esrosedotblog

STARS OF YESTERYEAR

If you want to see John Barrymore, his brother Lionel, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Billy Burke, Lee Tracy, Gene Hersholdt, and other thirties stars at their best, this might be the picture for you:
Dinner at Eight (1933).

It is, deservingly, one of the NY Times Best 1176 Films. This film version of the Ferber/Kaufman play was directed by George Cukor. Comedy and tragedy keep rolling off the screen allowing all the stars to give top of the line performances. There are lots of good zingers Don't miss the very last one between Dressler and Harlow. Turn up the sound.

The only caveat I have is that the DVD version is not very well restored or rehabbed. There are unaccountably dark closeups and some disconnects between scenes which make me think that parts of the film were not good enough to reproduce. In any event, it is a minor distraction and I will give it all a 4 out of Netflix5.

ARTIFICIAL

See: Pope's 'Living Will' Wants Life Support to the End.

I have a question, please.

Well, two. But one is from John.

Here it is.

If the pope wants to be kept alive by artificial means, right to the end, what does that say about God's will?

All those plugs and tubes. Is that in the bible? Thou shalt have as many tubes as you can take to stay alive?

Or, conversely: Thou shalt have no other tubes before me?

John's question is: If heaven is such a great place and only the good go there, how come the religious want to hold it off for so long?

Poor Ms. Schiavo, God rest her soul, had to wait fifteen years.

I suppose now we will have to do the daily watch on the pope. Another 'right to life' spectacle.

I wonder what waits in the wings. Whoever it is could not be worse, could it? The puff of white smoke.

PAINTED LADIES

No. I do not mean that kind of painted lady.

I mean this kind: Vanessa cardui [Linnaeus].

They are aswarm in our Valley. It is the Spring migration.

A lot of people bitch about their cars getting splatted with them but I worry about the Ladies. When you are walking, there is nothing but beauty. They surround you and drift by. When there is a breeze they sail by at a higher speed as they ride on it.

I look forward to seeing them return every year. Well, not that they went anyplace. They are here to stay. They will just change form. Then they won't bother the cars. But I will miss them.

They are in abundance. It is not as though the cars are a population threat. They are Nature Conservancy Rated: G5 Very common; demonstrably secure under present conditions. The Rating is a neat thing. Take a look.

VIET VET

Today's Best Film was tough to watch.

First because it is so gut wrenching in its honesty about the plight of vets with post traumatic stress syndrome; unflinching would be a better term.

Then, tough to watch because of its cobbled up Hollywood ending. I didn't like the way they did that.

The film is Distant Thunder (1988) and the performance is by John Lithgow.

Lithgow exudes sorrow and pain. His reunion with a lost son is a long tough road. It is a great performance. Too bad that here and there the over-the-top performances of some of the supporters are distracting.

Ralph Macchio is the son who is supposed to be 18 but even accounting for Macchio's sort of pear shaped nerdiness he is unconvincing at that age. Maybe 15? Sorry to snipe at this. He does a good job on the tense stuff but he is no match for Lithgow in the more relaxed scenes. He looks like he was with a sight seeing group and wandered onto the set.

This is a 3 out of Netflix5.

I was glued to the story and then it sort of let me go at the end.

DIXIE CHICK

Jim found this in the LA Times:
Mary Gauthier: A Talent Shines in the Darkness.

This is mostly a blast from the past.

Gauthier ran a restaurant on Mass Avenue in Boston called the Dixie Kitchen. Our friend Wickie worked there.

Now here she is with an album and all. Small world. Nice to see someone break out this way.

And she has her own website; but don't we all!

I don't play the guitar though.

SCAN SCAM

Be careful how you scan the news. This morning in the LA Times Ron Goldstein 'got' me with this:
Political Storm Cloud Hangs Over Hollywood.

He starts with a review of the ominous attempts to regulate 'decency' on cable and internet as well as to regulate internet political activity.

He then moves on to talk about the IMax decision not to let any film be shown that has 'darwinism' at its core, lest the creationists demonstrate and hurt business. A film called Volcano has evidently already been put aside.

Then he lists a long list of other harbingers of Hollywood cravenism in the face of the right wing censors. As I read through it, I missed a crucial part. It was his projection of what might happen over the next year if this trend were to continue. In my speed reading, I took it as actual fact.

The scary part was that, as upsetting as the headlines were, I was not all that surprised. It was with a sigh of relief that I realized somewhere in the middle that it was a put on. But is it? Some of it is too close to a possibility to be very funny.

Try the idea of adding a category to the Academy Awards (oh yes and don't forget the trademark ™) for Best Religious Film. They are such awful whores, I would not be surprised.

POOL

This was a new one on me: The Vernal Pool Migration.

Dave and Moe wrote that they went to watch 'it' last night and sent some great photos. Thanks Moe.

I don't think anything like this happens in the desert. We have our gekkos in the yard; the only amphibs I know of. They are always here and mostly migrate from the wall to the ground and back.

Look at this guy. He is a yellow spotted lizard who lives in Kingston, MA.

OUT

We have visitors, so I am off for a couple of days.

NASSA

This Ken Burns-like documentary is not to be missed:
The Old Negro Space Program.

Thanks to The Internet Weekly

UNPLUGGED

This is great.

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT

We saw a great musical today:
The Bandwagon (1953).

One of the big songs is 'That's Entertainment'.

How apt.

This NYTimes Best 1176 Film stars Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Nanette Fabray, Oscar Levant and a song and dance man even older than Astaire, Jack Buchanan. It is constantly engaging.

The musical numbers weave in flawlessly and it also succeeds as light but affecting drama. An aging song and dance man, as Astaire was at the time, has to find a new career. He made four more musicals with mixed results and then headed for a second career as a straight actor.

We had a good time watching and there is that unaccountable lump in throat effect from the story line and some of the dances. I suppose that is partly nostalgia; there have been no film musicals of this kind for quite a while. On the other hand, it might just be the effect of a fine art skillfully presented.

Vincente Minnelli directed it with a sure hand.

I will give it a 5 out of Netflix5.

HOPPER

There is a great article and slide show on Edward Hopper today on-line at the NY Times.

The slide show is in the sidebar.

The 'show' is based on a new book Hopper's New York and is narrated by the author Avis Berman. I think it is very well done. You will probably want to look at it twice as it move pretty fast.

I am struck by the quality of the images. I am well aware of the startling differences between the real thing and an art reproduction, but digitals sure close the gap significantly.

This is like a fast walk through a gallery exhibition.

ALONE

I have never written about one of my most regular pastimes; solitaire on the computer.

Both of us are solitaire players; Casino Klondike. John uses cards, I use
Eric's Ultimate Solitaire.

I got hooked when they used to free-ware the Eric's demo on the old Macs. Then I bought the disc. Now, we are all working through the beta of the latest 10X version. Oh, did I mention that this was for Mac-Folk. Sorry PC. There is a Palm Version.

I like the Eric's because it keeps records. I am nuts about records whether it is bike rides, running (in the old days), or gym workouts. I never look at them, but goddammit I have them.

There are a lot of features like background music for fuck sake. I don't use those. I do turn on the playable card option when I am on my third or fourth try to clean up a hand and am getting desperate.

One of the neat things about the software is the weasel. He is the spokesman for the game and, if you turn him on, will comment on every hand. Short, pithy things like 'one for our side'; 'Aaawww'; 'that was hard' and one of my favorites, after I have lost a few in a row: 'have you thought about cheating?'

One of the best things is the card-back design. Normally, it is the default weasel logo. But on holidays, like tomorrow, we get a special design. An easter bunny. Martin Luther King. A derby hat with a shamrock on it. And so on. Corny. Yes. But very satisying.

EGGS

Easter is a non-starter for us. The heady mix of religous myth and bunnies with eggs is a big stretch.

Christmas is OK. A baby gets born and shepherds come by to visit. Wise guys bring gifts. Voila! A holiday that keeps on going.

Easter is a downer. Thorns, scorn, Mel Gibson.

It is also hard to get through easter here because it is the epicenter of gay and lesbian partying. The former Dinah Shore* golf tournament draws the girls from all over and the infamous White Party draws all the boys.

Well, not all of either, actually. There are a lot of locals like me that won't see or be part of any of it, despite our proximity. The town is so full of people that lying low is the best strategy to have a happy time.

An egg hunt is not the thing one would be doing in these crowds. The ogling of the buffed boy-bods would distract to say nothing of getting crowned with a golf ball.

So, it will be a safe and sane weekend for us. No coloring of eggs. No hunts. And above all, no chocolate.

But if you are somehow finding something to celebrate this weekend, have fun and don't forget to put the eggs in the refrigerator before you eat them two weeks from now.

* Renamed because of sponsors and the fact that no one except people of a certain age (and lesbians of all ages) remember Dinah.

ADMISSION

I gotta admit that I have been following the Jackson trial.

It just caught me and has me in its grip.

I am maintaining ironic distance by reading about it in Slate.

Each day, Seth Stevenson writes a time line blog on the day in Jackoville.

It is rather amusing and not at all sleazy or down and dirty like the tabs.

Does that make it OK?

Probably not.

Look at this picture. The sadness in the eyes is overwhelming.

Behind every tabloid story there is human suffering. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't take it all in. But to skim the surface and not see the sadness and pain is to miss the essence of notoriety and a public life gone tragically wrong.

ONE MOE TIME

Paul turned me on to this really interesting web site dedicated to Moe Howard and the Three Stooges.

It is a personal story and very nice indeed. Hang with it. It is the human side of the man.

I first saw the Stooges when I was, what, eight? My Uncle Hank had gotten an 8mm projector and camera and had bought some factory made films. One of them had out-takes from a Stooges two reeler.

My cousin Philip and I were hysterical throughout. It took place in a train and there was a lot of fun in and out of the berths and heads coming out of the curtains and getting bopped with other heads. Yes, there were eye gouges.

Later, I saw the boys on the early television. My mother disapproved. What else is new? So, I sneaked to watch them when she wasn't home.

When my own kids began to watch them, I was amazed to find myself in my Mom's shoes. I disapproved. All that 'violence'. Then I remembered the hilarity and let it go. My sons are still dedicated Stooge fans and can do some of the routines, I think. Maybe it is just the yuk yuk thing and I have extrapolated.

It is interesting to note that The Stooges are mostly a guy thing. I will have to ask my daughters about it. I don't remember them obsessing to quite the same, or perhaps any, level about the trio.

I don't have teevee now but I bet there is a DVD collection somewhere. I think I will look it up.

'TOONS

I just read that it took 3-4 years to complete the first Disney cartoon features. No conveyor belt operation, that. Pre Eisner and Katzenberg.

I do know that, on the viewing side, they were appearing about every year. I, naturally, figured that they made the next one after the one I had just seen. Not the case.

My first film was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and it drove me down behind the seats. The witch and all. The cliff. The lightning. Jeeeez!

It was released in my birth year. So how old could I have been? Not very old.

Did you know that they had product tie-ins even in those 'olden days'? They did. My mom got me a little Bashful. The dwarf. About a foot high. It was made of printed fabric with a beard attached. I loved him. He ended his days with sort of a cracked visage and a very hugged body; a dirty beard.

I also remember seeingPinocchio (1940). Not to be fooled this time, I watched it through fingers over eyes. I was freaked by the 'bad boys'. That has changed, as now it is quite the opposite. Bad boys are OK with me and have been for quite a while.

After that, they allowed me to skipp Dumbo (1941), a flying elephant and a circus fire. Scary. I knew that even before it opened.

In 1942, they made the first feature that I could sit through and did. My mom held my hand in the scary parts and held me when it got sad. The film was Bambi (1942) and I saw it again today. It is digitally remastered. They have held it off the DVD market until the remastering could be done. The clarity and the beauty of the artwork is quite astounding. It is clear why it made it into the NYTimes Best 1176 Films list.

One of the great things about Bambi, is that it has Thumper the rabbit. He is who I really remembered from all those years ago. A star. And then Flower the.....well they never use the word. But then they don't say 'deer' or 'rabbit' either. I have to admit to a small prickly emotion at the end and some fear at the fire and all the stuff you are suppose to feel. It works.

It is a 4 out of Netflix5.

It is interesting to see the arc of the story which Disney has repeated endlessly. Innocent youth sullied by hard times, the loss of a parent, a calamity of some sort followed by escape and perhaps redemption. Then the cycle repeats itself. Well. That is not Disney's invention is it?

The other thing is the use of 'cute' animal characters. And the trio. Bambi has the two sidekicks. This is pre-cute Disney. They keep a low profile. The story is the driving force. And there is not all that awful singing. It is not a musical and there are no human stars to fuck up the purity of the animation.

Yes I know Robin Williams is funny. But as Robin Williams. And so on. Don't get me started. That was Alladin which we saw already.

That is enough. We will be seeing more Disney works in the Best series: Dumbois not too far in the future. It is a D.

NEW BUSH

The Wall Street Journal ran a piece the other day about the apparent transformation in junior's presentation style since the election. He has dropped the cowboy twang and is actually producing a lot fewer bushisms for inclusion in the Slate compendium of same.

Wonkette has presented us with a graphic of this tranformation. Here you have the new and old bush side by side.

RACE

Today, I watched Spike Lee's
Do The Right Thing (1989).

I skipped it the first time around. I just wasn't into what I thought the movie would be about.

As usual, I was mistaken in my attitude. As we say around here, the worst thing of all is to have contempt prior to investigation.

I do not have to praise the film. It has won its round of universal praise. Even though many didn't like it, most have admired it.

Here is what I liked. I got to see Ossie Davis. Man, what a great actor and personality. Also, the ever under appreciated Danny Aiello. Samuel Jackson. The interlocutor. Levels and levels.

I loved the theatricalness of the film. It is slightly surreal which really helps things move along. Greek chorus, a 'blind man' who has the knowledge, the Jackson 'god' taking it all in.

The violence was realistic yet constrained. I really felt good about the end-resolution. Aiello and Lee patch it up and move on.

A 5 out of Netflix5.

It is great to come upon a film that I had ignored and discover a jewel.

THE MEDIA

Allan sent this, from a chain letter:

What newspaper do you read?

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country -- if they could find the time -- and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country ... or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy provided, of course, that they are not Republicans.
11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
12. Not one of these is read by the guy who is running the country into the ground

THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT

We went to see Bobby Short at the Carlyle once. He was 'on' that night and we had a great time.

It was fun to see the onemanband character of his performance. He would fidget with the lights, dim them, bring them up.

He bounced. He hit the keys with his entire body. A life force.

Read Stephen Holden's appreciation in the New York Times and definitely look and listen to the slide show in the box!

LOSER

For what it is worth, 80% voted NO on today's WSJ poll question: "Should congress have intervened in the Terry Schiavo case"?.

This level of unanimity is rare.

The quack medicine of group think conservatism may have hit a rut in the road.

WINGS

One last look at the DeLorean.
John DeLorean died today at 80.

The car had a lot of panache but, despite the wings, it never took off.

There are a few of them here in the Desert and they show up all alight in the annual Festival of Lights parade.

End of an era.

VERNAL 12X12: SO CELEBRATE!!!

SPIN DOWN

My comments about the bushies' Pravda like cooptation of the press evoked a response from Hal Phillips.

I think he makes some good points, though a bit scary, about the effect of all this manipulation and deflation of the press' power and role in our society.

You mentioned the government video PR "scandal" in your blog recently. As an ardent opponent of the administration and pretty much all it stands for, I want to be outraged - but there's no difference between sending out a press release from, say, the Dept. of Agriculture (we can accept that such a gov't entity is allowed to issue press releases), and the Dept. sending out video press releases of the sort that have been picked up by perfectly witting TV news organization. As always, it's on the journalist or the media organization to vet and attribute the info if used. As a print guy, and a PR guy, I'm not surprised that the general laziness and cluelessness of TV journalists exacerbated the issue here. Indeed, it was knowingly preyed upon by Bushco.

What is wrong, or sinister: the Bush Administration sees a larger purpose in this fake news/pr initiative. Every time a station gets caught running gov't video without attribution, every time some columnist is outed for being a paid shill of the administration, every time someone like Jeff Gannon is caught impersonating a news person, the overall concept of legitimate "news" is devalued in this country. And when you make a practice of lying on subjects of grave importance, as Bush and his people do routinely, this devalued news community is less able to call him on it. It's a systematic attack on the media's watchdog function. Of course, the press hasn't helped itself in this regard. Every time Jason Blair or Jack Kelly get caught plagiarizing, the power of the press (utterly tied to its credibility) suffers.

As an aside, it's also interesting to me that the Administration and much of the right continue to beat on the media as a leftist institution. They do this, I believe, because it furthers the effort described above. But they also do it because, in the main, it seems to me folks on the right cannot conceive of putting aside their political views, their political fealty really, when producing any sort of communications piece. It seems to me a given for right-leaning folks that THEY will use their positions to further the party line/agenda. They can't imagine that, say, a liberal reporter at the NY Times would do everything in his/her power to supress his/her views so it won't affect the reporting. I agree the working print media is mainly liberal, but they put those views aside in a way Republicans (at Fox, at the Washington Times, at the NYPost) would never dream of doing.

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NOIR

They acquitted Robert Blake of murdering his wife last week. The guys in the gym were wrong, or at least disagreed. It is a good demonstration of 'reasonable doubt'. The jury said that the 'chain of evidence' for the weapon was never demonstrated.

Blake has always interested me. I first saw him as the kid in Treasure of the Sierra Madre. I would have to have been a kid myself. He is three years older than I.

Then, through his career, he has always taken my notice. I remember him as a rather hostile and unpredictable guest on talk shows. He has lived is life as though it was a film and the recent case is no exception.

Today in the LA Times today, there was an interesting op-ed. I thought that it was quite perceptive:
The Courthouse Monologue of a Quintessential Noir Hero.

As a fan of noir, I got a whiff of this myself as I read the full run-on yak that Blake carried on with reporters after he was freed. I remembered the man on the talk-show sofa.

He had been silent during the trial. A study of noir itself in his black suit, now snow white hair and his constant cigarette. At the end, he opened up for all to see and hear. It was quite a performance. As in life. As in art. Very interesting stuff.

RUN!!!

What a great film!

Today's movie was
Chariots of Fire (1981).

It is a NYTimes 1176 Great Film film. At the end, we were saying the same.

We also wondered at the emotion that it generates almost from the beginning; men running barefoot on the beach.

And, at the same time, the musical theme; one of the first on synthesizer. Pounding out it's electric (yes) theme.

The two protagonists (who never actually race each other except early on) are outsiders.

They fight the arbitrary class system. They win over serious odds. They maintain their values and beliefs. They have lives afterward. And so on. But none of this explains the grip of the film. This is all head stuff. The grip is in the heart.

I suppose that if we knew how this was done on-screen, we would be directors or actors. The mystery of the art.

Of the young actors, Ben Cross has had a rich career. Ian Charleson died at 41 while performing Hamlet. The late Brad Davis (AIDS) has one line and a lot of yards of film as an American Olympian. He had already been in Midnight Express which made his career; as short as it was. Sir Ian Holme, who we love, is a trainer who is also an outsider. We last saw him as a hobbit. The cherry on the top of the whole sundae; SIr John Geilgud as the Master of Trinity in Cambridge.

This will be a 5 out of Netflix5! Maybe a 6.

DESIGN

John says that there should be a special place in Hell for parents who would do what the Schiavo parents are doing.

I would design a second condo for the politicians who are playing this so cynically. Or maybe they really believe their own shit. If so, make the condo even hotter.

I lost sleep over all this last night. There isn't much that can do that to me.

I guess that there is a double whammy here. Not only the interference in someone's right to die and all; but the fact that the effort to get this show on the road could be applied to so many other issues!

I have been thinking about bailing out of political thinking entirely. I have been really upset for quite a while. It would be nice to have a break.

But then that is just what they want me to do isn't it? Go brain dead to it all and just let it go.

Well, no matter what I do or others do, let's get Hell designed and then sooner or later the bastards will fry.

VOLATILITY

I am not much into discussion about changing the Social Security structure. It seems to me that the 'goodness' of the system is intuitively obvious both for me and others.

I still believe that the bush-gooper campaign to change it is a diversion so we don't look at the other rabbits in the hat; the war, the corruption, the environment, the economy. You know, rabbits like that.

What is interesting to me is that, in my own case, I came to believe in Social Security only late in life!

I am retired with my social security monthly and a healthy IRA. I have always focused on the IRA but was also hampered in being able to save with caps and limits. I have to admit that I didn't put a lot away. When we had discretionary money we spent it. I don't regret that. We had a good time. But as the income disappeared with my retirement, the realities of my 'nest egg' came to the fore.

I was so cavalier about my Social Security check that I was going to delay taking it. That is until an adviser from the SSA took me by the hand and showed my why that was a stupid decision.

That was the beginning of taking my monthly check seriously. And once it started coming monthly, I have taken the stipend very seriously. Incidentally, this is my money. I always maxed out my account. I earned it. I am taking it. It is solid and dependable.

On the other hand, the IRA causes me more than appropriate anxiety. I have a good management plan and the assets are spread. But it is volatile. It is not constant. It rises and falls with the market. If my Social Security did the same I would be fucking nuts much of the time.

This article on the New York Times touches on this I think:
Social Security as Dramamine.

As one who has had a 'volatile' income for the last thirty years of his work life, I can relate to the following:

.......just because you earn $300,000 this year doesn't mean you'll be making that much 10 years from now. The economist Joseph A. Schumpeter, who coined the term "creative destruction," described the upper strata of society as a hotel in which the guests are always changing. Income volatility is the mechanism through which guests check in and check out.

No. Not that part. I didn't make 300,000; but I did check into that hotel room and then checked out.

If you work for yourself or are bonus based and are in mid-career, you should check this all out. Not only because you should have an opinion about the meddlers who want to change the one government program that works.

You should pay attention because you are checking into a hotel and will check out again and the wild swings up and down the elevator may make you 'car sick'. Your retirement plan including social security, as it is, will be your dramamine.

42

I finished Michael Apted's UP series today at 42.

In this 6th of the series we see the recovery in the most down and out of the lot, motherhood later in life, a couple dealing with one's adultery, some continued priggishness from the upper class boys, and an amazing friendship arising between two men simply because they have been in this series together!

Still a 5 out of Netflix5.

Next stop in 2006 with 49 UP. They are filming it as I type.

It is interesting to watch Apted's technique evolve through the series. Of course, a lot has to do with the difference of intent between the very first program and the last. The technology for television recording also improves.

There is more depth in the interviewing as we move through the years. I think that Apted does the interviewing on all of them after 7UP. The consistent voice and the obvious relationship he has built with each of the people is very interesting to watch unfold.

PERISHABLE SPAM

I can't claim to be a perfect Pythonite.

I cannot sing the lyrics to any of the songs, actually.

Well, come to think about it, "I am a Lumberman" does come to mind pretty fast.

I mostly remember the sketches; Dead Parrot and all.

It is good to see that Eric Idle has a hit on his hands with Spamalot Tickets Top 1.8 Million Dollars.

The article isn't much as it is all about money but the slide show is not to be missed. There are all the living Pythons cavorting madly as they should. Nice to see.

Move fast on this as the Yahoo articles and pics are perishable.

Maybe you would like to see the New York Times review:
A Quest Beyond The Grail".

DOWN THE TUBES

If you wanted some proof that politicians of both parties are close to complete assholes, this is it:

The Medical Becomes Political For Congress.

Wait. I don't see Joe Lieberman's name in there. Don't tell me he missed an asshole opportunity. Well, no one is perfect.

I hope that if anyone anywhere has had doubts about prepping a living will, this pol-fest will do it for them.

35

OK. Today I saw the fourth program in the UP series; Michael Apted's every seven years documentary about 14 British kids growing up.

The kids are now 35. Some have dropped out or dropped from the program. One dropped back in! He has a charity that he is big on and thought his appearance would hype that.

It is really the greatest thing to see these people and be surprised, or not, about how things have turned out.

The homeless one has a home, sort of. One of the women got divorced and then had a baby! And he is adorable. Others have continued to thrive.

I will watch 42 tomorrow and then I am done with it. On to the regular films. I am documentaried out. But, not until we finish the last one!.

It is still a 5 out of Netflix5.

HOMAGE

Tonight we took a culinary walk down memory lane. I made some Tuna Noodle Casserole.

John said that memory lane was so long that it probably was in marriage land; that our wives cooked it.

True. I don't think that I have ever made it.

But somehow, the other day, I caught a yen for it and found the recipe in my very best old timey cook book; The Better Homes and Gardens New Edition..

Keerist, my mother used the old edition of that book! It has lots of high-nostalgia recipes in it.

I don't remember pimentos being in the old recipe and I used the non-fat mozzarella and cheddar mix (no taste just looks) on top instead of cheddar or parmesan, but it sure was Tuna Noodle Casserole, nonetheless.

After dinner, I asked John how soon he would like to have it again and he said "not too soon". I told him not to worry.

FATHER'S DAY

I am not irish, nor do I aspire to be. I celebrate St. Patrick's Day, nonetheless.

It is my Dad's birthday. Today he would be 97.

I just got out his wallet to check. I still have it.

There he is grinning a wide one on his 'retirement' card. That is what he needed to get senior benefits.

Then, his last drivers' license. That is where I found the date.

We always scrambled to get a combo card; St Pat's and a birthday. I checked the other day. They still make them. Somehow it made the day a little more special.

So. As you sons and daughters of Erin go marchin' today, I will quietly put a symbolic shamrock in my lapel for my Dad. Around here, it is his day.

WALLET

I found more good stuff in my Dad's wallet.

There is a picture of my mom when she was a volunteer assistant at the grade school. It is funny. It was taken as part of the kid's picture deal where the outside photographer snaps all the kids and then sells the prints. She is in front of a really badly painted pine forest backdrop.

Then there is his AARP card. I remember the kick he got by giving me my first AARP card. For some reason, it really tickled him. Me too. I guess that we lived long enough to get over the shit that usually occurs between a son and his dad. In this case, a gay son. More shit.

He has his A&P check cashing card. This has particular resonance as he worked for A&P for 45 years. He was a store manager for a long time, then quit and joined the union. He got tired of the never ending quota increases. I think the words he used included "stuff the job up your ass". He made more as a union member than he did as a manager. He loved that.

There! look! It is his Social Security card which he got when SS started in 1936. He was there at the inception. I wonder what he would think of all the screwing with it now. Well, I know. As a life long Democrat he would have a tasty description for those 'goddam bastards'.

In the folding money part of the wallet is a one dollar bill he got during WWII. It was a special HAWAII bill; currency for the service men to use. It has many autographs from his shipmates on the USS Ebert. He was a radarman. It was the best and worst time of his life.

My Dad. I still have a piece of him.

PROPAGANDA

There seems to be a lot of upset over the videos being put out by the government as objective news and the recruitment of 'journalists' to do fake presentations.

I am not at all surprised that this is going on.

How shocking can it be when lying and press manipulation at the macro level has been so apparent for so long?

Of course the MSM* would not really report on this level as they are the perps as well as the patsies. A funny dual role which no one would really want to confess.

Pravda.

It slinks in from the other side as well. The media works both sides of the fence without any complicity by the government. And I do not mean the ham fisted efforts of the Fox people. Fair and balanced. I mean the day to day omissions and elisions of all the MSM who report in the interest of balance but really are mouthing the corporate line of their owners.

Do I like any of this? No. But I am not shocked. It is, after all, quite human. Not our best side, but human nonetheless.

Somewhere I have read that is common to hide a bad motive under a good one. Well, how common has all this shit become? It has been nationalized.

*Main Stream Media

28

Another episode of the UP series today; Michael Apted's every seven years documentary of a group of British school kids.

We have the kids up to age 28 now. Several have dropped out but most have stayed. It is fascinating.

The key to happiness seems to be doing what you want to do rather than what might have been programmed.

It is not all beer and skittles. One kid has become as near a homeless man as one could be. On the other hand, a girl who, up to now, seemed depressed and out of the loop has come up with a family and seems quite transformed.

And so on. Next will be 35 and then 41 and, I presume, as they have made the boxed set already, we will be done.

I just realized that we have seen Apted at the PS Film Festival. A couple of years ago, he did a great film called Enigma which was about the development of the enigma code breaking machine. He talked about making the film which didn't do very well here. It was very complicated. We liked it.

JUSTICE

So maybe we shouldn't worry so much about who gets appointed after all:

Another Republican For Gay Marriage. Salon.

Remember, Earl Warren was a republican.

And there is more on the long view about this decision: Follow The Leaders. The New York Times

A precedent setting legal trail is being blazed which will lead inevitably to the conclusion that gay people have the same rights as everyone else! Who would have thought?

WED

OK. Canada got it best.

In the States, Massachusetts stole the march on us as the more liberal than thou state; but there is hope yet. We have certified partners; I am one. This is a natural next step.

In any case, it is not a contest between what country or state makes things right first. It is about what states can make it the way it should have been in the first place, even though we all know it couldn't have been. If you get my drift: Judge Says California Cannot Ban Gay Marriage.

Of course, this is not the end of it. There will be an appeal to the State Supremes. We will see.

This is the photo, incidentally, that the SwiftBoat assholes used without permission and are getting a 25 million dollar suit over. I didn't get permission either but I am a member of the club.

I can see why they would want to use it for their silly anti-AARP ad. These guys are gorgeous and the kiss is a real smoocher.

LOSIN' IT

I have been staying out of the political shit for awhile.

I was getting too much on me.

But there are some encouraging news items that make me think there still might be hope with the dope.

From DailyKos:

We're the majority
by kos
Mon Mar 14th, 2005 at 07:31:27 PST

Bush's approval ratings on Iraq:

AP/Ipsos poll. 3/7-9. MoE 3.1%
Approve 45
Disapprove 53


Gallup. 2/25-27. MoE 3%
Approve 45
Disapprove 53


The Neocons are still trying to paint anyone who opposes Bush's war as "out of the mainstream", but it is they that are falling increasingly out of it.

Bush's social security support drops further

Washington Post. 3/10-13. MoE 3%. (1/31 results)
Do you approve or disapprove the way Bush is handling social security?

Approve 35 (38)
Disapprove 56 (55)
Those numbers are surprisingly similar to the most recent AP/Ispos poll.

Ipsos. 3/7-9/ MoE 3.1% (2/22-24 results)
Do you approve, disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling Social Security?

Approve 37 (39)
Disapprove 56 (56)

We are winning this battle. Any Democrat who thinks we should compromise is blind. The GOP won't keep at this for much longer. The political danger is too high.

MORE DIRT

While we are at it, that homunculus Tom Delay sinks deeper and deeper. This also from DailyKos:

"Hot Tub" Tom ("The Hammer", "Bug Man") DeLay's on his way down, baby!

WaPo writes about DeLay's mounting troubles.

I love this quote:

"If death comes from a thousand cuts, Tom DeLay is into a couple hundred, and it's getting up there," said a Republican political consultant close to key lawmakers. "The situation is negatively fluid right now for the guy. You start hitting arteries, it only takes a couple."

In the last few weeks:

Delay tried to shield himself from the deluge by making the House ethics committee his puppet, but the flood came anyway:

The National Journal reported that DeLay may have violated House ethics rules when a Swift-Boat/USA Next lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, shelled out $13,000 for DeLay's stay at the London Four Seasons hotel

Raw Story revealed that DeLay has taken a huge London trip funded by an anti-Social Security lobbyist org connected to the SVFT

Two Sundays ago, CBS's "60 Minutes" aired a 12-minute segment reminding a national audience that a Democratic district attorney ("Being called vindictive and partisan by Tom DeLay is like being called ugly by a frog") in Austin is continuing to suggest he might indict DeLay as part of an investigation of the involvement of money from DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) (scandal overview here)

On Wednesday, a front-page story in the New York Times said documents entered as evidence in a civil trial in Austin "suggest that Mr. DeLay was more actively involved than previously known in gathering corporate donations for" the committee

On Thursday, DeLay admitted to the Houston Chronicle that he actively raised funds for TRMPAC

On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that DeLay (and some other Rs and Ds) accepted trips from the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, which had registered as a foreign agent, in violation of House rules

On Saturday, the Post reported on another London trip by DeLay, this time funded by gambling interests and Indian casinos (with the help of Abramoff)

The Post reported today that Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-Tex.), one of the ethics committee's new members, was co-host of a 2002 fundraising breakfast to benefit TRMPAC

The New York Times reported today that DeLay's been pullling in massive donations to his legal defense fund, with tens of thousands of dollars coming from corporations indicted in the Texas DeLay investigation

CHANGING TIMES

We are back in the groove for the morning paper. The LA Times is hitting the deck out front around 330-400 AM as it has since we started 'taking' it.

The last 4-6 weeks have been tough though. Some mornings the paper would be as late as 6. I had to rearrange my morning routine! Nothing is harder than change.

I don't know what happened. I think there was a problem with the old guy who started not showing and we had amateurs doing our route.

Everything changed a week ago. I was out front with Franklin (looking for a coyote, actually). With a roar, a car came down the drive, a guy got out, and brought me the paper where I stood inside the gate. Wow. Doorway service.

Then for a couple of days, the paper showed up right at the doorway. Now it is back in the middle of the driveway. That is OK. I don't much care where it is as long as it is. The good news is that it has arrived earlier every day and now is at its old dependable time.

New, regular guy has learned the route.

It is amazing how one little thing like this could throw me off. I hate to admit it. But, there it is. I am orderly. Routine. I like things to be where and when they are supposed to be. Random doesn't work for me very well.

SOUP

We left for the all-family dog walk yesterday at sunrise. There, between us and the sun was the heavy air that has dominated our daily life for the last week. Soup.

Some would say it is smog but we don't have any factories and such. There are cars and this is Southern California; but nothing would explain the haze that has endured over the last week.

No. These are natural pollutants. Pollen. Water. Some sand particles. All mixed up and hanging there waiting for a front to carry them out and away.

In the meantime, Allegra is not enough. Our four day cold of two weeks ago still manifests in the form of allergy augmented post nasal drip. We cough and sputter. People on the phone ask if we are OK. Such is the nasality and raspiness.

This is the price we pay for the rain and the incredible desert bloom. It is comparable to the autumn air scum that is generated by the practice of lawn and golf course scalping. Bad shit.

So nature has its own pollutants. Pollen. Pollutants. Poll.

We will be OK though. The air is turning back into its crytalline blue skies and endless line of sight; all the way 'out there'.

21

Watched the UP Series third chapter. (see 031205).

The kids are 21 and all 14 of them are still in the picture. Many are in school, some have dropped out.

No one seems unhappy but two have the potential.

It is a great series and I am looking forward to 28, 35, and 42. Imagine! Thirty five years of followup on the same people. It is unprecedented.

It is quite something. Fascinating so far.

Those are all the superlatives I can dredge up just now.

MERCE

We saw the Merce Cunningham Company dance about ten years ago.

Unannounced, Merce, himself, performed a solo piece towards the end. The experience of watching this high seventies man dancing in his blue leotard and bare feet is unforgetabble.

Merce' choreography is unique. No one has managed to cop it or do it directly and yet, he has had an indelible influence on modern dance.

Now, at Stanford, they are studying his work with performance, seminar, and other events for an entire year.

As part of this celebration, they are using computers to analyze the unique Cunningham movements: What Moves Merce. You may not be able to get into the site. It is pay to play or have an LATimes 7Day subscription. It is a stupid barrier. But the home site above has more than enough to engage you.

Here is a slice of the article since they won't let you get to it without paying. So dumb.

Palo Alto — At Stanford University the other day, Jonah Bokaer stood in a medical lab wearing nothing but a loose diaper and 50 small electronic sensors glued to his body.

Eight cameras recorded his every move in a process called motion capture that Hollywood relies on to turn actors into mummies and monsters. At Stanford, the technology is most often used to help doctors diagnose children's muscular and orthopedic disabilities.But not this time.

Bokaer is not a patient but a Merce Cunningham dancer, and the motion capture session was initiated to allow student scientists to analyze Cunningham choreography as part of a campus-wide, yearlong event called "Encounter Merce." That encounter peaked this week with panels, screenings, exhibitions, displays of class projects, student performances, two programs by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and a visit by the modern dance pioneer himself, now 85, from his home in New York.

SEVEN UP

In 1964, film maker Michael Apted made a documentary for Granada Television in Britain. Its premise was to show a group of seven year olds and ask them some basic questions. It would be a profile of the 'future of England' or some such. He called that film Seven Up. He didn't mean the beverage.

The film was such a resounding success, more as a here and now glimpse of these particular seven year olds, that he went back in another seven years to revisit the kids and made 7 plus Seven.

Now, each year, he has gone back to visit most of the same kids as they grew up and so there is a documentary for each seven years up through the age of 42. Of the original 14 kids, five have stayed with the project.

Today, I saw the first two and will keep on going through the five films. It is a fascinating process and I am enjoying it immensely.

At first, I panicked a bit as I felt I could not get to know all these kids. Yet, in short time, that concern faded. I got to them all and while I did not remember the names I certainly remembered them.

By the second film, when they are 14, one feels as though they are pretty well organized for life. I am sure that will change as we see the reality unfold. Fascinating.

There are some wonderful and not so wonderful surprises. It is British, after all, so there is a built in caste system of which the kids are somewhat aware but which colors a lot of what happens in these early years.

The first film is a Best 1176 Film but I cannot imagine seeing one without seeing them all and that is what I will do. So far it is all 5 out of Netflix5!

HELLO DALI

I grew up on Salvador Dali's antics. He was a very public artist appearing in all media. He was a master of self promotion. His personna was whacko and yet, just behind the wildness, you could see a wink.

At the end, he stayed in the limelight just a little too long and began to border on the pathetic. It is the great danger of these too-public times.

The first time I saw a painting of his in 'real life' I was bowled over. His works almost always reproduce as 'illustration'; flat and hard to see as 'real art'.

In reality, as in the case of all good art, the reproductions are but pale reflections. The works were simply incredible. Perhaps the first paintings that I was bowled over by.

I have to admit to a bit of uncertainty here. Was I bowled over because they were good or because he got me at the audacious level? I guess this ambiguity is part of appreciating Dali. If I gave a shit about being right or wrong it would vex me more. I am really in the 'I know what I like' category of art appreciation.

I am not the only one who is caught in this mild dilemma. There is this feature in Slate. The question of Dali's place in the arts pantheon remains: Salvador Dali—Artist or Kitch-meister?. There is a slide show with some good writing that takes us through the Dali career. Again, reproductions. But differently presented. An appreciation.

THE KKK: KAREN, KARL, AND THE KID

Karen Hughes is back to balance Karl. And that's a good thing? The Illustrated Daily Scribble tells all.

SOBER

This one hit a bit close to home:
Days of Wine and Roses (1962);
the only slightly over the top and a bit to the side story of a pair of alcoholics and their downward spiral.

Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon star. It was Lemmon's first 'serious' role; not to say that Mr. Roberts wasn't serious but only mildly so. This one is dt serious; down and out serious; and heavy duty tragic serious.

It was, oddly, the first time that I saw it. Did I say that it was pretty serious? Yes.

I will give this NYTimes 1176 Best Film a 4 out of Netflix5.

DIP

I got back from today's bike ride hot and sweaty so I took the first pool plunge of the year.

Not much of a risk in that. The air was about 70 and more in the sun and I have gotten the pool up to 87 with solar in just about ten days.

The dip was mmmmm-good!

We have had a fast turn into summer with temps in the 90's for a couple of days. This is not likely to continue so the dips may not be a regular thing from now on. But it is an auspicious start.

A sidenote: this is the first season where I actually thought about whether to get my hair wet or not. It is very long. I decided to go for it and to tie it back wet. A new look. I am right there with the tourists!

I think that tying it wet may also 'set' the tail and make it easier to keep back even when it is down.

Sorry. You have to have long hair to get this, I think.

In any case, the brief moment of panic just before I went in: "My GOD I am going to get my hair wet" was followed by "I will get it all buzzed off and down to a #2 metal again". Followed by diving into the pool, drying off, tying back and forgetting about it.

Recovery.

JACKO

It is almost impossible not to fall into reading about and then following, almost involuntarily, the latest developments in the Jackson case. I go through the Reuter's email headlines and there he is, wan and shaky, being made to show up in court in an hour or lose 3 million dollars. The judge is no softy.

While I do get sucked in and have a lot of the detail committed to memory, I have no intention whatsoever in paying any attention to this circus; this over-exposed travesty. That isn't Michael I am talking about here. I mean the trial coverage and all. I just get sucked in. Don't I? You don't think that I am as gossip prone as anyone else, do you?

But, you know, child molestation is a very serious thing. In the underworld it is considered the very worst thing. The whole thing is beyond gossip. It is pedophilia out front in bold letters. No matter how it turns out, he is in deep shit.

We have all the spectacle out here. There is Robert Blake, whose jury is still out. Remember Electra Glide in Blue? he was also a child star.

We have the three kids who allegedly raped a girl on a pool table with a pool cue and bottle and filmed it. She is getting the grilling so far; not the boys. They do not need to testify as they are the accused. Funny rules. It is all whether she allowed it or not. There is no question that they did it.

There is Phil Spector who is coming up for trial soon. We had Scott Peterson and Kobe and no one will ever top that OJ.

Even with no-teevee you can't get away from it. The national press picks up on it and it is all over the internet. I do have to say that the Los Angeles Times somehow manages to stay in balance and not overdo it. I suppose because they aspire to be the best paper in the US. They are close already.

Personally, I have no stake in Jackson and I am more than happy for the wheels of justice to grind slowly and correctly. The guys at the gym notwithstanding, I do not believe that he is guilty as hell. I just figure he is close to culpable. Time will tell.

HOT

Our temps have been creeping up all week and today hit a big 92!.

The pool is up to 83 using the solar heat so it will be time to take a dip soon.

But wait a minute.

The weather guy says that it will dip back into the 60's next week.

Not so dippy.

HAWKS

I forgot to mention that I watch the NYC hawks' website every day. You know, the ones who got ousted from the 'famous people' coop building?

There was such a PR disaster that they spent a fortune to build the hawks a new spot to live.

Pale Male and Lola have rebuilt the nest and have been mating anywhere and everywhere. Now there is some reason to believe that eggs may be in the nest.

Keep watching at PaleMale.com.

The photography is unprecedented. I don't know how those birders do it.

HIGHSPEEDFARCE

Yes we are in the 'd's'.

But we have had to go back in the alphabet to look at some NYTimes 1176Best Movies; new issues on DVD. Today's new release:
Bringing Up Baby (1938);
Howard Hawks' comedy starring Kathryn Hepburn and Cary Grant.

It is the ur-text for screwball comedy. It has great supporting actors like Franz Feld, Walter Catlett, May Robson and Charles Ruggles to say nothing of a younger Barry Fitzgerald. The dog is played by the famous cousin to Franklin, Asta.

These are all actors who used to thrive on the studio system. You would see them over and over and actually look forward to their appearance. I once knew the names of hundreds of character actors. Catlett, for instance, has 140 credits and that is before teevee.

It is all good. What is most astounding is that it never stops; breakneck speed. The dialogue and action, if slowed down, would add 50% time to the actual 102 minutes. And you can hear every word. More than can be said about some of today's 'product'.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

SCRAMBLED

A minute ago there was The Beatles' Paperback Writer and in the station break inbetween was a takeout from Young Frankenstein; the one about the correct pronunciation of the name. Marty Feldman and Gene Wilder.

Now its Gin Blossoms' Alison Road. Wow.

New net radio station. Eclectic to the max. Beats the SCU Morning Becomes Eclectic. Great listening whilst working the net and email. Now it is Dr. Demento Poisoning Pigeons In The Park.

Tune in: Egg Radio.

Now it's the Mighty Mighty Bosstones with The Impression That I Get. Great instrumentals.

Did I mention that the signal strength, buffering, and sound quality is high first rate?

BIG BAND

Good to see big band jazz alive and well and growing with young listeners:
The Definition of 'Phat': Big Band With Young Fans.

Hands down, there is no more exciting music going. A live jazz band is the very most tingly goose pimpled experience.

I was astounded to learn that there is jazz band in our grandkids' schools. This is really great,

This article says that Maynard Ferguson is still touring.

My god! Say it like May'-naarrd.

He is so fine.