told about the Oval Office taping was like that too. These are the heroes of our times. I think this guy Clarke is in the mold. It does not matter. Sooner or later someone has enough and fesses up; blows the whistle. The emperor has no clothes (spare me the sight), the house of cards collapse, and we get on with a new cycle.

ALICE'S RESTAURANT(1969)

Movie of the day; NYTBest1000; Arthur Penn directed; docu-drama; realistic; up and down side of the 'summer of love'; jump-cut and episodic. It is unique. A period piece that still holds up.

It is not, incidentally, a comedy, at all; nor is it a caricature of the times. I found that a lot of the characters were similar to people I knew ; maybe even me. A lot of the situations seemed familiar. The final shot of Alice alone is 'heavy'; it actually is, very. And so on. I liked it a lot. Give it a 3 out of Netflix 5.

This is, first and foremost, a coming of age film. Arlo moves from happy go lucky kid to happy go lucky young adult, seeking his own world out of the communal womb. It is nicely done. And it would seem that, although he has not had a spectacular career, he has had a happy and healthy one. It is not often that we get a chance to see how the movie 'came out', huh? He looks OK to me.

The central character other than Arlo is James Broderick (father of Matthew) who is quite charismatic and probably a little nuts. He was a great actor; was in a lot of television. He died early; 1982, when Matthew was 20. He does not Google a picture; only Matthew shows up. Time and tide.

This is also M. Emmett Walsh's second film. He does a great turn as a double-talking military guy at the draft induction center. There is a photo for him on IMDb. Clickon. He has 141 credits listed; one of those faces that you see over and over; pivotal characters; unforgettable moments; and actor's actor. He is still working.

BEST?

I found out today that the New York Times 1000 Best Films has a new edition. I knew this would happen. It puts a fly in the ointment as far as my 'project' is concerned. A quick perusal of the list now shows (of course) that a lot of films produced in and since the year 2000 have made it into the pantheon. I am dubious. There was not a sudden jump in quality of world films in the new millenium. If anything, by my estimate, this has been one of the most barren periods for good movies since I was a kid and everyone was off fighting WWII.

Here is my beef. New reviewers have had at the list and, not being satisfied with making careful selections from films made since 2000, replacing only a few formerly listed films, they have gone in and revised the core listings themselves. A cursory inspection reveals that the film we saw yesterday AKIRA KUWASAWA'S DREAMS is no longer on the list but THE BANK DICK with W.C.Fields is. As I said, I am dubious. The other thing is that the new list has some items that I would immediately disagree with just in the A's!. For example they put that relentlessly awful Spielberg film A.I. in there as well as the annoying Nicholas Cage film about Charley Kaufman and the orchid man film ADAPTATION; middle brow mishmash. Jeezus. Worst, there is ABOUT SCHMIDT; fat, overblown, downwardly spiraling Nicholson. Now, I know there are a lot of people who think at least two of these clunkers are good. There may be some people who think that they are worthy of, maybe, a top ten or so list for their year, given the drab competition; but surely NO ONE THINKS that these vanity projects--all of them vehicles for a star or a director--qualify for anything like a 1000 Best Film Ever list. Yes, I know about the Oscars. (sigh)(rolling of eyes)

So I reject the Second Edition. I may go back someday, after I have completed the 1st Edition to see if there is some possible redemption for various items if not the list; but for now, I am staying with my course.

It would appear that the same rule applies to books as to films: Sequels Invariably Suck.

BULLIES

Paul Krugman nails it down this morning in the New York Times: This Isn't America. These are nasty times but the truth will out.

USTINOV

This is a later picture of Peter Ustinov who died yesterday at 82. They say he never stopped talking. The obit said that he would keep on going until he died; that he was not afraid of it and had gotten enough out of life. He just didn't want to know when it would happen. I guess he got the wish more or less.

I just remember him as a very funny, intelligent, and fascinating man. We last saw him a couple months ago in TOPKAPI (here on the roof freaking out) and he saves the picture. I remember him on the Paar show which I think made him a popular figure. Jack Paar died earlier this year. Funny that another person that Paar 'made' died the other day; Genvieve. And so on. Ramble ramble. It happens. These are all people a bit older than me who were part of my growing up. They are all showing me how to keep on doing so. I figure that growing up is a process that goes right to last breath and as best as I can figure all three of these people did that.

Look at him. He is up on the chair carrying on. The soft shoes and the cane are a bit of a tip off to the age, but the sparkle is in the gestures and I am sure, the eye. He is still fat. He always packed an extra layer. I guess it didn't kill him, at least not too soon. He has shaved clean. He used to play with beards and mustaches. It heightened his eccentric charisma. Someone I would have liked to meet, but then, after all those years watching on teevee and the movies, feel like I did.

DREAMS

Today's Movie; NYTimes1000Best; actually AKIRA KUROSAWA DREAMS(1990). Nine short films which are thematically connected although we do not see that until about midway. Gorgeous. Slightly polemic; but not in a turnoff way. There are a few 'DREAMS' which are just gasp producing. There is one based on paintings of VanGogh that is just amazing. I will rate it as a 4 on the NetFlix5 scale.

This film is an outstanding example of why my 1000Best Film scheme is working for me. I would never ever rent this film. I am not sure that I even knew about it. Of course, Kurosawa is one of the world's great directors. I know that. SEVEN SAMURAI and so on (which we will see later on). But to delve into his films or even have a clue as to what was good, better, or best, is not in the 'picture' for me; so to speak. Examining the list of 1000Best, reveals about 50% that I would not know or think about getting. Some I would not bother with. And so it is a good project. There have been very few clinkers so far.

Another benefit for me would be to make a note to see more of this man's work; to study some about his career which I have done with a lot of the actors and directors of films that we have seen so far. I know this all sounds sort of 'Europe in 8 Days' or 'Great Musical Themes'; a sort of middle brow self improvement device; but I don't have a lot of time or the patience to wade through the Netflix archives or stand in the aisles of a rental shop and twaddle around. This gives me direction and actually, unlike the 'greatest musical themes' these are high quality and inventive listings.

I also like the juxtapositions of the arbitrary queuing system. I am starting with the numbers [10(1979), 400 BLOWS(1959)], then A's [A NOUS LA LIBERTE(1932)] (although Akira is kind of stretching it) and working my way through to zee [ZERO FOR CONDUCT(1933)]. This sequence or "A's" has us seeing AIRPLANE yesterday, DREAMS today, and ALICE'S RESTAURANT next. How eclectic can you get? Incidentally of the seven films listed in the last two sentences, I saw only two in the original, never heard of three and saw missed or dismissed two. QED.

STOPPER

By all accounts, the bushies lost today's Sunday talk-show skirmishes. They do not seem able to put the stopper back in the bottle. And what is more, some admin folks are going off message on the deal as well. Scurry scurry.

And by pouring on the invective all week, they have evidently royally pissed Clarke off; he is not backing down but ramping up.

AP 032804PM

Sharpening his criticism, former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke said President Clinton (news - web sites) was more aggressive than Bush in trying to confront al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s organization. "He did something, and President Bush did nothing prior to September 11," Clarke told NBC's "Meet the Press." "I think they deserve a failing grade for what they did before" Sept. 11, Clarke said of the Bush's administration. "They never got around to doing anything."Clarke said a sweeping declassification of documents would prove that the Bush administration neglected the threat of terrorism in the nine months leading up to the attacks.

He said he sought declassification of all six hours of his testimony before a congressional committee two years ago. Some Republicans have said that testimony about Sept. 11 contradicts Clarke's current criticism. Clarke said he also wanted Rice's previous interview before the independent Sept. 11 commission declassified, along with e-mails between him and Rice, and other documents, including a memo he sent on Jan. 25, 2001 offering a road map to the new Bush administration on how to confront al-Qaida, and the directive that a National Security Council adopted on Sept. 4, 2001. The material will prove that Bush was "lackadaisical" about terrorism before the attacks, Clarke said, because "they're basically the same thing. And they wasted months when we could have had some action."

Asked about Clarke's request for the declassification, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) on CBS' "Face the Nation," said, "My bias will be to provide this information in an unclassified manner not only to the commission, but to the American people."

Then, in her much anticipated interview on 60 Minutes, Rice admitted that Bush DID ask Clarke to run the 9-11 Iraq attack theory around the post again! This is after spending most of the week denying that this happened or that Bush even saw Clarke. This coverup business gains a life of its own and never stops once it starts. God knows we had our times with Clinton. Now the Repubs get their turn to snot and shuffle and jive around looking like jerks. All on national tee vee.

AIRPLANE(1980)

Movie of the day; NYTimes1000Best; first of the modern spoof franchises; Zucker Brothers invented it and split up after three films. It holds up very well; but I never saw the original; all of it is first blush. It is the first funny movie for Leslie Nielsen. We saw him earlier this year in FORBIDDEN PLANET (photo) which was not meant to be funny but was.

I remember Nielsen from the early days of television. He was the stock pretty boy in all the mediocre live dramas and I sort of dreaded seeing him in the marquee; his presence usually meant a second rate 'watch'. He was the straight-ahead guy who didn't get the girl or, perhaps, the executive who was a shade too incompetent or dishonest or both. He worked all the time as far as I could tell. Up until AIRPLANE there are 70 or so credits.

Then, in this film, transformation! He plays a Doctor; a relatively important but less than star turn. He is a standout in the deadpan department. I think that he has merely carried his persona into the realm of satire. He is the same second banana without a sense of humor; the same self important near-leading man; the ultimate 'take it too seriously' guy; the consummate underqualified airhead. In one step, he became a star by doing the same boring thing in a different setup. I hope the Zucker brothers got a percentage of his salary for the remaining years in which he stars in (count them) 54 films and teevee specials; all being funny. Many of these went straight to cassette.

As has famously been said: (George S. Kaufman I believe) 'Satire is what closes on Saturday Night'. Tough to do well. I give this film a 3 out of NetFlix 5; not because it is mediocre so much as to let them know I wouldn't want any more Leslie Nielsen films. The 'recommended' machine has a way of going to the star for the repeats. Maybe I should give it a two. Loved the film and had enough, thank you.

C+

I mentioned Tom Schaller who exec-edits a new link on this blog (see upper right) The Gadflyer: The Aggressive Progressive. He noticed the link and we e-chatted about our shared family name; in this case, my mother's. My Mom's branch of the tree dropped the C and went by Shaller. They also adopted another pronunciation: Sh-ahhh-ller not Sch-ayy-ler. This was done around the time of World War One to hide the germanic part of the name. Coincidentally, my dad's family did the same thing. We used to be Roess (Rooossss); very Hun-like; so they changed it to Rose. You know how that is pronounced; the rose by any other name is the same and so on.

All this running around to Americanize names is not peculiar to my ancestors; a lot of families have done it. Somewhat to their credit, mine did not go too far from the original. The result, though, reveals the rabbit in the hat a bit too soon for the best effect. The thing about hiding the germanic-ness is for real too. In WWII, I remember the local baker who had a German name and an accent. He was shunned and lost his business. It was a singular loss for me; he made great pastry. That is the only thought I gave to it. I do not know where he went.

I am told that there were serious family schisms over these changes. Those who chose to keep their name the same went their way and the revisionists went theirs. In the case of the Schallers, I was informed that the 'originals' maintained a superior attitude about it and looked down at the revisionists. As a kid I found this all rather amusing when I found out about it; but my mother did not. My mom was a climber and was very sensitive to any slight. The idea that she belonged to the revisionist group irked. I think that she would have figured a way to get the 'c' back if she had not married and changed her name to Rose anyway.

I only found out there were SChallers, when I went to high school. My history teacher was (gasp) Mrs. Schaller. She was not a Schaller by blood, she married into it and probably found it all as amusing as I did. She and I did not discuss it however. We pretended that she was not married to my second cousin Charles who my mother's side of the family did not talk to and I had never heard of. To this day I have no idea if there were other second cousins; where Charles came from; or where he went.

There was no such drama with my dad's name. Rose was better; we were right; and it didn't matter anyway goddamit. He was very tight-lipped about family history. I never understood this; but guess there was enough unhappiness going around at the time to keep 'it' buried in the past where it belonged. I first learned about living in the day from my dad. The catch is that, if you are going to live in the day, you have to be able to unload the past and, while I am not sure he did, he lived as if he had and I am grateful for it. He had no self pity. He had a hard life and triumphed. But, that is another story.

CHANGE

We say goodbye to one link today. Here is your chance to bookmark The Borowitz Report. He is 'not as funny' as he used to be. Actually, I suspect that he is as funny as he has always been; but this type of humor wears thin once you get the guy's aim and style. What was sudden and surprising; the juxtapositions of headlines; is now predictable or doesn't have the thump that it did.

At the same time I add another three blogs of a political nature.

Slate News and Politics has a nice range of topics and viewpoints to choose from; most of them from the left side of the ledger. It also provides a very handy summary of what the newspapers and, on Saturday, the magazines are headlining. We can't read everything.

You might also like the blog Josh Marshall Talking Points. Marshall analyzes. He gets below the scruffy surface and finds nuggets to work with and maul around.

I am very excited about a new site with a variety of lefty writers with BITE: The Gadflyer: The Agressive Progressive; mostly Thomas Schaller (my mother's family name; we might be related!) and some really good 'guest' writers. Enjoy. Rev up. Get Ready for the big one.

BLOOM

Did I mention that the long anticipated desert flowers are here? They are a bit early because of the unprecedented high temperatures the last couple of weeks. Normally, a wet winter is followed by a flowery spring and that would be April. But, here they are, and they are gorgeous. We see them on walks and on bike rides: violet sand verbenia, the white desert poppy, small white flowers, purple flowers, yellow dandelion like blossoms and more; everywhere! Every bit of undisturbed land has them. There are even little flowers all over Franklin's squirrel/gopher lot and in the miserable sand wallow that we walk through many mornings to flush rabbits.

Yesterday, on the way up and back from Idyllwild, the mountain roadways were filled with bright yellow brittle bush; the water that gulleys down the roads gets the very dry bush all velvety and lush green. There is the scarlet something--I forget the full name of that bush and the wonderfully wierd ocotillo. Ocotillo looks like a bush stem but is technically a cactus that gets leaves and beautiful red-orange flowers at the end of very long stems; sometimes ten to twelve feet. You can see them in this picture; the biggest plants.

A less dramatic but interesting side effect of a wet winter is the dramatic rush of cactus growth. When you travel to higher levels here, the cactus varieties change per elevation. At the lower levels we have beaver tail, then the barrel cactus. As we go higher we see the teddy bear like cholla (ouch!). They all have big green nobs at the end of their branches; the product of a robust growth during this opportune time. Of the cacti, only the ocotillo is in bloom; the brilliant magenta beaver, yellow cholla and variously blossomed barrels will be out soon I think.

MODERATES

Interesting article in Salon today: Republicans for Kerry helps me understand a bit the dilemma for moderate Republicans; the ones who see the right terrorizing their 'homeland'; the kinder gentler Republicans who deserve the upper case, who have been carjacked by the yahoos who run the party now.

In the same Salon day, Dennis Jett answers some of the questions I raised about Colin Powell and what motivates him to behave as he does: Searching for Colin Powell. Colin's goin' for the book money. Driven by self interest. Hmmm. Kinda cynical but there it is. It also stitches up the other side of the bag and shows how moderate Repubs like Powell became the apologists for the right and as such have sold out their Party and perhaps even the country. Some interesting comparisons with another General who 'lay in State', George Marshall. Powell comes out the lighter weight.

And while they are all wringing their hands and getting their share of the pie, another moderate Richard Clarke has set a fire to the bushers tails with his testimony and his new book which are a DC phenom Ex Aide's Book Corners Market in the New York Times.

MUTE

We now have sound on the teevee at the gym. I have been going there for over ten years and there has never been sound on the two sets allotted to the cardio section (about ten treadmills, ten elliptical trainers, ten bikes recumbent and upright, two rowing machines, and eight step climbers). The sets have been mute, apparently by corporate policy, because they bother the people who have earphones. Now think about this awhile as I continue.

There are certain benefits to mute teevee. One is that you do not have to listen to the blather. The other is that one becomes really astute at lip reading and inferring. Inference is a wonderful thing. We see the picture and make assumptions about what is happening. This is especially valuable for the news.

Recently, I have added in-gym cardio time to my daily routine. I am in front of the mute teevee more often. The other day, it was really early. No one else was on the floor. Someone from an earlier shift had turned the sound up (gasp). There was the usual Entertainment Tonight Preview (430AM to 500AM). This is not the real ET incidentally, this is takeouts and trailers of the program which will appear, well, tonight! They were doing something on Justin Timberlake and I was surprised how fem he sounds. So I turned the sound up further. I bet our Justin is closet. Gaydar red-alert even if he is a bodice ripper. Believe me it is all show biz there. Then other things came on. I HEARD as well as saw. Michael Jackson. Martha Stewart. I was wallowing in the mess like everyone else. Revelation.

The next day, when I got to the bikes, the sound was down. I turned it up. I have been doing so ever since, acting as if I am in charge; which in this instance I am, as no one has objected. Today, the sound was up on the OTHER teevee as well as mine. It is a major rebellion against the arbitrary authority of the gym management. Don't get me started on that one. It is a new management. Golds has bought the franchise back and it is very badly managed from Las Vegas; of all places.

Where was I? This morning, on both teevees, we saw and heard the beginnings of Early Today; NBC's pre-Today news program which is pretty good. They were absolutely roasting Condoleezza Rice's ass. She looked very bad at all levels; sight, sound, makeup, and basic story line. This is great. Did you know that she was not going to testify at the 9-11 hearings? Can you believe it? Well, after the other day with Mr. Clarke, they are going to put her on the grill. You know that I do not have any cable or other tv programming at home. The gym is my only video source. Now I can hear the jumble as well as see it.

A note: I saw real programs on the teevee set in the above picture; a Philco. I was there at the inception. Howdy Doody.

IDYLLWILD

We took a Jeep ride to the mountains today. Lisa lives in the Massachusetts Berkshires, so trees and woods are not very special. But, she has never seen anything like our mountains and the miles of wilderness; to say nothing of chaparral, pinion pine, lodge pole pine and the like. Neither had we; until we came out here.

We went up the back way through Banning and up, up and away by 243 through Pine Cone (pop. 32) to Idyllwild. We stopped at a few lookouts. It was neat. John and I had not been up there since Christmas Day 2002. We used Idyllwild as a substitute for an aborted holiday trip up the east side of the Sierra to Reno and back down the west side. The trip was wiped out by ten feet of snow between Lee Vining and Reno. We wanted the snow but not that much. We settled for a two hour ride to Idyllwild at the top of the mountain, two feet of snow and slippery ice here and there, 20 degree weather, and a great dinner at one of the local restaurants. Then we came back down to the desert; the shortest winter you can get.

We skipped last year because we had a new arrival in the house; Franklin. It is not likely we could have taken him for dinner and we didn't feel OK about leaving him home. Today was his first long ride in the Jeep (four hours) and his first trip to another location. First lunch (outside) away from home. He took his little food and water pack. We rode the alpine meadows and fast drop switchbacks of Route 74 back down into the desert valley. We all had a great time. Naps for all.

BY GOD

You gotta hand it to Michael Newdow for bringing this 'under god' thing all the way to the Supremes. You know, he acts as his own lawyer because he can; he is one. But he is not a practitioner to the BIG court so it is a real act of courage. I read that he rehearsed a lot.

So he had to stand there and put up with what seems to be some sophomoric attitude from a bunch of god-believers who find his position to be either ridiculous, beneath contempt, or even (gasp) profane and sacreligous. The latter being the point, of course. The lame right wing Rehnquist points out that Congress passed the law unanimously. Landow responds to say that no atheist can be elected to any office and so he was not represented. Exactly the point, I think. There was applause in the court which the Chief (gold stripes on his gown) quashed.

It is interesting that no one raises the question of which god we are saying we are 'under'. I am pretty sure that the Congress in 1954 was not only unanimous in its vote; but in an unstated affirmation that the 'god' in question was a judeo-christian one. And, if pressed, given the times, they really were not including the jews in the deal either. There were a few in office then but not a lot. I am not sure you could elect a muslim--have we? I lack facts here. Or a professed buddhist. We will not wander into the paths of unrighteousness and explore other possibilities. Speaking for myself, if we all have to have one, I prefer George Burns to play the role of god. He played the role in a movie and he is now in the right place to do it.

The court could dodge the bullet and rule in favor of the faint argument that Landow is not really the kid's Dad, having lost custody because 'his wife is a fundamental christian and does not share his belief' or is that non-belief. Irony of ironies, they would be endorsing the notion of a believer's pre-eminent right, no? I dunno.

I was there when they did it, of course; 1954. I was seventeen and ready to graduate from high school. I had already left my birth religion but was trying other doctrines on for size; on the road to hell. I do not remember it as being all that dramatic. Eisenhower was President then so we were putting up with anything. It was the fifties. Dad was in the White House. Mr. Clean.

No one asked me my opinion either. We had to say the 'lords prayer' too. This issue of 'god' in the pledge is closely connected to that requirement of the lord's prayer in my mind. I think of both together, and of the pledge as the second part of a necessary elision. No prayer and no god in the pledge. At least the LP is gone now; but, a lot of people are still asked to do the prayer in other venues as though we are all christians let alone believe in the same god, if any. It is interesting though, that if you take a stand, like Landow, and people think about it, they will go along with the idea of keeping religion out of civic life.

I remember that when I was Moderator of the Plymouth MA Town Meeting, (some years down the devil's path, I was 35, ca. 1972), I did away with the lords prayer and the routine invocation carried out by a rotating cast of local sky pilots. I never got challenged. The prayer and the pilots were gone forever as far as I know. See, I think this is the point. No one thinks of challenging these things, but when they do, people think about it and are willing to change. It has a strong impact. Landow may lose the battle but win the war here. He had the courage to ask the question.

Some of the argument against banning the prayer from schools back then was that, if a kid didn't want to pray, he or she could just remain silent. It is ironic--and an indication that the two issues ARE linked-- that today in the Court, the same assertion was made. If a child did not want to say 'god', s/he would not have to say the word; or, worried about censure from others, he or she could move the lips. What? We had a kid in our school, the only jew, who did not say the 'lord's' prayer. He was ostracized of course; the 'little godless bastard'.

On the other hand, god is not as popular as he was in the fifties (and it is a 'H'e too and don't you forget it); although people overwhelmingly approve the prayer when polled; some say 9 out of 10. I guess when push comes to shove most people want to believe we are a nation under 'god'. It is, at last, the last refuge in justifying a lot of what we do all over the world when logical argument indicates that we are wrong.

Ah, yes. 9 out of 10. But, we are not run by polls, not yet. We are run by a Constitution that says church and state should be separated. Whether it makes us feel good to have 'god on our side' or not. George is supposed to be over there at the side of the stage, cigar in hand, observing and commenting but never interfering. Go, George.

NOTHING

Today is one of those days when I have nothing to blog about.

I thought that I would say something about Bob Edwards being chucked from NPR's Morning Edition. He is not going quietly into the morning. I have a thing about 'fixtures' in spots like this. I am so tired of his 'I have been here so long I own this', smarmy voice; but then, the idea that some other heavy breather would take over the slot; someone who was even more annoying (if that is possible) freezes me mid-laugh. I have to admit, that it is not a big deal for me. I am no longer a big NPR listener. I got tired of all that of superior non-profit attitude they all have over there. I don't know who is the worst. It used to be that awful Susan Stamberg but they nudged her aside long ago; she and Bob were the original couple on All Things Considered; now Bob's nudged. And so on. Anyway, by the time I thought this over I didn't want to write about it.

I thought that I might do something about the fact that Howard Dean is gettin' ready to actually endorse Kerry. But now that I get to it, I find low energy for the job. I am sorry to say that I think it is too little too late. I was ready for Dr. Dean to re-emerge at some later time to start something or do something but endorsing Kerry is not it. I am afraid that perhaps he already has done the thing he was supposed to do and that he is no longer a player. The people who supported him are way-there. MoveOn is there. Some of the money that supported him is flowing in other directions. The Demo Party will never be the same at least for awhile. He did a good job. That is it. But, it is so boring to see him make a big deal of this I decided not to write about it.

My daughter Lisa is here. We had a wonderful first day. A great bike ride. Nice times. But it is too soon in the week to write in the blog and besides I am somewhat guarded about other people's privacy so I would not make a big deal out of it.

We are down on movies. With company in the house and the impact of the weekend mail wave interrupting the DVD flow, we have no films to watch; perhaps later. I cannot write about something that I have not done.

Let's see. What else do I not want to write about. That is about it. The bushers are so comic at the moment with their own gyrations; how many positions can you use to cover your ass? Look at them fly. No need to point at that. It is almost embarrassing.

OK that is it. No blog entries today. There's nothing to write about.

YAZZUH

It is interesting that, when they are under fire and really need something, the bushers have no shame in asking Colin Powell to make testimonials to their good intentions and high quality performance. This is in contrast to their normal practice of putting him in deep background and low influence.

What is most amazing is that Powell himself has so little personal pride as to let this happen. There used to be a very unpleasant racial epithet for this kind of behavior but as we are in present times and the actual Powell behavior so blatantly servile, I am loathe to use it. Perhaps it is the good soldier idea which is great, when you are a soldier, but downright dysfunctional in serious public discourse.

I saw Powell once, but not for very long. He spoke at our son Dave's doctoral graduation at Harvard. It was at the time of 'don't ask, don't tell'. I was one of many who got up and left the auditorium when he began to speak. Of all things for a black man to go along with. Don't ask, don't tell. Of course a lot of black people fell into this category for a long time in the military. Don't ask and don't tell about in your face discrimination and prejudice. Perhaps that is why he has no embarrassment about being asked to bail out the man when the man has done so little for him. It is an abiding mystery to me.

THROWING RICE

They scrambled all they had yesterday to counter the myriad charges in Richard Clarke's new book. His comments about 9-11 are damaging to the bushers; right in the middle of the delayed and thwarted hearings. An eye opener.

This is a guy who worked for Reagan, bush one, and Clinton. Suddenly he is a bitter, wrong, wild and crazy guy who never saw anything and was out of the loop and....... They sent Condy to all the AM talk shows to make a counter and then the press guy spent the rest of the day trashing Clarke; big league spinning. This is the way of the bushers. Go for the guy; obscure the issue. I hope that this is one that doesn't go away too soon.

Yesterday KOS had a neat timeline of the 9-11 events; not based on Clarke but on a study by the Center for American Progress. You might want to take a look; worse than I would have thought. Bush and terrorism: the timeline by kos Mon Mar 22nd, 2004 at 16:44:55 GMT. Scroll down, then work your way back up; there is a lot more today.

ALONE

I was alone for two days. John went over to Long Beach to see Randy's new condo, then stopped at Ontario to pick up Lisa who is going to be here through Sunday. In the meantime, Franklin and I kept bachelor hall in PS.

It was OK for Franklin. He was scheduled for his half day at the K-9 Country Club. This outfit has 'grooming' as its cover, but my take is that he is so happy to go and so excited when he gets there; something else is going on. I picture wild dog parties.

Actually the K-9 is a place that believes dogs should not be freaked by getting washed and clipped so they take a bunch in at the same time. Yesterday there were at least 8. Then they work on them one at a time, bit by bit. In the meantime, the doggies play with each other or not. It is great socialization for Franklin. He doesn't ever get enough face time with the dogs that he meets on the road. At least half are sullen or depressed, another few are hostile. The remaining 'friendlies' are very popular, but, after all it is a walk.

Back to me. I got to do some chores while he was a playboy; then picked him up about lunchtime. We both put in the long wait for the plane to land and the car to get here from Ontario. Waiting is not our best game.

But, the gang was all together again with a new playmate from back east! Whoof! And all is well.

Asteroid

I never saw an asteroid go past did you? Looka this. He is the spot right in the center. An asteroid has to be a 'he' doesn't he?

It is goin' so faaaaast. Actually it took half an hour. These are time lapsed pictures. One more example of the government dicking with documents and data :).

If you want to read about this and see the whizzer fly by in an even larger format; go to Astronomy Picture of the Day 2004 March 22.

If you read this another day, the photo will be in the archives. It is gif, actually.

Keeeerist look out here comes another one. Get down!

OUTRAGEOUS

This is the first in a long time that I do not feel outraged at something. I am outflanked by the pedestrian nature of the news or perhaps so over-the-topped by it I am numb to the headlines. I am not upset that the Feds tracked Kerry for a year; or that the White House dismisses their own guy when he says they wanted to pin 9-11 on Iraq from the beginning; or even that they are now doctoring tapes to get out disinfo about the Kerry campaign. What else is new?

And the same goes for the rest of the world. The Israelis finally killed the Hamas monster which will unleash even further violence. Another member of the Afghan cabinet has been killed. The war in Iraq continues unabated.

I am not worried about it. I am not in a protest mode. And it is only March. I am waiting for the next big thing. I figure that all of the distortion and disinformation in the world cannot turn the economy or unemployment picture around. I am not the only one that 'lost' a lot of retirement nest egg the last few weeks; while the administration played hardball politics rather than doing their job.

No one is going to do anything for nine months. We did get the second Repub senator to say the truth; which is that Kerry is not soft on defense. Did any Demos say so? Or our elected party leaders are still looking for their balls somewhere. OK. I feel it coming back. A little outrage. I knew that if I started to type, I would get back on track. I will keep working on it. Aaarrgh! Here. Help me get my pants off.

ASHES AND DIAMONDS(1958)

Today's movie; NYTimes1000Best; Polish director Andrzej Wajda; last of in a trilogy about WWII. The day the War ends, a young resistance fighter must decide between continuing the fight over the communist regime, already placing itself in power, or to quit and return to his studies and a normal life. This is a crossroads picture with an overlay of political three-way and the angling that goes on to keep balance in a very volatile situation.

The film is dark and beautifully photographed in black and white. Light is one of the stars of the picture. There are a lot of stunning visuals; cinematic surprises which underline the classical plot; at times transforming the realistic film to an allegorical, almost fantastic, level. I think that this is always very difficult to pull off but Wajda never loses control. Almost all the film takes place in the narrow confines of a bar, a banquet hall and a hotel room. Tight. I liked it a lot though I was squirming at times. It is violent without being grisly. I will give it a 4 on the Netflix5 scale.

HIT IT!

While I was typing my blog item on skunks, I accidentally hit the command key and the dash (also the MINUS) key, never mind why–well I was meaning to hit the option key and the dash to get a wide dash, see. I missed. Anyway when I mishit the two keys, the type got smaller. I panicked. So I hit the same combo AGAIN! The type got even smaller than that! All of it. Everything that I had written so far.

Now let me pause and observe this obsessive action of REPUSHING the button when something goes wrong. This is not a good idea! It makes the matter worse doesn't it? It did for me. Then why is the automatic response to hit it again? Denial that the first bollix happened? A hope that the second hit will reverse the first? It is an interesting phenom. I wonder how many disasters were not so much from the first push of the button but the second try to see if the first had really turned out as badly as it seemed. But, I digress. Let us return to our story.

I stopped pushing the button. Relaxed. Breathed. Thought it out: "What could have happened"?

As I worked it through–how to get out of this mess– (a MUCH better strategy for dealing with panic). The alternative solution would be to recompose ALL of the blog but that would be very tedious as it involved three colors and a variety of other tags.

So I thought it out. I retraced my steps. I figured that if 'that' happened with a minus maybe the plus would reverse it. I gave it a whirl. I already had my worst case scenario.

VOILA! That worked.

What a discovery. Now all I have to figure out is how and why I would ever want such an effect on the page.

ALERT

We are on high skunk alert this morning. It is either RED LEVELor maybe it is ORANGE LEVEL. I am pretty sure that it is not–what is the next one? YELLOW LEVEL?. Call that bulldog looking guy Tom Ridge and find out what the deal is.

We woke up and as I meandered through the first steps I smelled it. He has been or is or will be in the area. Franklin was laid out. But as I rubbed his belly he got conscious and smelled it too. UP. We went out to pee and I took the precaution of the LONG leash–not the short one–I guess that means we are not RED. That would be the short one.

We went to the back yard and he did his thing. I watched the perimeter. No action, but the unmistakable smell. Intelligence reports tell us that the smell is the first thing you notice.

We made it inside safely and started breakfast but then Franklin began his long wandering lope from door to window to door around the interior. Groaning. There is no describing Franklin's groan; a sort of low pitched keening-grunting-drone. It is like he is complaining.

So far there are no sightings and no contact with the enemy. We are on the alert though. IF someone would just tell us what color it is.

AGUIRRE THE WRATH OF GOD(1972)

Today's movie; NYTimes1000Best; Werner Herzog's take on the Pizarro expedition in Peru; Klaus Kinski doing his hammy but extremely effective thing; starring the jungle and a lot of people who must have put up with a lot to make this picture.

AGGUIRE is the ultimate in cinematic realism; nearly a documentary. In 1972 there were no gadgets. You saw what they did on the 'set'. I saw it in the original. I still remember them going over the Andes and, of all things, the horse being left standing in the jungle (see it).

The experience of watching this film is dense and intense. Though it is pretty clear what is going to happen, there is an edge-of-the-seat quality as the inevitable unfolds.

There is a great website for Werner Herzog. It has a lot of interesting stuff including a trailer on the 75th birthday of his favorite actor Klaus Kinski. Notably, Herzog charges for downloadable still pictures from his films. He has the heart of a producer as well as a director. He has produced, written, and directed more than forty films, published more than a dozen books of prose, and directed as many operas.

We will be seeing at least one other Herzog film in the 1000: FITZCARRALDO. Herzog/Kinski's NOSFERATU probably should be on the list as well but it is not. I will give this a Netflix 4 out of 5.
 

WOODY

When we got the new Sebring convertible in December, the plan was to sell our 1984 Le Baron Town and Country Convertible or 'Woody' for short. You can see why 'for short'. 'Woody' or 'Woods' rolls off the tongue a bit more readily than 'our Chrysler Le Baron Town and Country Convertible'. Actually, it is 'our Chrysler Le Baron Town and Country Mark Cross Edition Convertible'. Whew.

The other thing is that the nickname 'Woody' or 'Woods' or 'the Woods' (when talking in the third person) signifies our deep affection for the car and all it stands for; another time; another aesthetic; the rebirth of the convertible--a lot of history; and so on.

Therefore, it is also not a surprise that our original plan has not been implemented and 'the Woods' is still sitting in the garage; there has been no ad, no sign put on the windshield whilst we parked 'him' on a prominent street (a big PS practice--there are streets that have 8-10 cars for sale parked at the curbs); and we have not called any of the people who put a note on our windshield one time or another saying 'if you ever decide to sell the car give me a call' or something like that. In other words, there is no action up to now and in the present.

I guess any observer would conclude that we are not ready to sell 'the Woods'. The other night John asked what we were going to do and I made a pitch for keeping him--Woods not John. The costs of keeping it are not too high--a few hundred for registration and insurance. There is the inconvenience of having a space taken up in the garage. The Jeep has to be in the carport and, when people come, we put it on the street. Back and forth' forth and back. The only one happy with that exercise is Franklin who loves to ride in the Jeep.

I don't know. It is a puzzle. Have we become auto-besotted SouthernCalifornians all ready? Perhaps. When we arrived here in one car, the Jeep, someone told us that we would have to have two cars. They were right. Two guys, two cars, independence. We found the Woods. Love at first sight. The same person added, we thought as a joke, that 'of course if you live in Southern California, two guys should really have three cars'. We have never been able to figure that logic out until now.

I take Woods out once or twice a week. I had him out this morning to go to the Meeting. He still attracts a lot of attention, which is one reason to have him. He also works pretty well once he gets going. I can still beat someone at a light and that is on four cylinders. So, his start-up is cranky and there are some faults with his transmission. He is a handsome geezer and in these days when I am getting a lot more appreciative of handsome geezers, Woody may just hang around a while. I certainly intend to.

ABSENCE OF MALICE(1981)

Today's Movie: NYTimes1000Best; Paul Newman who got an Oscar nom out of it; Sally Field; Sidney Pollack directed. This kinda formulaic piece about the power of the press to inuEND you is a bit dense with plot but plays really well. There are some good side players; Bob Balaban and Luther Adler for example. But the best part comes at the end when Wilford Brimley appears to make it all right. I did not remember that I had seen this picture until he walks in and kicks ass and takes names. I wrongly had this memorable scene in another movie with Gene Hackman; maybe he did the same thing twice. Anyway, what a nice surprise to find him here.

Brimley is the consummate character actor who owns his part in whatever picture he is featured (he has been in over 60 of them) including the oatmeal commercials. He is one of those guys you want to meet someday.

I liked the movie well enough but will probably forget it all again by the time another 23 years passes; except of course Brimley's 15 minutes at the end. I will give it a 3 out of the Netflix 5.

FUSION

It has been interesting to see the discussion of McCain as VP on a fusion ticket with Kerry. But today in The New Republic we see another take; a lot more practical: Kerry's Best Surrogate. John McCain as a dissenter from the bush message.

Low and behold, this afternoon in Yahoo News, the headline: McCain Says Kerry Not Weak on Defense dissenting from the speech by that dick Cheney. It is working. McCain is not a liar and not crooked. He will not be pigeonholed with the zombies who mindlessly support the ticket. Good for him. Good for Kerry. Good for the country.

CONTINUING

I have been thinking a lot about the film we saw the other day: THE ACCUSED with Kelly McGillis and Jody Foster (Link to THE ACCUSED).

Particularly, I have been struck by the indelible performance of Foster in the role of rape victim. There are two aspects of it. The first is only startling in its rarity in today's films; Foster absolutely inhabits the role of Sarah. She IS Sarah. She is a recognizable 'type' and yet utterly unique and totally realized. The second part is the way both Foster and the director have been able to show not tell the fact of Sarah's almost complete isolation and loneliness. She has no true friends; in fact, her only girlfriend ends up testifying against her. Her live-in is a sex-machine drifter doper who she throws out.

I have not taken Foster seriously as an actress I guess. I have not seen a lot of her films. I guess she has to go on the list as a not-to-be-missed; certainly a not-to-be-DISmissed player.

Another aspect of this film is its honesty. Foster's character is not a 'good girl'. In fact, she is a rather bad girl and just skirts the limits of what is often thought of as 'provocative' behavior in the rape situation. Taking the risk to fly that close to the flame of cliche; the canard that 'she asked for it' is put to rest. Sexy and sexual do not equal either wanton or 'wanting it'. Rape is rape no matter what the circumstances. A lot of assumptions get smashed in this memorable film.

32

Today's Film: 32 Short Films About Glen Gould(1994); NYTimes1000Best; docu-drama; beautifully done; extraordinarily moving.

I never saw or heard Glen Gould in person but I was deeply moved by his recording work and, at one time, had more than a few of his records; that huge library of LPs that became obsolete. His 'touch' was unmistakable. I think that I can still pick out a Gould recording if it comes over the FM station. This film is structured on the Bach Goldberg Variations; one of Gould's signature works. He recorded them many times. Amazon lists 24 editions; some of them may be retreads.

What is not well known about Gould is that he was a radio artist; a writer; and a deeply engaged friend to a wide variety of people. Wildly eccentric and obsessively isolated from his own musical 'system', he sought the company of simple people where he relaxed and became just Glenn or Mr. Gould.

This film is just superb. It does not shy away from the sad parts of Gould's life (he was a prescription drug addict) and it does not attempt to 'solve' the riddle of his unique talent. If you sit and take the film in you will 'get it' and not be able to explain it either. I will give it a 5 out of Netflix 5.

WIDELY QUOTED

Your's truly quoted today in the WallStreetJournal OnLine:Cutting TV Cord

Earl Rose writes: We moved from a house in Boston to an interim apartment as we began to go into retirement and on to live in the desert in Palm Springs. On moving day, the cable guy arrived at the new location. We had moved some of our art with us and had managed to bolt a rather large painting right over the cable connection box. Faced with the choice of television or re-hanging the picture, we took one long look at one another and said "forget the cable." A nonmoving picture won over the wiggly writhing mass of pictures on TV; a moment of truth. We have never looked back.

HARK

It is with great pleasure that I note the web-resurrection of the famed 'zine The Harold Herald. HH was the original blog. A blog before its time. Now it is presented to us in its natural blogospheric milieu: The Harold Herald.

Its eponymous Editor Hal Phillips has christened the blog with an inaugural article Christian Outing. You can find it under the date March 14th, 2004. It seems that one of the christer outfits in Maine decided to go for 'outing' public figures as part of its 'punish gays' outreach projects. Christians are always looking for ways to 'do what the master would do".

For a few days there was quite a stir over the possibility that the homos had really taken over; that the gay agenda had been completed up there in the northeast corner.

Suddenly and inexplicably, the campaign was called off. We can only surmise that the perps discovered outing to be a two way street. It is an axiom that every gay bash and every gay bar raid and every attempt to unmask the faggots ALWAYS yields a few closet cases in the process; an evangelical minister here, a right wing republican congressman there. Perhaps the outing research included a few of the namers as well as the named. Perhaps 'the gays' reminded the blue noses that two sides can play the same game. Happily, they put a sock on it. Sadly, this great article that Hal wrote had to be put aside because the enemy had left the field.

Oh yes. I know about the word 'eponymous'. You may think it backward; that the blog is eponymitic; named after Hal. No. In this case, Hal was named for the zine! But, nevermind. As I get the Merriam Webster out, I see that, both entities are eponymous.

Main Entry: epon·y·mous Pronunciation: i-'pä-n&-m&s, Function: adjective: of, relating to, or being an eponym

Another thing. I accept it as a tribute to esrosedotblog that Hal and his talented staff* have chosen the same stock template that we use here.

*DISCLOSURE: The Harold Herald web manager (or some other cyberish title)is closely related to the Prez of esrosedotblog. Be assured that they have never discussed the Herald or this blog's positions regarding it. Well, maybe a few times, but never the actual content. And that only when there was a complaint about the obvious appropriation of the esrosedotblog template. That is graphics though and not editorial stuff. But they have not talked of it since; unless you count the time esrdb asked about the Herald's web address. And so on. So there is no undue influence. It is all cool.

MICHELANGELO

Michelangelo Signorile has a great column today: Crooked Fingers Pointing. The inventor of 'outing' (sorta) Mike is a no holds barred kind of guy. Most of his writing is on gay issues but today his thoughts are exactly mine on the latest Repub-hypocrisies.

This one is good because my man Mike spills a lot of beans on the un-mentioned family members Bro Neil and twins Jemma and Barb. We wondered where all this info was and now we have found out. Family values. Crooked? Lying?

And while we are on it, how about that big dick Cheney with his attack on Kerry's ability to lead in time of war. And Rove's brag about how the 'attack machine' can anticipate every speech Kerry makes and have ads in place BEFORE the event undermining it. And so on. It is nasty stuff. Rove and Cheney and the puppet bush. Blah blah. Maybe I will just go into hibernancy for all this shit.

I get all riled. This morning I was listening to how the evangelicals are pouring into Iraq and converting the masses to their religous point of view. Bread and bibles. It is an old sad story. And then we say that this is not a religous war. Oil. Bible belting. And oh yes, draft dodging.

FLOOD

It all started with a floodlight bulb. Its fixture had been broken in a gardening project. Jon came today to fix it. There is a line of floods that illuminate the citrus trees and mark the line between the pool apron and the garden area. No big deal.

But then we discover that there is another fixture way down at the end which has been half buried. And while we are at it, the fixture on the skyduster palms has a broken screwhead and lets water in and what's that? Oh MY! Not one but two conduits rusted away. A stream of consciousness of all the suppressed electrical worries and wonders over the years. John even unearthed the old mystery switch in the kitchen; whether it connected to that dead floodlight under the olive tree.

Our house is over 50 years old and has been the victim of countless professional and amateur fix-it projects. We spent a LOT of money this summer undoing a lot of it when we had the roof done; all those random wires running back and forth had to be cleared off. It took a first class pro to undo the mess and redo the system. But, that was just the roof. It didn't have a lot to do with the yard area.

So it was no surprise today when Jon found that one outlet had a constant current with no apparent source even when the switch was turned off; and there were many other anomolies. That half buried outlet had two terminals both live and no place to go. Blah blah. A one hour job took three, a few outlets were deadened, the floodlight arrangement was altered to fit the new paradigm of safe wiring and so on. The kitchen switch mystery was not solved however. The olive tree flood was opened and closed again when there was no current; a project for a later visit; another starting point for another fix-it marathon.

We had a good time though and the price was right and Jon is a good talker. He is also a great companion for Franklin. He lets the pooch look in his bag and handle his tools and bite his ears. Franklin could ask no more of a full service provider. He loves to 'help'. A good time was had by all. And once again, we learned that all projects are more complicated than you think beforehand; more is revealed as each step is taken and owning an older home is a continuing puzzle to be solved.

BLOSSOMS

The air is filled with the scent of citrus blossoms. They are everywhere. At times it can be a bit of an overload. For the most part though, it comes in waves and is sooooo pleasant. We are at the beginning of a long cycle where, before long, the fruit will set and then ripen through the hot summer. We will have grapefruit in November, tangerines in December. The lemons and limes will run off and on all year. The citrus needs the heat but it also needs the time. That is why they grow here. We give them lots of time to do their thing.

For eastern boys who only knew long winters, this is all new and exciting; even after seven years here. To the locals it is old stuff. This time of year everyone is denuding their trees of fruit so that the blossoms can take over. And you can't give it away. Everyone has fruit.

This old-fruit removal at blossom is a controversial issue. Some believe that it is an unnecessary step. It will all come off eventually; the old stuff is used up or drops off. We have done it both ways and do not note any difference in yield. This year we are leaving it up for the visitors. It looks great and underlines the exotic atmosphere. When the last of the easterners leave in April, the grapefruits come down.

SPANISH FLY

The new Spanish el primo Jose Zapatero says he is taking his troops out of Iraq because the whole thing is based on lies. Quite a blow to the bushers and a new credence to two of Kerry's assertions: (1) that the administration lies and is crooked and (2) that there are foreign leaders who would like the bushers out of there.

It is amusing to see the counterspin from the Repubs; its not that anyone disagrees with the points actually; it seems to be more that it was bad taste for Kerry to say it out loud. He is not playing the game.

I think that this was Howard Dean's whole argument; that both sides had become frozen into this game of not confronting one other; not telling the truth; engaging in a sort of mutual denial. Don't rock the boat. Let 'em eat cake. Well the cake is gone and the truth seems to be coming out and it will be a very interesting 8-9 months. Thanks Howard. You put the spine back into the Democratic Party and enlivened Lurch. Let's see if they can sustain it.

THE ACCUSED(1988)

Today's movie; NYT1000Best: Jody Foster won an Oscar for her performance; a young woman with a past who tries to receive justice after being gang raped. She is not a model citizen. She is on the margins of the system. It makes her goal a lot harder to achieve. Kelly McGillis is the Assistant DA who gets the job done.

I felt teary and very emotional throughout. There is a slow buildup of the events after the rape; we do not witness the rape itself until the full impact is understood. Recalled by a key witness in the courtroom, the pivotal moments unfold on the screen as he describes them. This results in a much more visceral understanding of the picture's message.

As in all good films there are several arcs: the relationship between the two women which transforms into 'near friendship'; the drama of an 'unknown' eyewitness who comes to realize his own truth; the uphill battle to get a case to a jury without plea bargaining the rights of the victim away.

It is very good. I give it a 4 on the Netflix scale.

BLIX

In the 'what goes around comes around department' I note that Hans Blix is making himself a nuisance to the bushers and roiling the waters on w's image as a powerful and beloved world leader. Today he takes on the fantasy that the world is a safer place after the I-rack 'victory'. They should have been nicer to him. Former UN Inspector Has Harsh Words for Bush.

BACK

I have been away from the blogging for a couple of days. We had friends here to visit and the priority went to visitin', hangin' out and time off. We actually took the time to be in the pool and lounge around it. We forget that we are in one of America's finest playgrounds. We need to kick ourselves back into the sybaritic life every once in awhile. We get to thinking that our routine is more important than taking in the sun, the birds, the air, and the beautiful setting. We even went down to the village for lunch today and sat outside, people watching, hanging out. It was OK. I don't do lunch–ever–so it was a rare experience with a lot of undertones of what it was like for us when we came here for vacations. Nice. But not a thing to be resumed. I can go a long while on today's lunch experience.

DIP

The season is in high gear. And that is just in the village. We have reverted to the outdoor life as well. The pool cover is off all the time now; and today, I will cut back the time of solar heating on the pool so it doesn't get up to 90 by afternoon. It is air-warm enough to 'need' a quick dip to cool off. Out here, the cooling happens when we get out! The dry air speeds evap rates; so, we need that wrap-around towel, especially if we go inside right away rather than warm in the sun.

SWITCH

Big changes in the dog-walk department. I am switching with John so that I will do the Franklin hour in the morning and he will take over night. This will allow him to get back to the gym and me to do supper uninterrupted. We have yet to figure what it will do for Franklin. We started today.

PASS THE BUCKS

The fun has started. Kerry says he talked to foreign leaders who want him to win. The bushers say 'prove it'. Of course, it is a trap. We all know that a lot of people outside the USA hate the current prez and the feelings are mutual. Oh, I know, hate is a strong word, but it is a time for hyperbole. They are doing it why not me?

The trap? Well, if Kerry says who it is he is talking to; it puts them on the spot and then opens him up for a charge of meddling and going back channel and all. It is a no win deal. I hope that he and his handlers have figured a way out of it. Maybe it is like the 'crook and liar' thing. He got through that nicely by not denying or switching the rhetoric at all. He just pointed his finger at the professional crooks and liars –the negative campaign gang–that any campaign attracts; but which the bushers seem to have convened in near critical mass. No one doubted that he was right on the money with the accusation.

Speaking of which, Kos has a nice set of results on the GOP and rightie soft money attack ads that are just out. Seems they are so complex in their attack that the effect is blunted or off target. See Bush Ads Miss Mark for Monday 0315.

Yeh, I know there is no 'soft money' any more; just the soft money that goes into parallel campaigns by private organizations; in other words, 'soft money'; just the new delivery mode. But the Dems have it to. The MoveOn organization is putting out a million dollars worth of time in 11-12 States that need a tweak. George Soros is funding a huge warchest to do anti-bush ads. Others are working this angle also. The idea is to try to balance against the huge bush-campaign fund money gusher. Here come the bucks.

JUST BEKOS

The liberal blog most likely to make you feel good if you are a Demo and turn you wild if you are a Repub is installed in the links section today:

DAILY KOS–Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the Nation.

The blog is a compendium of contribution; so, has a wide variety of voices singing the same song.

MIRROR

Maureen Dowd pours it on this morning. My thoughts exactly: The Politics of Self-Pity.

Dowd is a first class bitch and often drives me up the wall. I could not handle her savaging of Clinton. I see that Bill is redeemed here as she does her thing on george and the rest of the 'crooks and liars'.

ANNIVERSARY

Today is the anniversary of Franklin's joining our family. We went to Victorville to 'look' at some Airedale puppies (but we took a crate just in case) and met Franklin and his brother in a kennel. The breeder had decided that the brother was going to be our dog and had cleaned him up and given him a haircut. One problem, the brother was not interested in us very much. He had bonded to the breeder. Franklin, on the other hand, was all over us, sweet, playful, personality plus. It was instant attraction; 'like' at first sight. And, as we often tell him, this was especially dramatic since he was one shaggy stinky pup.

We closed the deal on the spot and took him to the car. The little guy stood on our laps and hugged our necks (first mine, then John's) all the way to Palm Springs. He never got to use his new crate during the trip. We could not and would not let him go. We got to stop on the way at a rest stop; he met another dog who belonged to to lesbians that we had meet there. They gave him a drink, he met his first non-airedale, and we had a bit of a walk and a pee on the grass.

When we got home, he was ours and we were his. With the fearful ride; the Interstate with all those trucks and noise; the hour long hugs had done it. We took him outside to show him his new yard. We had decided that his place to pee would be the olive tree just outside the kitchen. No. He ambled out to the back yard on the other side of the pool and did his business. The first act of civil disobedience. He was civil and he did what he wanted.

Today he still goes out there. I told you we had the new grass put in. Sometimes his pee makes brown spots. It is OK. I got some seed, some is growing back on its own. It is a nice reminder that it is still his place and he gets to use it when he needs to whether we have prettied it up or not. He gets a vote. He is quite a guy. We have more fun together than we thought would ever be possible.

Today, we have friends coming to stay with us a few days. They will get to hear the story of the stinky puppy who came home with us that day. Franklin will cringe and wish we didn't have to tell it all over again. It is SO embarrassing. But we will tell it all anyway and then give him a big hug. Not an hour long hug but long enough to remember the day.

400 BLOWS(1959)

Today's movie (NYTimesBest1000): Francois Truffaut's first long film; beginning of the "Antoine Doinel" series; said to be autobiographical; coming of age in a troubled family; beautiful, surprising and a rock your socks off ending. It seems real and true throughout and carries a story without a lot of gobbldegook; show don't tell. It is hard to put oneself into the experience of seeing this film for the first time. The NYTimes Bosley Crowther review is as fresh and alive as we can try to be in watching the film. It is not hard to see how the 'new wave' hit the beach.

There does not seem to be a lot more to say. We didn't figure out what the 400 blows were. This is one of those 'intellectual' questions that I have always been afraid to ask for fear that I was missing some obvious point that everyone else knew the answer to. Click to the right and email if you know.

I gave it a 4 out of Netflix5.

I demand that a film express either the joy of making cinema or the agony of making cinema. I am not at all interested in anything in between.
Francois Truffaut

A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ (1931)

(FOR US, LIBERTY) Today's NYTimes1000Best movie: Rene Clair satire of the industrial revolution; a semi-silent picture; a buddy picture; rags to riches to rags; an actual musical. It was made with records to accompany it and has a limited speech track. Most of the comedy is in mime. There are chases, broad gestures, and all the accoutrements of the silents but the sensibility is very modern. There are some very funny bits. The whole thing adds up to an enjoyable period piece.

Clair is considered an 'immortal' of the French cinema arts. I thought that we would have another film in the NYT1000 but I guess not. Here is a: Rene Clair Biography and Filmography I have seen a few of these and remember AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (a take on Agatha Christy Ten Little Indians) with Barry Fitzgerald and a group of other top actors of the time--a vehicle. That is a dismissal.

There were a lot of political films at this time that showed disenchantment with the consumer society. Some claim that Chaplin got a lot of his ideas from Clair. Rage on fans.

I don't know. I am glad that I saw it but a lot of the time I felt 'apart'. Well hell, it is French and 73 years old; six more than me. Nevertheless, I will give it a Netflix 3 out of 5.

MARRIAGE

Well, it is a good thing that John and I didn't have our bags packed to go to San Francisco to get married. The California Supremes put a sock on it. We could go to Massachusetts though. As I get it, even though they are about to sanctify hetero-marriage and give the civil crumbs to gays, it will not take effect for a long time and in the interim a whole bunch of dykes and faggots can defy god, nature, and the republican party--and quite a few democrats too.

One might reflect disappointment over today's double-dip turn of events, but I do not. I am amazed that we have gotten this far and believe that, try as 'they' may, they cannot shut the door on the inevitable. Incidentally civil unions are NOT the same as marriage either spiritually, psychologically, or in the tax code to say nothing of other social and federal benefits.

As I have often pointed out, California has and will have the very best civil union law; and it is a good thing. Just not a complete thing. Did I show you our certificate?

FAT

They seem to have discovered fat people. Only, now it is called obesity. A disease. I suppose that it is; and I sure see a lot of fat people; they are the ones who can't fit into the theater seats, who crowd you in the plane. But, I am wondering whether all this attention is about fat or whether it is one of those social engineering things come to light on another 'problem'. I don't know. But I wonder.

I had a non-smoker friend tell me a long time ago that the anti-smoking thing was a foot in the door of major social control. Now, this is not a defense of smoking. I was a smoker for many years. I quit because I was tired of it for me; but I have to admit that I was also tired of hearing about it and of being marginalized for it. Yeh. I know. Second hand smoke and so on. But this is about the social engineering.

Now I suppose that there will be a thing about second hand fat somewhere; being around a fat person will give you something bad. But, I doubt it. I think that this is a little harder for them to hang their hat on. Now, who do I mean 'them'. I mean the sob-sisters and the finger-pointers and the meddlers who look around for others to pester and harrass. I suspect, so that they do not have to look at their own shit. I am also interested in the 'industry'. The lawyers, the social scientists, the agony-aunties who make their living controlling the lives of others; a conflict of interest for sure.

I grew up around fat people. There were people in my family who were way way big. I mean, Aunt Henrietta, who had to be about 250-300 pounds. A lot of it was poverty fat but when you come right down to it, it is still fat. She suffered mightily for it. There was Mr. Hawk who weighed in at about 600 pounds when he died. He owned the water company. They said he fell into a ditch once and they had a crane take him out. And so on. Well, they are not talking about that kind of thing are they? Not even the guy who can't fit into the movie seat. They are after the every-day fat person.

I don't know. I have been an every-day fat person. I had my own time as a fat boy; when I was a kid. I lost it when I got tired of it. I was fat after I quit drinking. Yeh. Upside down what you would expect. It drove me to running. A good thing. When I got out here, I gained about 30 pounds in five or six years and I was working out a lot and biking at the same time. I was just eating more than I was burning. This is mostly the problem for anyone. Any every-day average fat person. I have lost it and feel all the better for it but I do not think that I was in that bad shape at 180. No one would have called me fat. It is pretty subjective. Right now, I think I am two or three pounds over my mark and I will get rid of it while it is easy.

But here they come with the tape measures and the weight tables. And it is time for the finger pointers to get a new target. The industry: sue McDonalds. The people: shame them; set aside a special place for people whose body fat goes over a certain amount. A fat section on airplanes and in the office. Make them go outdoors to eat. Put up a lot of signs that say (nicely) THANK YOU FOR NOT BEING FAT. I hear the storm troopers' boot steps. And so on. It is hard to defend being fat but it is easy to defend personal choice. Somewhere in here they need some balance.

EARLY

I hadn't thought about this aspect of the bush counterattack Washington Post:

Last week President Bush used Kerry's name in a fundraising speech in California. That may seem innocuous to the untrained ear, but in his latest White House Notebook, Dana Milbank noted: "It was by far the earliest time an incumbent president has invoked the name of his opponent . . . . This is not a mere matter of calendar trivia. It is a sign that Bush has been put on the defensive and forced to join the political fray, long before he wanted to do."

POINTERS

Has anyone else noticed the pointing that politicians do when they come on stage? The 'recognition' gesture? "Oh! Look there is Gerry! And see? Tony came to see us! And over there is my sister." You've seen it.

You know there is a paragraph in the Politician Manual that says "When you bound on to any stage, create an impression of familiarity by random pointing and eye contact. Pretend that you see someone you know; and, for godsakes act like you are happy to see them. This simple gesture gives the crowd the impression that not only are they seeing wonderful YOU but they are also in the company of many of your best friends. How lucky. How blessed."

I don't know when this shit started but it looks phony as hell to me and I do not like it. Put it in the class of over-reacting to your own football goal or basket swish. Self congratulation. These guys who bounce the ball in the endzone, high five themselves, pump the arms in victory. What happened to humility?

This is not a partisan riff although I used the great pretender's picture here. They all do it and it smells.

PLATEAU

OK, so there are conjunctions. I have been on my present workout regimen for about ten months; maybe a year. I have gotten great results. I have more muscularity than ever and that includes 'the early years'. Well maybe not the few I had trainer Bob in Boston and was running; but that was more about lean muscle and a lot of vascularity.

Now, I have peaked out. I am suddenly not lifting the incrementally added weight. And more disturbing, I feel like I do not want to. Not in that lazy don't want to go to the gym way. I almost always want to go to the gym. It is more the lack of motive. It is just not there. The need to add muscle.

About the same time, in about three places, I found myself reading some good articles on plateaus. I have hit one that is for sure. They said: "it is OK! relax; you made it". Do I want more? No? Not really. I am happy where I am. Yes.Then, they say "don't worry, get happy"; "get a new workout that respects the fact that you are THERE. And stay with it. Vary it. Work for fun rather than profit". It is almost certain that given the hard work and the present condition, it is possible to keep the conditioning I have with even less effort.

So, today, I upped to a new MensHealth workout. There are many to choose from. If you want to look for yourself go to MensHealth Personal Trainer. Many of the exercises are different and they promise to vary it. The big change; it is six days; every day weight and cardio. I have been going in 5 and doing a bike the 6th, one day off. That means that I start to go Saturdays. But the length of the workout is less. I will give it a try. I love MensHealth. I let them put my picture on the Cyrillic edition.

1000

Let me explain. When I started subscribing to Netflix, we had no trouble finding films we wanted to see. We sat with Dave's list and took off from that. We followed the Netflix reccomendations until I realized that the algorithm did not fit somehow. There was no trouble until about the time we hit 100 films in the queue. Then what? I began to get into the video-store-meander mode. You know; where they don't have what you want and you don't have a back up and you start to look through the stacks and then you OD on titles and eventually leave in a state of Vid-shock.

At about this time I found the The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made in the New York Times. I am a sucker for lists. I looked it over. I realized that I had NOT seen many of these films and many that I had seen were way way in the past and I would really really like to see them again. So I started to work films from the list into my Netflix queue. For awhile I randomed them into the mix of other films we wanted to see. Soon, however, this strategy came up short as I was not really following a regimen. It allowed for taste and bias to slip in. So I took the bull by the horns and simply began at the beginning and determined to work my way through from A to Z.

The first surprise was that the list does not begin at 'a'; it begins with films that have numbers: 10; 12 ANGRY MEN, 1900, 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY; 32 SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLEN GOULD; THE 400 BLOWS and so on. Second surprise (well, not really): Not all the 1000 Best Films are on DVD or even on video tape. For example, one of the best films beginning with a number is 7UP/28UP; a documentary which follows the lives of a group of 7 year olds through to their 14th, 21st, qnd 28th birthdays. Happy to say, that Netflix has virtually ALL the 1000 that are in print.

Here is where we stand. From here forward, the queue will spit out all the available 1000BestFilms in alphabetic (and numeric) order. I have queued them up so that I now have about 400 films waiting (we are allowed 500--I will not make the record 14hundred something because they put a sock on it after the runup). It is of abiding interest to me how the arbitrariness of the queuing has created neat juxtapositions and contrasts. It has been a lot of fun. If and when films become available I will go back and fold them in as arbitrarily. This isn't too nutty or obsessive is it?

10(1979)

Today's movie. Dudley Moore is an acquired taste that I never acquired. He began a very successful but limited franchise in this film; the guy with less who gets more. The film is Blake Edward's take on the post-hippy zeitgeist (note 1979). Here, relationships count for more than free love. It is enlightened enough to have a 'gay' leading character, but retarded enough to require that the character be love-lorn at the end. Homos had to be treated that way in film at the time.

It seems rather a shock to realize that Bo Derrick was just Moore's size; both tiny. What else? Brian Dennehy has a significant B part as a sympathetic bartender. Julie Andrews (Blake Edward's wife and a fixture in his films) is totally unbelievable as Moore's 'serious' love interest. It is mostly hokum. Blake Edwards got a special Oscar this year for his work. He whined because they had never given him a real one. This film should tell him why. If it is his best, it is not good enough.

It is interesting that we begin the 'serious' attack of the NYTimes1000BestFilms with this one. It demonstrates early on that I will have some trouble liking what some others think as best. I should say that I was not UNamused. There are some funny bits; and despite the downer for the token faggot, the film does not show middle aged hetero-men in a very favorable light. Perhaps, on reflection, Moore getting Andrews at the end is a more tragic ending than the gay guy who has, at least, some hope that his young muscle-hunk will return from his European holiday. I give it a 3 on the Netflix5 scale.

DEPPFEST FINALE

DON JUAN DEMARCO(1995) is the last of the Depp films. We saved it as dessert. This romantic trifle has the very essence of Deppness. Without him, there is no film. He is joined by Brando and, once again, it is fun to watch the new guy interact with the vet; although Brando is so heavy; so weighed down with himself; that you can only savor the top notes of his performance. It is to his credit that the top notes are good enough.

Depp is Don Juan Demarco, a young man in delusion or........well perhaps not; and Brando is his shrink. There is a classic transference in the therapy but in reverse; from 'patient' to doc. Faye Dunaway joins in as the wife who benefits from Brando's awakening.

The fantasy sequences are wonderful. Depp is in top form. This is another film that catches him just at that point of departure; transforming from pretty face into the accomplished actor who won the SAG Best Actor this year; peer recognition of the finest kind.

OLD BOSTON

Today, in a meeting, there was a guy who announced himself from Boston. I realized that I had a non-reaction. Used to be, if I met someone from Boston, I would get excited; make a connection. "Hi. I just moved here from Boston, where do you live, etc". Oddly–or not–most people turned out to be from somewhere other than literal Boston; maybe Nahant or Wellesley. I would never let it pass; always mentioned that I lived in downtown Boston; the South End.

Other thing that used to happen; people from around here would come to point out Bostonians; didn't I want to say hello to them. I found nothing weird about this. I was in the process of leaving Boston for a very long time. It was normal to continue to say goodbye with these surrogates for friends and family; people still back there in our wake.

Now, I notice two things. No one ever tells me about a Boston visitor. People here have forgotten that I am from anywhere else. They see me as being here. I have arrived here in their mind. And, more importantly, I have no particular reaction to a person from Boston; nothing any more special than another city I have been. I have arrived here in my own mind.

I think that this is mostly time and tide; and I have to admit that, even if I were to say 'hello to Boston' I would stumble and stammer over landmarks, street locations and the like. I do not remember as many details. I am not sure exactly where Wellesley and Nahant are. Well, I know, but it is a yawn to think of it. I guess I have finally crossed the distance between there and here. It can be done in six hours. It took me six years.

MOONDOG

It was bedtime. The pup should have been in bed. He should have been very sleepy. It had been a long day. Randy was here, we had two very long walks; one filled with dog buddies to frolic with. There was a lot of running and chasing in the yard. It was bedtime. The pup should have been in his bed. He was not.

Actually, he is very sleepy but he cannot let go. It is the full moon; too much light; a lot of shadows. There is the pull of the tide on his 'body fluids'. He waits. He wonders. He stays at the windows. He is edgy. There is no real rest.

It has taken us a rather long while to figure out that his moony behavior is not about us. It is a primal disturbance; biorhythmic. Now that we know it is a regular thing, we can be prepared. He is having his period.

As if to underline my point, the paper man just flew by. The same guy, the same car, the same 'bomp' of the paper hitting the pavement; daily. But, this day, our pup is up! Moan, groan, run, back to me and on my lap to tell me face to face that there is trouble. I pet and comment and make a show of going to look and then things settle down. I tell him it's the paper guy. He calms. A drink of water, a bit more breakfast, a quick snuggle when he gets half up on his hassock and moans again; 'come pet me'; back into his crate; he naps. Relaxing. Waiting for the next lunar event. Mooned. There he goes. Another groan. Easy, Franklin. The sun will be up soon. And maybe, tonight the moon will start to wane again. We can all ease out.

MARTHA SKEWERED

There is some bipolar back spin to the Martha Stewart guilty verdict that is interesting. One side says that they went after her and it is unfair that she has been pilloried. The other is that she is another example of greed run riot and should be made an example of. No one has asked me what I think; but I believe the whole deal is just a little more mundane.

As I get it, the Feds were running some checks on the Waksal family and the ImClone situation; and there, in the middle of the brokers' records, was Martha with her hand in the cookie jar. No one exactly hunted her down. There she was. Hand in the jar and crumbs on her face. I read that they gave her a chance to plea bargain and she refused. (MSNBC)

Some say that it was not that big a deal; what is 55,000 to someone who has so much money? Well. It IS a lot. It would keep us going here in PS for awhile. It is also interesting that for some big poo-bah to risk her neck for that sum, it has to be important to HER. So, let's not write the amount off as trivial. Besides, it is not about the money it is about the lie. Is that OK?

There is no doubt that the celebrity spin has some momentum. Here is a woman who is the tastemaker and role model of a big slice of the populace. Are we going to let her be a role model for lying and cheating? Include me in a discussion of role models and their responsibility to society. This would go for the doped athletes, the tit barers and other people who should know better and have a responsibility to give back to where they got it from.

Now, the other extreme; the one about making an example of her. Kick her ass. Well. It is too late for that isn't it? It has been kicked as hard as it is going to be. I have had enough of the insiders getting 'their's' while us outsiders get 'our's'. 'Our's' is the extra hidden fee, the convoluted book keeping, the misleading advice. Time to even out the playing field, yes. Maybe this will be a spur to the regulators and lawmakers. But I doubt it. They have been there taking 'theirs' all along, eh? A little of Martha is a diversion. Oh. Someone said they went after her because she is a well known Democrat. OK. I doubt it. There is enough to go for without making it political. Even the bushers wouldn't waste their time on that one. Would they?

So what is the bottom line? Laws were broken willfully. Ignorance of the law is no excuse (did you know she used to be a stockbroker)? Perjury is not OK. If you play you pay. Life is not fair. What goes up must come down. We are all equal under the law. There is the right of appeal. What else?

Well, I never saw her on teevee and I would not buy or do anything because she said so. I am not in the role model business, myself. It is amusing to see how people who do need a 'martha' in their life will respond to this. Few, will be in a position or be able to emulate the cookie jar trick though.

OH. About the picture. It is legit; a 'good thing' about her; not some nasty parody. Someone lasered a portrait of Martha on a gourd and she is examining it. Obviously pleased to be out of her gourd. (Couldn't help it).