Friday, July 31, 2009
TEACHABLE MOMENT
Today's film was Paul Haggis'
I didn't want to see this when it came around but, since then, I have heard and read such good stuff about it that I ordered it along with Haggis' other film The Valley of Elah which I will see tomorrow.
This one is (how many?) interlocking LA stories all involving race and a lot of anger.
I really liked it a lot. Well, there were parts that were very difficult, but they had payoffs for me.
I was especially pleased to see Don Cheadle and Matt Dillon who are favorite actors.
They do not appear together in the film but, in a way, they do. The photo includes Paul Haggis.
This is too deep to wallow in for a brief blog spot.
I think that sometimes it felt like I was being manipulated but, I decided, in a good way.
I could see my own prejudices and biases predicting outcomes. I was often fooled.
Kind words for the photography, the set design (flawless), the music. Very good. All of a piece.
He won an Oscar for this. Good thing. It is a beautiful piece of work.
I will give it one of the few 5's out of Netflix5 this year.
NAPSTER
Here we go again.
As usual, there is a down market cast to the article.
People who are low income, have poor sleep habits, are worried and depressed, nap. They do not say until the end that many accomplished people nap and know the benefits.
I was born to a napping father. I continue the tradition. I have napped all my adult life. Every day.
Even when I was working as an on stage trainer I would nap. Different, but still a nap.
In that case, lying on my back with my eyes closed and almost instant transport to half sleep.
But off stage? In the office? Out of the office? On vacation? Naps!
My whole adult life.
I even took it a bit further when I read that Lyndon B. Johnson, he was a US President, remember? LBJ said that he took a nap every day and everyone should. "In your jammies". And I took that to heart too. Clothes off. Underwear shorts. Nap.
And no cell phones on or anything else. An isolation tank.
I am retired now. I still nap. I sleep from 8pm to 3am and I nap an hour and 15 minutes every day. About 10AM. That is 8 hours total.
Napping has never, ever bothered my night sleep.
When I nap, I am almost instantly asleep (faster than nighttime sleep) and quickly alertly awake.
Who out there is not napping? Get to it. Naps rule. Nappers rule.
Incidentally, I am also a meditator and I have to say that napping is not meditating. Nor the contrary. But they are related. Meditators do get sleepy sometimes. It is noted as it arrives and stays and, hopefully, passes. Somnambulance. A great word. Even if the spell checker won't take it.
What else can I say about napping? It is the secret of any success that I have had in life whether material, mental or spiritual.
Naps.
Have I made myself clear?
Labels: health
Thursday, July 30, 2009
SIMMERING
While we are all about beer at the White House and wise Latinas and new developments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the pot that is Iran bubbles on.
Kevin Drum has a nice summary with a video.
We have an Iranian in the family and there is a close friend who was born there and has family there still. Iranian emigrés are thick on the ground out here.
It is big news and may be history repeating and revolving itself. Interesting. I watch all I can see about it.
Labels: Middle east
TUMBLEWEED
Booker and I like to walk a route we call "the trail".
You go to the end of Mesa, turn right and hook a left in front of Johnny Mercer's house and up a short road to a trail that plunges down into an arroyo.
The trail is below ground level so it seems you are away from it all. In fact, in five minutes you are up the other side in a neighborhood dominated by houses owned by Barry Manilow. He has bought up many of the homes surrounding his place on the butte just above.
Name dropping. This is Palm Springs, after all.
When we have rooted around Mr. Manilow's fence and the many bushes he has planted, we turn around and come back the same way.
Last spring, the old path into the arroyo washed out in heavy rains. You could still traverse it but it was rocky going. And sandy.
Recently someone put in a new more gradual path down in and it was a great improvement. But recently it, too, has deteriorated because the bed rock is not there to support the path. The sand which supports it has worked out and now there are more little boulders. Last night, it got to a critical point. When I went down behind Booker, I found that I was moving and couldn't stop. No foothold. And I got going faster.
I toppled over and rolled on my shoulder. I remember seeing my ass higher than my head but I got stopped by a brittle bush and laid out on a flat boulder. I know how to fall. Let it happen and curl into it. Take it on the shoulder or ass.
Booker came back and I told him I was OK even though I was not sure of that.
But I was.
Some mess here and there from scratches. Bloody patches which washed clean to just a scrape when I got home. The most serious thing was a puncture wound on my forearm and a "goose egg" swelling around the site. A contusion I believe.
I got home, cleaned it up and put some ice on the swelling. It is OK this morning. A little sore.
And, I got my "marching orders" from John. No more trails. I settled for no more trails in that direction. The other side is gradual and good with handholds. I can go up the "treachorous" side, just not down. So we will walk around, come up by the street way and then return by the trail.
Another thing to give up. It is one of the harder parts of aging. I can handle the bruises. It is the giving up that is hard to do. But I take the point. I could have had a broken arm or leg and Booker would have had to carry me out.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
NO BRAINER
We have this. A new foam (the real thick built up foam) and understructure got painted with white reflective plastic. We had immediate savings of AC and Heating cost but it is hard to know how much to allot to the paint directly.
White Roofs Catch on as Energy Cost Cutters
You can do it on any roof. Our neighbor has a built up tar roof and he got it sprayed white. He is under the hill and has shade and has the air off much of the time. He is also an old desert rat. We are getting there.
The other thing we do is keep the house about 80 which is very high for this area. The result is that we are accustomed to it and, at times, I will tweak it up a degree or two because it is "too cold".
Labels: environment, rehab
HOT AS A PISTOL
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Raoul Walsh'
with James Cagney, Edmund Obrien and Virginia Mayo.
It is a late career triumph for Cagney who had been typecast long ago and had quit fighting it. But he got interested in this one and made Cody Jarrett one of the nastiest screen villains anyone had seen before or since.
The product of a domineering mother and an absent (insane asylum) father, Jarrett has two choices. Be a stereotypical gay (just kidding) or be terribly fucked up. He chose "fucked up" since there weren't any gays back then. Migraines. Psychotic attacks.
Cagney pulls all the stops out and it is not over the top. He makes it all fit.
I saw this film when I was 12 years old and remembered the end scene as well as a few others.
Walsh, the director, had a lifetime of making great pictures out of meager resources. The would be B pic squeezed into a great A film.
This is noir. Gangster noir. Very violent for its time. And for a 12 year old kid. I wasn't ruined from seeing it.
I have seen it a few times and have enjoyed the pyrotechnics each time. There is great support from all the actors in this film and the quality of the photography is very high.
The last scene is famous. It is much shorter than I remember it as a kid. Or when I think about the film at all. It gets longer in memory. Good movies do that.
I will see it again, I bet.
I will rate it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: best films
CAVED IN
I officially applied for inclusion on the Permanent Vote-by-Mail Voter List today.
I have resisted this for a long time. Even while it seemed that I was the only one to be at the polls on election day.
Somehow it seemed important to pull the lever or mark the X or touch the screen in person.
It used to be a social time. I would see my neighbors. This actually was the case in November with Obamamania about. One neighbor, actually.
Since then there has been another state election and, it turns out, they combined precincts or eliminated some or something. I had to go to a new place. A motel conference room. Hard to find and cramped. No one else was there except the officials.
I get it. This is not the wave of the future, it is the future.
I can see how it improves the turnout. It also spells the end of last minute campaigning. The suspense. But I guess that is OK.
I worry that they will fuck this up somehow and at the next election I won't get an ballot by mail and when I go to the poll they won't have me down.
I guess i will just have to let go and allow the process to run the way that it runs.
TIME MARCHES ON
I am not all that upset about my own age or aging.
I don't think about it much.
In fact, I am a bit proud of my age and, while I do not flaunt it, I do manage to bring up the fact that I "will be" 73 as often as I can.
That is like a setup for the other person to say that I don't look it. Which I do not.
But I was sobered yesterday by the fact that my eldest son hit the half century mark. 50 years old.
The number is somehow more awe inspiring than my own age. Can I say that it only seems like "yesterday" that he was born?
No, I really can't. Maybe the day before yesterday.
He is an army brat. He was born while I was serving my 6 months active duty after ROTC and so he is/was GI all the way. Government issue.
The care was very good because, at the time, there were a whole bunch of MD's doing the same thing I was. Serving truncated military service in exchange for longer reserve commitments.
The maternity ward was in a barracks type building. The delivery room had a window.
In those days (there I said it--"in those days"), the dads weren't allowed anywhere near the delivery room but I was about ten feet away looking in. The window was high but I could get good glimpses of the action.
I had to hurry back to the waiting room when I saw him (and I knew he was a "him") born because I knew they would be looking for me to announce the birth.
It was a summer in Petersburg VA, a hothouse, humid beyond belief.
We had no AC but I did buy one of those air cooler things that dribbled water down a bed of wood excelsior. (remember excelsior?)
It wasn't until I got here that I found that those things only really work when the humidity is way low. Anyway, it was a fan.
He was a birthday present for more than himself. Today would be his mom's birthday.
It was a great time and I would never do anything like it ever again, thank the gods.
So that is how it was fifty years ago when my first son was born. Quite a stirring event.
What is better yet? He turned out to be a really good guy.
Labels: birthdays
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
YELLOW PRESS
Today's movie was Billy Wilder's
with Kirk Douglas, rotten to the core.
Nothing is soft or compromised in this tough and cynical look at the corrupt press (or at least the part of it that is corrupt). A film noir with a final scene that is worth waiting through the "hole" picture for.
Not that the wait is a bad one. Nothing stays still. Everything moves forward.
Jan Stirling is the "moll" in this. I had forgotten her. She was one tough broad and she handles herself well here against the nasty version of Douglas. He played both sides of the moral extremes in his films and comes out better as the bad guy in my opinion.
A man is pinned in a cave and Douglas covers the rescue, manipulating the operation to take a time long enough to really milk the story. Sell some papers. Get a reputation.
The scene is the desert and the crowds which assemble to see the action are as scary as Douglas. There are so many crowd scenes and I mean big overhead ones that I worried about how much this cost Wilder to do.
The other story here is mass hysteria and the attraction to spectacle.
There is nothing new in this film that we have not seen before or even see today. It is just that Wilder distills it in a way that keeps clarity and focus.
And talk about clarity and focus! This new Criterion restoration is beautiful to watch and to listen to.
I would gladly see this film again maybe in a Douglas or Wilder fest.
That makes it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Monday, July 27, 2009
HEAT
OK. It is time for a weather report. I don't know whether I will be complaining or bragging.
We had a cooler than normal June. And then, with the onset of July, it immediately went into the over 110 mode. Every day. For awhile, it was cool in the morning, high 70s, and we would open up for a few hours.
The last week or more it has not gone below 85. No opening. The last few days we had slight moisture. Not a monsoon. Comfort indices of 65 or so. 60 is the point you start to feel it. Light humidity.
Now, that is dissipating and we will have another week of 110 plus weather with low humidities.
Not bad.
They say night time temps will be back in the 70s but I don't believe them.
Actually, none of this is a complaint. I am quite adapted to the heat. I go out during the day and Booker and I walk every night as soon as the sun goes down. Probably in the low hundreds. It is often breezy as the temps drop rather quickly. We do need a bearable pavement to walk on in bare feet/paws.
A lot of people get scared of the heat early and do not adapt. They turn on their AC almost immediately. They close up their vehicles and turn up the AC. They do not walk their dogs if it is "too hot".
Booker is great with the heat. We are quite surprised. He comes from Reno NV, you know. A mile high city. Almost. He goes out durning the day to hunt lizards against the wall near the kitchen and will walk around in the shaded front. If I go out back he will go with me and stay. We run the last ten or fifteen feet because the tile there has been in full sun for quite some time.
He doesn't stay out a long time but will go out several times in the afternoon on his own. The lizard is a strong tug on the prey instinct.
He does ask about rain. When will it? And so on. I don't think it has rained in the near three months he has been here. He doesn't really mind no rain as he is loathe to get wet from the merest sprinkler as we walk. He will detour into the street. Death by auto before moisture on back.
We watch him and work it out with him. It is OK. There aren't any cars when we walk in the morning. Before the sun. And after sunset, there are usually not any sprinklers. There is a myth here that watering in the heat is not good. I have a set that comes on at 6PM as a matter of convenience. My theory is that it sort of mists up in the heat and gets good coverage.
Have I exhausted the weather subject?
We live in the fucking desert. Get with it.
Labels: Booker, desert, weather
STINKER
This morning, at 330 AM, Booker found a skunk in the back yard.
Fortunately, it took him awhile to find it. It had cornered itself in the little pool equipment enclosure.
I got to his collar just as he got a little squirt.
So we went back to the front of the house, woke John up and got help in doing the skunk wash, a tried and true formula that takes the curse off the smell.
There is a little lingering odor but we think we did pretty well.
Booker is happy, we are happy and the skunk is gone. Tomorrow, to be sure, we will go out with the short leash on.
Labels: Booker
HERO
Merce Cunningham Dies 1919-2009
He is a hero, to me, threefold.
I saw him dance many times. Heart stopping. The last time, he was in his late 70s. Hero.
He made it to 90. Hero again. I collect them, you know.
He and John Cage were both work and life partners openly and triumphantly.
Be sure to see the video and slide show here.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
TIME MACHINE
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was George Cukor's
the film version of the Claire Booth (Luce) play that was a broadway hit.
This is a time capsule. The ideas and culture of this film are totally foreign if you were born after a certain time. 1950?
They tried to remake this movie and it fell with a thud.
Most remakes do, actually.
This film is like watching a cobra and a mongoose. Only there are 6 or 7 of them. No men in the film at all.
There are a lot of stars and near stars. Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Marjorie Main!
The women are at each other from the beginning.
It is more interesting to see as a museum piece actually. The direction is superb. The camera work impeccable. There is even a color interval for a fashion show in the middle.
This is social comment coupled with escapist art.
It was OK. I never saw it before and I will never see it again.
I will give it a 2 out of Netflix5 because I didn't FF at all but I didn't like it much.
Labels: best films
Saturday, July 25, 2009
SUB-MINIMAL
Someone suggested I take a look at the NYTimes chef Mark Bittman, The Minimalist.
Here is an example of one of his "columns" complete with video.
Simplicity From Spain: Tiny Seafood Pancakes
I know this guy. I do see his videos from time to time. More the ones that have general "hints" to efficiency
I re-learned how to carve a turkey breast from him. You take the breast off the bird whole and then cut it laterally. It works. It does need to rest after removal otherwise the meat will shred.
But the Bittman recipes go beyond my ambition so, if he is the minimalist, I am the sub-minimalist.
The minute I read that the ingredient (in the recipe at the link) is chick pea flour I quit reading. I am not going to do that kind of cooking. Ever.
FIrst of all, despite his assurances, I do not believe that I am going to find this stuff in the desert. Well, maybe I will but I am not going to look for it.
It will be at one of the botique groceries here which I refuse to enter.
Besides, this is a way of eating, hence cooking, that I don't do any more. I have reverted to a meat and potato kind of meal. Basic American with a twist here and there.
My cooking has now been reduced to about ten or twelve standard proteins. Today is poached salmon with my mother's sliced cucumbers (peel then fork grooves on the side, slice thinly, then put in a bowl with a bit of salt, a shot of sugar and a dash of cider vinegar and sit for an hour. I don't do measurements for ingredients) or I could have dill/yogurt dressing on both salmon and cukes but John turns his nose up a bit at that. I sometimes broil the salmon and have peas and new potatoes unadorned. That is three possible uses of the meat. Well, in this case fish.
Pork has two versions--with squash or with apple sauce--premade or sauteed apples and sauerkraut on either. You can brown the sauerkraut in the apple residue Deglazing.
Steak has three versions-three or four bean salad or baked potato or coleslaw.
The entrees are the protein. The side dishes vary you see. There is no room for chickpea flour in this kind of eating.
What are the ten? Let's see. NY Sirloin steak, lean loin pork chops, salmon (our only fish as others are not popular-we take fish oil supplement), turkey breast (smoked cold or, in season, the roasted), chicken in many many forms, turkey burger, turkey sausage and ham, hamburgers, pizza, chili, spaghetti bolognese or the same sauce with macaroni, chili, in winter stew and meatloaf. Sloppy Joes and boughten barbecue.
Each of these have the variations of "sides". I bet I have 30 total dishes with the "side" variations.
Or ingredients. Example. There are three chicken salads in the summer: Chicken Waldorf with apples, raisins and nuts, Chicken Greek with hummus, pita and feta, and chicken ceasar. Or I can have home made chicken soup (canned broth), chicken with noodles, chicken with rice.
You can see that I use a lot of ground beef. Sirloin. 7.5% fat.
That is a consideration, incidentally. Saturated fat. I quit using butter many years ago when John got cholesterol problems and I didn't want any. Now there is a gourmet cooking barrier. Low fat and no butter.
There is a system. I plan all the meals ahead, about 20 at a time. They rotate. I start supper at 4:30 and do the final heat at 5:30. Dinner at 5:45 and the dog and I are out the door at 6:15.
Life in the fast lane.
I think that my gourmet days are over. I don't know when that happened. I think when we moved here. New place. New shopping. Resort lifestyle. Oddly I had more time to cook when I was working. Funny. I am too busy for it now.
Maybe it is geriatric. Loss of taste buds. Lack of interest.
The other day in the Times they had a most emailed article about 100 simple salads. I read the first few and clicked off. They all needed "weird" ingredients or things I wouldn't use for anything else.
Oh another thing about the menu in the Bittman article. Baby shrimp. Please! Spare me.
MADE IN THE SHADE
This is an interesting article about how "name brands" in right wing politics can work out to everyone's benefit. Shady deals. Ripping off the true believers. It is an old way of making money off religion. Not surprising that the two are usually side by side.
That means the name and the guys who run the scam machine.
It is particularly relevant as Sarah Palin seeks a new more lucrative career.
Fundraising Among the True Believers.
Another good job by Kevin Drum.
Labels: politics, republican whack jobs
REPARTEE
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Rob Reiner's
With a script by Nora Ephron, the talk is the main thing.
Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan test the question of whether men and women can be "just friends" or not.
It is a good thing that the script is witty and fast paced since there is little sparkle between the stars. But then, for most of the movie, that is the point.
I also have to say that I do not much like either Crystal or Ryan. In fact, for a while in the beginning I thought that "she" was Jennifer Anniston. I don't like here either.
I make this point because I enjoyed the movie anyway. That is something. If i have a grudge against an actor it is hard to get over.
I laughed. I enjoyed it. I didn't hear all the jokes so I wouldn't mind seeing it again.
I enjoyed seeing Carry Fisher and Bruno Kirby as the best friends.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5. A Rob Reiner film fest?
Labels: best films
Friday, July 24, 2009
OVER THE TOP
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962)
I am probably one of the few homos in the universe who has not seen this camp classic. But I don't get my card punched because I didn't like it much at all.
It would have made a nice one hour television show.
An improbable plot linked to two down-market performances by two faded stars isn't enough to make this more than a camp extravaganza.
Do I need to mention that it has Joan Crawford losing out to Bette Davis in chewing the scenery? We saw the aging Ms. Davis the other day in another Best (Whales of August) and she was much very good. No clown makeup. No travesty.
There are so many improbables in the script, from beginning to end, that it barely carries the weight of the over the top performances.
I couldn't stand a lot of the anguish and took a break while the disc played on in the next room.
For some reason, I thought that someone was going to get pushed down the stairway which is sort of another cast member, dark and ominous and covered with ugly tile. No such luck.
The flip at the end is unacceptable. It doesn't make sense at all.
Other than that, I had a fine time.
I will give it a 1 out of Netflix5 because I didn't like it and I didn't watch all of it.
Labels: best films
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
I am a great fan of the Index of Leading Indicators.
Index of Leading Indicators Is Signaling the Recession’s End
Now I am a greater fan than ever!
Labels: economy
TRANSCENDING RACE? HOGWASH!
Brent Staples gets it just about right in todays NYTimes.
President Obama, Professor Gates and the Cambridge Police
I watched the police sergeant who arrested Gates this morning on CNN. He is casting himself as the victim.
Talk about not getting it.
I read elsewhere in the Times that very few blacks were surprised at Mr. Gates' treatment or at the over reaction of the Cambridge cop. This is quite normal operating procedure.
Did you know that you shouldn't walk outside in a situation like this? Inside your home you can say what you fucking want. Outside, well you see what happens.
Power is also involved here. Who is on top. A successful black man in a nice house near Harvard Square. Even if you know who he is, he has to be brought down a peg.
Gates, himself, said in an interview, that the only black family immune to this kind of incident was the one at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
And that may be just about right.
Add Hispanics to this. And Muslims, the obvious ones. You have the mix for this shit to happen.
I won't bring up "the gays". Let's just roll with race and color today.
By the way, it is interesting that while Obama sanded the edges of his comments the other night, he basically has held in tight proving Staple's point. Obama is not about finessing race or race issues. He is not the "magic negro" or the whiter than thou black who makes us white folk feel so good about ourselves.
Labels: Administration Obama, race
Thursday, July 23, 2009
OLD FRIENDS
This is almost as good as the lion reunion video.
Recommend that you watch it in full screen. The resolution is good enough.
Labels: nature
TROPHIES
I have mentioned that Booker likes the lizards.
He runs them down until they "disappear" into a crack in the wall or into an impenetrable bush. He trees them. He is relentless. If there are none in view, he will sniff them down. I didn't know lizards have a scent. They are cold blooded. But fish smell, don't they?
We have had two questions in our minds about this.
First, can he catch one? Second, what would he do it if he did? Catch one.
Today, we answered the questions.
To the first? Yes. He can catch them. John called me into the living room. This is sort of Booker's favorite space. The big new (to us) blue plushy rug. All his toys go in there.
There, on the rug, was a body. A medium small lizard. Four inches. Dead. Well, of course. If it wasn't dead it would not be lying there.
Second question also answered. What does he do with the body? He doesn't eat it. At least, not yet. He brings it into his space as a trophy.
Now, he did not come to us to go into the room to see. He didn't stand guard over it and wait for us to react. He was lying about five feet away looking calm and proud.
We examined the corpse, gave moderate praise. It was clear that he didn't want it. It was for us.
So I went and got a paper towel and gave it proper disposal which around here is anywhere the ravens or snakes can go or perhaps the coyotes.
We have a neighbor whose cat catches and eats the lizard then gets sick for a few days.
I am glad to have the kill laid at my feet.
Do you know how incredibly fast on their feet these cold blooded creatures are?
Yes?
Now you know how incredibly fast a warm blooded airedale can be.
HIGH PROFILE
If you wanted to keep a lid on your racial bias you couldn't do worse than be the guy or the police department that arrested Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in his own home and then perp walked him with the cuffs on.
Obama Wades Into a Volatile Racial Issue
I agree with Obama. Racial profiling aside, it was really a stupid move.
Not only is Gates famous, he is notably testy.
They didn't know it was him? Well, no. A Cambridge cop. I know whereof I speak. But he is a sergeant. Or was.
Gates is a loud and vociferous opponent on any debate or question. Outspoken. Chutzpah to spare. And all the bristling pride of a man emancipated, until this, from daily confrontations with racism.
I have always admired Gates. He is a powerful voice on many fronts and he is also fun to listen to. Very bright and funny.
I know that he called up a ruckus on the cops. No question. He pissed them off.
And there you have it. The "uppity nigger". Kick his ass. Set him down. Humiliate him with the cuffs in the front so everyone can see them. Put him back to his own level.
There will be more of this. The frustration of having a black President sublimated to other acting out.
I know that this is how it is from my own experience as a gay man. We are under the PC umbrella now. So, if you are a homophobe, go around the side. Keep them guessing. You can't punch them out anymore but you can fuck with them another way.
I am not paranoic about this. I have had a relatively harm free life. The trick is to be able to see when this is happening to you and to label it. To speak out. Not to take any shit.
And we shouldn't be taking shit from cops anyway. It is not a crime to call him out and ask for a badge number and name.
Of course, it could be that there was nothing racial about this at all. We have some arrogant cop bastards in Palm Springs and it has nothing to do with either racism or homophobia. Some are black, some are gay and some are both. They are just arrogant bastards. But you still don't have to buy into it.
Well, maybe you think that you do but I do not.
Labels: Administration Obama, gay rights, race
MAKING IT TO THE BIG TIME
When I was a kid, one of my favorite cartoonists was Basil Wolverton.
We all loved his stuff.
There was even a girl in school who adopted the name of one of his characters, Lena the Hyena. Don't ask.
I followed his work long before he began working with Mad Magazine which I was actually kinda cool about. Still I looked at his work very closely.
In college, I roomed next to a guy who had perfected the Wolverton style and made silk screened posters for school activities. It was his major activity and he almost flunked out.
Now, it seems, Wolverton has become high art and it is high time.
Wolverton had a graphic style that has been imitated through the years but never equaled.
He was an expert at line drawing and somehow managed to convey basic truths in his exaggerated renditions of real and imaginary people, usually human "types" that all of us are familiar with. Universal caricatures. Or not.
Sometimes he could do real people better than they could do themselves. You may not remember John L. Lewis, but I do. Coal used to be the energy lifeline. Lewis, the union president.
Less known are the "realistic" drawings he did which do not have the trademark physical distortions but still have the same feel. Scary.
Oddly enough, Wolverton was a church guy and wanted his religious illustrations to be remembered more than the grotesques.
Don't miss the slide show in the Times article.
A DAY WITHOUT SUN
"They" say that, in Palm Springs, we have only eight days a year without sun.
I don't think it is that many.
That is about the same thing with this blog. There aren't many days a year without an entry. But they do happen and yesterday was one of them.
I don't know what happened. Or didn't.
I had a visitor in the morning and my nap and lunch were late and so I didn't have movie.
I didn't see anything that grabbed me on the entire internet.
I did watch Obama's press conference last night and could have commented on his comment about the Gates' arrest in Cambridge.
But I had a date with Booker for a walk and we took almost the full hour to get home.
That is my excuse for the blogless day.
And I'm sticking with it.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
THIS SEEMS ABOUT RIGHT
I would say that this is from the 50's. I remember these prices very well. Fondly, even.
I would have gone to Stroudsburg, PA., the county seat to be in a Woolworths. 15-20 miles.
I remember the smell. Particularly the coffee.
They used to have bulk cookies and candies along one wall. Those smells.
In the back that "dry goods" smell.
When I lived in Boston all the way until the 90's when they closed the store, I think, Woolworths smelled the same.
By that time, they had the cookies and candies in boxes and the soda fountain was a whole lot more expensive. But the coffee smelled the same.
Labels: nostalgia
HEALTH CARE CONTINUED
Well, this is just what I was trying to say about the whole health care debate. I should have waited a day and Kevin Drum would have said it all for me. Except for the personal part. I am one of those that he refers to as "being happy" with my insurance. So it all has a lot less urgency.
How to Market Healthcare Reform
YAWN
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Peter Bogdanovich'
Answer to question? Not much.
This has Streisand and Ryan O'Neal. One humorless egomaniac, for whom this is a vehicle, and one bland, almost talentless actor to stay out of the way of her big scenes.
Far funnier are Madeline Kahn (photo) and Kenneth Mars as well as other second bananas.
The film is filled with comic clichés and is obviously meant as a "remake" of the classic screwball comedy of the thirties and forties.
In this regard it fails as it lacks the real conflict between rich and poor, high and low art, repellant then attractive lovers. There is no spark between Ryan and la Barbra (without an a) at all.
And I don't like her. Never did, never will. But that isn't it.
Can you have a joyless comedy? Bogdanovich has done it.
Kahn and Mars would do better in the leads.
And so on. Bitch, cavil and complain.
I am giving this a 2 out of Netflix5. I didn't skip but not because I didn't want to. I was waiting for more Madeline Kahn.
Labels: best films
SINKING FEELING
John and I figured this out almost the same moment today.
Booker has gone through periods of being skittish about walking across the kitchen floor. The floor is no different than most of the rest of the house. White ceramic tile.
We thought that it had to do with slipping and worrying about it happening again. Maybe.
We also thought, perhaps, that he felt vulnerable and uneasy with his new house and life.
But he is not consistent. Sometimes he just walks over the floor as easy as can be. Oblivious to any threat.
Sure, sometimes that is around food or food times but even other times it would be OK and then, inexplicably, not.
The other thing is that he most often avoids the floor going north. So weird.
What I saw and John saw today is that there is, from some angles, a shine or glint from the lights on the floor. It makes it appear as though there is water on it. It is more obvious looking north.
Maybe, to him, it appears to be like a surface of water.
He is not averse to wading. He is way averse to immersion.
We think that he is seeing danger signs on the surface and is not going to risk going under.
This behavior had us freaked out. "Is he unhappy with the house?", "unhappy with us"
No. He is very happy with us.
But we are over that. We figure that if he doesn't want to walk on the tile today he doesn't have to. There are options.
He is quite contented in general. It is just that the floor looks weird sometimes. Which, of course, makes Booker look weird. Which he is not.
Another hypothesis. We shall see. Gather more data. Will report back.
Labels: Booker
ULTIMATE TOOLS
I have a few small obsessions. No surprise there, I suppose.
One of them is finding ideal tools for certain jobs.
Many years ago, I found one of those soap dispensing sponge dish cleaners. It was great. You swabbed the dish, soap. You didn't have to get out the soap bottle. Just swab.
But there was something wrong. The sponge got dirty too fast, the soap got dirty and grungy, the sponge fell apart.
I tried many brands.
Now, I think that I have found the ultimate in soap dispensing sponge tools. The OXO easy hold sponge.
It comes in two versions, with a plastic scrubber over the sponge (better because it is cleanable and lasts longer and abrades cookware surfaces safely.
It will not get contaminated in the soap part because it has a ball valve. You get soap to the sponge every so often by pressing a little "button" which compresses the air in the chamber and scoots the soap through the ball valve. Nifty.
There are refillables but the life of the sponge part is much longer.
And it is bigger! A full three inches of happy sponge surface.
We haven't been using it long but it is a winner already.
I love this thing. And I don't even do the dishes. I will have to ask the dishwasher how he likes it.
Labels: tools
CHANGING THE CLIMATE
This today:
Lobbies Adopt Tone of Accord With President
Steve Bartlett, president of the Financial Services Roundtable and a participant in the discussion, said in an interview, “This administration has reminded us of the lesson our mother taught us: If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”Well, this was the point of the election wasn't it? To change the climate. Working together even in disagreement. An atmosphere of cooperation.And so it goes the length of K Street. Industry groups and lobbyists typically hostile to intrusive government programs have been professing solidarity with Mr. Obama and his agenda on matters like health care, energy and financial regulation. Industry has calculated that it stands a better chance of achieving its ends by negotiating with the White House than by fighting it — at least publicly, and at least until the various proposals get down to the final details.
Of course, this attracts criticism from all sides. Conservatives miss the money that lobbies have thrown at oppo ads and such. Lefties worry about soiling themselves by shaking hands with the dread lobbyists. Of course, lefties have their own lobbies. Some lobbies are better than others.
I am all for this approach. The other option was constant warfare.
They had John McCain on CNN this morning. He was in his "get off my lawn" contentious codger mode. All bristly and offended and full of venom. By contrast, he looks like an anachronism. Even the pandering sycophantic boot licking CNN hosts questioned his attitude. One of them was even heard to use the "tsk tsk" sound. Well, maybe that was me between the guffaws at watching this old second place has been act like he owned the joint. Which, thank Gods he does not. Not even close John. You and your quitter.
By the end of his segment he seemed really anxious to get off screen. Visible discomfort. He knows he is on the wrong side of the fence that he has built for himself and he can't figure out how to tear it down. Too bad. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Fart.
Labels: Administration Obama
Monday, July 20, 2009
AND ANOTHER GROUP VULNERABLE TO GOP TALKING POINTS
Study: Most Children Strongly Opposed To Children’s Healthcare
Rx
I am part of the grass roots movement to improve/reform healthcare.
I have written about our situation for publication. It is not dire. I have written letters to congresspeople. I have signed a few petitions.
But at bottom, I am not seriously engaged with solution of the problem.
First, we are not in a bad situation. We have Medicare and can afford a pretty good supplemental. The prescription drugs thing (which was really a Republican invention) actually works for us.
It is all automatic. We do not have to fill out forms.
We have a good primary physician. We are careful about "doctoring". I see no specialists at all. John sees some.
We are healthy.
So there is no personal incentive to get irate, demand change, get on the bandwagon, generally.
Except for that sneaky feeling that "something could go wrong".
On the other hand, I see a lot of people who wring every single nickel that they can out of the system. If I am unfortunate enough to actually have to see a specialist, there they are. The codgers. Doctoring.
They love it. They know the staff. They banter. It is their social life for chrisake!
I have taken friends for "procedures" because they can't drive home and the waiting room is filled with people looking forward to their day in the system.
I know this because they talk very loudly. A lot of them know each other.
This is not going to stop. People demand more care than they need in my opinion.
That is why I am rather ambivalent about health reform.
I know I could get caught in the maw in a blink of an eye. But we haven't yet. We have never, ever been refused by an insurance company.
We have paid through the nose. The prices do rise.
I know that the insurance companies play around with people's lives sometimes. I read the papers.
On the other hand, if they fucked around too much they would not be in the business. It is still competitive.
So, I have to say that I am not feeling urgent about this. If they need time, take time. If they need more support, work for it. Why August?
I must say that I feel anxiety about any changes. The prescription drug thing drove me nuts until it was settled.
I am in that large proportion of people who don't want any changes. I like it the way it is.
And yet, I know that it is not good for many people especially the ones who don't have any insurance and those who are getting squeezed.
One final thing. About the present system. I had a friend who had no insurance. Foolish of him. He didn't put it at the top of his list. He could have had it and he spent it on other things. People do this.
He got serious cancer.
He had a hard time getting funded for the treatments he needed but he got it. He had to learn how to work the system. Some foundation gave him money.
He became a technical pauper, in a way, because they insist on that if you use Medicaid but he always had treatment.
I know this isn't right. But I also know that he made his insurance choices and that was him not them and yet he did OK most of the time. He still had his apartment, his car. A dog. He had a good quality of life. I was there. I saw it.
I know it all costs too much. But we forget that a lot of it is because we demand the "best" care. All the time. No reform is going to take away people's feeling of entitlement. Or doctors willingness to treat even those who really do not need it. Or overtest. Even when the patient demands it which is a lot of the time.
Is this a rant?
I don't know. I can't stop. But I will.
Points made.
I do know, my personal experience notwithstanding, that the medical system in this country is falling apart.
I know that an incredible number of people and more every day in this economy, do not have insurance at all. Not voluntarily like my friend. Involuntarily.
Should I sit back because I am in good shape? Today? No.
I will not. I will still work for the results but lets have some perspective here and realize that many people, like me, who have it pretty good, are vulnerable to the GOoPer talking points.
ON BEING DIFFERENT
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Lasse Hallström's
with Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis and others in a great ensemble. Mary Steenburgen. John C. Reilly.
This is the uber dysfunctional family but they don't see it that way. Except when they do.
That is not the point so much as the small, small town pieces and the characters interplay.
Magic.
Did I mention that it has Johnny Depp in it?
This is one of my favorite movies. Hallström is a great director. I have liked all his films. My Life as a Dog.
This is, as far as I can tell, the last best performance of DiCaprio before he went into the big star mode.
I will give it a 5 out of Netflix5.
The first 5 in a long time.
Labels: best films
Sunday, July 19, 2009
OLD TIMERS
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Lindsay Anderson's
with Bette Davis (79) and Lillian Gish (91). I put in the ages just to show how phenomenal this film is. It incorporates two of the great stars in their final years in a film about two sisters who are, well, in their final years.
This is not a weepy but could be in less capable hands. We see these women as having full lives and all of it present in their lives each day.
They are rivals. But friendly rivals.
The stars are more than ably supported by Vincent Price as a courtly and courting old Russian aristocrat, or not. Ann Sothern is delightful as Gish' best friend. Harry Carey Jr. is perfect in the role of the handyman. All Maine and more.
I enjoyed this. Anyone who is aging would. That means you.
It is a very nice Sunday afternoon movie. Five great actors and a good director on the Maine coast. Waiting for whales.
I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: best films
PEAR MARKET COLLAPSES
Every other day I have two pears for lunch.
I prefer the D'Anjou. You buy it green. It takes a few days to mature. When it is soft to the press of your thumb it is ready to eat.
I will go for other types if I have to. The red D'anjou is nice but overly sweet. It doesn't keep as well.
Then there is the Bartlett. Doesn't keep at all. Bruises too easily.
The Bosc? Good for the fall. Good in a pinch. These are ready when the stem end gets wrinkly.
I went to the market Friday and there were no pears at all. The only good news, sort of, is that the Bartlett harvest is expected in the next few weeks.
So, I broke down and went to Ralphs (Kroger). They still had some. I bought eight D'anjous. That, plus the ones I have will, last ten days.
What happened?
Trouble with the immigrant picking crews. They were hindered from coming across.
I knew this would happen. I remember reading about it.
It is those goddam Minutemen and other militant border guardians.
The bushers too. Clamping down on workers.
It is so misguided. Pears, my pears, rot on the tree because these bastards won't pursue a reasonable documented worker program.
I won't see any of them going out to pick this year's crop.
Shortsighted jingoistic bastards.
So now, it will be soft fruit. Plums, peaches. That is OK but not the same and I want my pears.
Labels: agriculture, evil bastards, republican whack jobs
Saturday, July 18, 2009
VACATION
We are having a change of routine.
The husband is in LA seeing museums and two shows for the weekend. He is seeing Louis and Keely, a small musical review, tonight and the touring Spamalot Sunday night.
He will come home again Monday afternoon or so.
Booker and I are batching it. I think that he is just beginning to realize that John has been gone longer than usual. He has been walking around looking.
I am trying to compensate. More petting and so on.
We just went out in the hot back yard to snoop around. He checked out the lizards. There were two to chase. And then he ate some grass.
We went to the mailbox in the Jeep to mail back the movie. Actually an excuse to take a ride. The Jeep said it is 113. I believe it.
I think that we will be OK. I won't have to change too much. I will skip gym and my Meeting Monday so I can take Booker for his morning walk.
We are not ready to leave him alone yet either.
That comes when John returns. We are going to start working on leaving him in the house by himself for increasing periods of time.
We think that he will be OK without a crate and we are willing to take a leap of faith on it rather than coop him up.
He is a very good boy and I mean that. I can't imagine mischief. I would expect more some separation anxiety and whining.
It will be hard. I am a sucker for whining.
Labels: life
GANG BANG
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was
an adaptation of the broadway hit show.
Of course.
The results are, as usual on a transfer, spotty.
Jerome Robbins choreography survives. It is outdoors and big but it is still close to the stage version. It is the main reason to see this film. The opening scene in which all you need to know about the Jets and the Sharks is laid out in dance form. Beautiful.
Forget Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer in the leads. They do OK but they are not of that world, the one depicted in the play. They wouldn't let Larry Kurt into the film. He created the Tony role. He was gay and had communist leanings.
Rita Moreno is good. George Chakiris, well, OK but a bad accent. Greco/PR.
They didn't go too big on the orchestra which is usually the ruination of a good broadway show. The choruses are good. All supporting are great.
I got the shivers four or five times as the songs came on. Other times, not so much.
And they fudge the ending. Dud.
I feel as though I have seen enough of this show unless I could be transported to NYC right now and see the latest production which Arthur Laurents, the librettist, directed.
In the meantime, this is a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: best films
NEW HOT
This is not a complaint. Today is the first day that we didn't open the house first thing in the morning. This year. Well, not counting the 35-40 degree days in the winter.
Let me say this another way. It didn't cool off as much last night and it was too hot to open the house.
It was in the high 80's outside and just a bit humid.
It is July. In the desert.
On the positive side, we have yet to get any real humidity. No monsoonal effects. No monsoons.
This, in spite of the fact that there has been one Mexican hurricane and a swirl of "imbedded moisture" the last five days. Most of the moisture is in the sky not on the ground.
And the cloudy sky is the reason that we don't have as much night time cooling as normal. Lower radiation cooling.
This will change and the nights will go back to the high 70s tomorrow. Tonight? Soon.
Friday, July 17, 2009
READABILITY
Every once in awhile I like to check the readability of the blog.
There is a good survey available at Juicy Studio
Here are the reults. Go to Juicy for explanations.
Summary Value
Total sentences 525
Total words 4227
Average words per Sentence 8.05
Words with 1 Syllable 3068
Words with 2 Syllables 715
Words with 3 Syllables 292
Words with 4 or more Syllables 152
Percentage of word with three or more syllables 10.50%
Average Syllables per Word 1.42
Gunning Fog Index 7.42
Flesch Reading Ease 78.94
Flesch-Kincaid Grade 4.25
This is about where I want the blog to be The Flesch Reading Ease number is desirably between 60-70 so I am high there. The Fog grade is near 8th grade which is where we put our training materials. Somehow, Flesch-Kincaid grade is lower. An anomaly.
Do with it what you will. I don't think I will change much
BOTTOM OF THE HEAP
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Todd Solondz'
Welcome to the Doll House (1995)
I remember this when it came around. It was highly praised but I just couldn't bring myself to watch a dark comedy about the most despised girl in her school. Everyone, teachers and kids, put Dawn down.
I am glad that I saw it today. It is actually LOL funny in many spots and it is very painful to watch.
Solondz pulls the situations to the near breaking point and never, ever falters. There is real pain here but it is relieved by laughs sometimes too dark to mention.
Dawn's family is the worst. The acting is so good though that I want to see more of them. The mother. God.
I lived enough of Dawn's life to identify with her. Perhaps everyone has such moments in intermediate school but Dawn has them all for us to see.
I was smart enough to suck up to the teachers and to protect myself with wit and a savage determination to detach from all the shit. I had no friends.
Dawn also has some relief. She has a crush. She has a good younger friend. A gay boy. She finds affection from another loner low bottom kid.
At times, her brother is nice to her.
And I liked this part of what Ebert wrote about it:
Scene after scene, "Welcome to the Dollhouse'' piles on its details, re-creating the acute daily misery of being an unpopular adolescent and remembering, too, how resilient a girl like Dawn can be--how self-absorbed, how hopeful, how philosophical, how enduring.Speaking from my own experience, this is exactly what happened. After high school, often, everything reverses. The down and outers win and the sports stars and cheeleaders lose.Dawn's revenge, we hope, is that someday she will be rich, famous and admired, while the snotty little cheerleaders who persecuted her will have been sucked into the primeval slime of the miserable lives they deserve.
The irony of fate.
I have not mentioned the visuals here. Costume. Dawn is a wreck but a thoughtful wreck. Someone went to great pains to get the clothes right. She never wears the same outfit twice. Ever. And they are all, well, a wreck.
Her house. Suburban horror show. Little rooms. Little yard. Little people.
The scenes are short. At times, it is almost like blackout sketches in a review. Short bits. Ta-dum.
I would gladly see this again. A Solondz film fest anyone? I didn't like his Happiness. He has only made eight films and one of these is not yet released. Also, one look at his face and you know that this film is totally autobiographical. Only the gender has been changed to protect the innocent.
I will give this a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: best films
GOING GOING, NOT GONE
The beautiful white hibiscus out front is dying.
At first, we thought it had just lost leaves in the severe windstorms last spring. Maybe so. But they are not returning and new leaves are dying.
It is a very old bush. The trunk is 4-5 inches thick and has that barky look that old trees get.
To compound matters, I realized a few weeks ago that it wasn't getting enough water. I have, since, given it a boost with the hose.
There are some sections of the tree that are live and perhaps can be brought back with some rigorous pruning of the old limbs.
But, it will have to wait until the fall when things cool off. To do it now would be too stressful for its already frail condition. Actually, we don't prune much of anything now until it cools.
It is sad but unavoidable.
This kind of woody plant lives an accelerated life here in the desert. The temperatures (and fertilizer and constant irrigation) boost it along. It develops few resistances.
So we shall wait it out.
I miss the white flowers although it bloomed a lot of them before the heat hit.
The other thing is that a replacement would take away the branches that the birds use while they wait their turn in the fountain.
An ecological disaster in the making.
So we will not act rashly. Slowly and judiciously.
Labels: horticulture
Thursday, July 16, 2009
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Jack Kerouac reads from "On the Road" with Steve Allen playing superfluous piano.
It is good to see Jack. More the point. Pipe down Steve.
I have read this book several times and each time it has grown on me.
I think it is time again but I sent my last copy to Tom. I think.
Maybe I will have to buy one.
I remember now. The last time was the roll edition. The text from the roll of teletype paper that he wrote the novel on.
CAMPAIGN MODE
Obama kicks some serious ass today.
This is the man who will take us into the 21st Century. Successfully.
Labels: Administration Obama
ONE HOUR LOST
I know this is boring but I had to get my teeth cleaned today. It is so slow.
Today was also the annual measurement of the gum line. A tedious and demeaning process. My gums are all going south. There is no advance. No chance for improvement.
But I think that even they see the futility of measuring. The gums are gone or going. That is it.
She got done with the bottom and said that she would skip the top. I agreed.
Then the cleaning. This is mostly with the pick. Some sonic. She took photos today to show me the plaque and where I need to brush harder.
I am confused by this as, mostly, I am supposed to use a soft brush and take it easy on the gums. Contradictory.
They have teevee over the chair. You can't hear it. Too much picking and sonically cleaning and water running and all.
You can't see much because she is in the way.
At the end, Doctor himself comes in and takes a runthrough. He is so sexy and charismatic that the pain of the hour falls away. And, most of all, he doesn't take any of it really seriously. We have to do it. Things are grim. I will have to have more teeth removed but we will do watchful waiting. And prayer.
Do the best we can.
And goodbye.
I think she hates to have him be like this, all unserious, after her almost funereal demeanor. The lecturing, hectoring nag.
Hey, it is over. Nothing more to December. Unless our prayers don't work.
Labels: dentist
WAR AND PEACE
This is interesting.
Are the Culture Wars Winding Down?
I have been a culture warrior since the mid 70s. I was a late bloomer.
But that is a long time to be at war. WWII was over in less than five years.
The cold war took a little longer. But still shorter than the cultural war. Yes?
Anyway, I am not putting my signs and slogans away any time soon.
The yahoo down the street has a huge anti-Obama statement on his SUV. I have my original Obama bumper stickers.
We smile and say high and let our dogs sniff each others' butts. Funny, he has those little phoo phoo shitzu dogs. Two. On little pink leashes. The faggot!
Actually, he is a nice guy. He is a Limbaugh ditto head. A working class hero with some legitimate grievances except, in his case, he has graduated to the supervisory class and makes a bundle as a contractor for the power company. Probably union. Probably a sinecure. The American dream. But he is sunk in his identity. Guilt?
He doesn't even know that he has joined the petit bourgeoisie. Or, since he has two cars, one a Caddy, that he is full bore bourgeoisie. The culture war is over for him except for the shouting.
It is funny to watch. Like I said, he is a nice guy.
He also has a sticker on his back window that says "piss on the UN". Knee jerk. I don't mean him. I mean his knee.
Labels: culture
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
PHOTO OPP
Here is a photo of Obama on the big bird with Willie Mays.
And a not so good video.
Labels: Administration Obama, sports
TORPOR
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was Jean-Luc Godard's
You can look at this film in two ways. It can be seen as breakthrough cinema. There are lots of innovative things in here. The long tracking shot of a traffic jam with all the tableaus of cars and people caught in funny, mostly, activities. Wonderful.
Or you can see it as a political tract. If this is the case, then you are hopelessly mired in the 60's mentality and you are in a hopeless state.
There are vast sections of the film where I just plain got sleepy. Nodding. Somnambulant. I could see what was happening but I was disconnected. It is a tribute to Godard's film skills that I didn't skip. What I was seeing was interesting and sometimes innovative. I could have done without the slaughter of a pig. Real. I didn't like it. I felt mugged into watching something that I didn't want to see.
As a historical document, the film is still interesting.
A time capsule, in a way.
Of course, there are still capitalists and terrorists and anarchy and the inevitable bourgeoisie who catch so much shit from the lefties in these films. Filthy swine those Bourgeoisie. Of course that would be most of us watching the picture.
There are hippy revolutionaries in this film and they all wear fashionable duds. Funny. I hope it was intentional. I suspect not. The working class people that we see in here, the Proletariat, are uniformly portrayed as slack mouthed and passive.
Not very revolutionary except to show how they are downtrodden.
I could go on but I won't.
It was fun to see again. No more. That is enough.
I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5 if only for the wonderful tracking shot that goes on for at least a kilometer (this being France).
Labels: best films
WILLIE MAYS MAKES COMEBACK
I know this stuff is not important in the sense of history or anything but I love to see it.
Obama goes low with All-Star first pitch
The best part of this story, to me, is that he picked up Willie Mays in Detroit and took him along in Air Force One to the game. They exited the plane arm in arm.
If you are my age you cannot say the words Willie Mays without a thrill and a tug at the heart. Small tears. And I was never a Giants fan.
Asked what advice he gave Obama, the Say Hey Kid said: "Follow through."The other thing that got me is that Stan Musial was at the game. My God. Stan Musial. he is 88. I wasn't a Cardinal fan either."He'll be fine. I guarantee it," Mays said aboard Air Force One.
When I was a kid, I was a big baseball fan. I even went to the local radio station where they read off the play by play teletype with sound effects.
It was as exciting as a real game to me. Well, almost.
I lost my interest in baseball somewhere with the big salaries and the hyped up television coverage and all. Maybe I just grew out of it.
I am glad that I have a son who is a strong fan of the game. He helps me keep a bit in touch.
I like that I have a President who is willing to get out there and actually pitch a ball.
There is something about the game that brings us all together.
Labels: sports
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
BLOWBACK
This is funny.
White House turns up heat on Arizona senator
There are a number of fucktards in the GOP Senator ranks but Kyl is one of the biggest.
And McCain put out a statement supporting Kyl.
Well, McCain isn't too high on the integrity list either.
I love the Obama's aggressiveness on this. I think that they have had enough of one sided partisanship. They sure have the guys to make this a pissing match if that is what is needed. Start with Rahm-bo.
Labels: Administration Obama, republican whack jobs
HOW IT IS/WAS
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was
with Dana Andrews, Lloyd Bridges (young, very young), John Ireland and others (even Huntz Hall--you know it is obscure and geriatric when I have to put a link on a reference). Actually, Hall is very good. That is not him in the picture. That is Stanley Holloway, a sort of combination hick/homo type.
A platoon lands on the Anzio beachhead and has the mission to penetrate german lines 6 miles to a farmhouse and bridge to blow up the bridge.
It is a tribute to the concept, the writers and the directors that this platoon does not fire a shot for the first 90 minutes. They see action and lose some members but they do not really engage in battle until the last 30 minutes of the film.
This allows us to see war as it probably is, in reality. They get lost, they lose their lieutenant (a witless type who insists on looking over the rim of the duck they are landing in), they are strafed, they are bored, someone is suffering from battle fatigue. And so on.
They talk mostly. It is good talk. Not too corny most of the time. Remember this is WWII and 1945 and there is a bit of propaganda here. Some feel-good postwar stuff.
The film is atypical and admirable for that.
I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5. After all, it has Huntz Hall in a straight role.
Labels: best films
SPACE ATHEISTS
Say that three times, fast, and see if you can not lisp on one of the th's.
July 20th is the 40th anniversary of the moon walk. Not Jacko's. The real one.
Or not.
Vocal Minority Insists It Was All Smoke and Mirrors
These guys are hard core. Six percent.
I can see how they would figure it could be faked. Even though I have seen real moon rocks in the NASA center in Florida, who am I to know whether these came from the moon, really?
And it was all on video. None of us were there to see it.
And look at that flag in the picture. Everyone knows there isn't any wind on the moon. What the fuck is with that? A howler right in the middle of the scam.
There is some appeal in the idea that we never acheived the moon mission. That it was faked.
It is about the same appeal, in the opposite direction sort of, that there are space aliens walking among us or, perhaps, visiting us from time to time for the purpose, primarily, of sex experiments or anal probes or both.
But the government is suppressing the truth!
That is the appeal. The tickle to the lower stem of the brain where suspicion and paranoia lie.
It is appealing because in a specific way it demonstrates that, in a general way, I am not responsible for myself. There are unseen forces that govern my life and, as a result, I might just as well give up.
Then there is the profit motive. Keep reading here.
Mr. Marino, the author of the post on the Lens blog, is a 31-year-old architect born in Argentina. In an e-mail interview, he said that the political corruption during the years of dictatorship in his country shaped his thinking: “I started to realize how political corruption operates and how it is the interests of a few in power that really governs our world.”"The Nixon administration, the Vietnam War, the Titanic and the Tower of Babel".
As he traveled the world — he now lives and works in China — he picked up books contending that the landings were faked and saw documentaries including Mr. Sibrel’s, he said, which paints a dark portrait of political manipulation during the Nixon administration and somehow ties in the Vietnam War, the Titanic and the Tower of Babel before even getting to the supposed photographic evidence of lunar deception.
Mr. Sibrel, who sells his films online, has hounded Apollo astronauts with a Bible, insisting that they swear on camera they had walked on the Moon. He so annoyed Buzz Aldrin in 2002 — ambushing him with his Bible and calling him “a coward, and a liar, and a thief” — that Mr. Aldrin punched Mr. Sibrel in the face. Law enforcement officials refused to file charges against Mr. Aldrin, the second man on the Moon.
Well, I know for a fact that the Babel thing was aliens, not a government conspiracy involving NIxon.
I like Aldren's solution to the problem. Punch the disbelievers in the face. What a concept. That ought to bring them to the truth.
