esrosedotblog

SUB GENREUpdated

Today's movie was a gay audience film called

Hollywood, Je T'aime (2008)

This is a sort of B-picture. There are many of them produced for a specific audience. There are equivalent films for Christians and, I suppose, any sizable group that will buy or rent or even go to the theater to see some of their own life and interests on the screen.

I am sure there is an economic model. The films are done with little known actors for scale. A lot of location shooting. Usually with a minimum crew. Digital.

I do not scoff. I am not immune. I watch them from time to time particularly if I hear about one or read a good revue.

None of these films is rated. They do not have to be as a general audience will not see them. This one would barely make the NC17 rating as we see dicks and there is some explicit sexual content. But, in these films, this sort of thing is severely edited down. It is not even erotic for the most part. It is certainly not jerk off material.

The acting is usually adequate. Stereotypes of one kind are brought around. In this case a drag queen, a gay pothead who can't really relate, a sex addict waiter/actor and in this film they have brought in a trannies. I do not relate to that. I don't get the fit.

The hero is OK. The formula acceptable. It is a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court only changed to a Frenchman who visits LA after a breakup with a boyfriend.

He has culture shock but it does not prevent him from finding a home, getting an SAG card, appearing in a commercial, making friends of all the stereotypes and having a good time.

The one thing that he does not do, sadly, is get laid.

He pines for the lost boyfriend but, as we are shown, the bf is rather unsavory.

He throws all of his few week's success over to go back to France and reunite with the cheating little bitch.

Improbable.

I don't get it.

In fact the whole exercise would please any homophobe. Every negative stereotype was there for the picking. Even I got offended.

Is this the new form of punishing the gay character for being gay? Well, it beats suicide or a fatal beating ala Brokeback. Which, if I may say so, is in the old Hollywood punish the faggot style no matter who starred in it or how beautiful it may have been.

I had read the story when it first came out so I knew enough to stay away. Besides I don't see the movie of things I have read or visa versa.

I digress.

The film's one non-formula part is that the hero is actually homely. He is a new actor in his first part. He is very low energy. Could he be the producer's boyfriend? He is sort of hot. Looks like Adrian Brody. They comment on it in the film.

The film also has Chad Allen who famously came out as a teenager and now is the go-to actor in a film like this. He holds some of it together. All of his scenes work. But he is not pivotal. A mistake.

It was slight fun to see this film. There were amusing moments. I see one of these every once in awhile just as one would get a MacDonald's instead of having a sirloin steak.

I didn't FF it. I watched the whole thing. That makes it a 2 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

HATE MAIL

An acquaintance sent me an email today. It was one of those wing nut form letters attacking our Commander in Chief. Here is the beginning of it. Notice that the "p" is lower case. That got me right there.

At a time when our president and other politicians tend to apologize for our country's prior actions, here's a refresher on how some of our former patriots handled negative comments about our country.

JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when
De Gaulle decided to pull out of NATO. De Gaulle said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible.

Rusk responded, "Does that include those who are buried here?"

De Gaulle did not respond. You
could have heard a pin drop..

When in England

at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the
Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of''empire building' by George Bush.

He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return."

You could have heard a pin drop.

Of course, in the latter case of Bush empire building, the answer might have been "yes".

The email went on and on with this shit.

Usually, I would just hit the "delete" button and forget it but not today.

Here is what I sent back.

I have not heard my President apologize to anybody for anything.

This is the kind of canard that goes around between people who are simply not paying attention.

It disunites us and is hurtful to our interests at home and abroad.

Can you hear a pin drop on that one?

Otherwise, how are you folks doing?

It is always good to hear from you.

I hope the personal news is good and that you are thriving.

All Best

I view this kind of thing to be unpatriotic, counterproductive and, to say the least, idiot dittohead ranting. Demagoguery of the original writer and lemming non-thinking on the part of the people who send it on. And make it a fucking chain letter. I suppose I will have bad luck for not forwarding it to others.

See? I am still pissed off about it.

I suppose that is why I don't get much of this kind of mail from anybody. Also, I try to choose my friends more carefully than I used to.

Labels: republican whack jobs

BAD BLOOD

This is interesting.

Muslims Won't Play Together

I knew this. The muslim world is anything but monolithic. Not that the christers are all that together. But the muslims carry a particular inability to work together along even tribal let alone international lines.

It took only 24 years after the origin of the faith for schisms to develop. Assassinations. Perfidy.

I am just saying.

No religions mix well. The thing that makes muslims so difficult with each other, I think, is that they are so religiously intent. Absolutely humorless. At least christians have some good jokes about themselves.

The rest of the world is, well largely, irreligious. That works. Dogma doesn't.

A lesson for those who want church and state to get along better.

Labels: religion

MS AND MR K

Today is "teary day" in the pages of the NYTimes.

Try this one.

And the Orchestra Played On

This is about a bunch of kids that were herded, cajoled and even terrorized into playing their best for their high school music teacher. Mr. K.

They had a reunion because Mr. K succumbed to old age and Parkinson's disease.

There was a giant reunion of players who came from far and wide to have the privilege of playing a memorial concert.

These are not people who normally play out or, for that matter, play in.

When I read of Mr. K. I thought of Miss Kern. My first piano teacher. I would not have dared to call her Miss K.

She was a stern and forbidding presence. Not averse to grabbing my wrist to make a point.

I was terrified of her. I loved her.

I remember once when I was lagging behind that she told me "we are about to come to the parting of the ways".

I went cold inside. And reengaged with great vigor.

I never became a professional or anything. I did have a lot of fun with the piano. For years, I played out at churches pounding the organ and leading choirs.

Miss Kern didn't think much of the organ. She thought it an unnecessary embellishment on a perfectly acceptable instrument, the piano.

Miss Kern retired after about 5 or 6 years of working with me. I think also that I had gone as far as I could go with her. I had two teachers, after her, before I left high school. I even took lessons again later in life. Once, in my thirties, when my kids were taking lessons. Bach Sonatas. It didn't go well. I was too busy with other stuff, really.

Then I took lessons again, in my forties, from a sort of well known young jazz pianist on improvization. Very good. Still, too much else to do.

But that last effort stood with me for years until I moved here and gave up the piano for an electronic keyboard.

It was never the same really. Miss Kern was right. The piano is the piano. There is no other instrument that approaches it. Period.

I haven't really touched it in a long time and, when I do, I keep the earphones firmly in place so only I can hear the outcome.

There is a coda to my life with Miss Kern.

She retired to the Theodore Presser Home for Retired Teachers. Presser was the publisher of the mainline piano lesson literature. They had a lot they owed the teacher. In fact, he made the bequest specifically on that point. Presser Publishing is still huge. And philanthropic.

This was at the same time that I moved to Germantown (northern Philadelphia). It was near the home and I went to visit with her a number of times. I remember that she borrowed my army fatigues for a Halloween Party. One of her favorite lesson tunes was, I remember, "Something About a Soldier".

Then, I moved out of the city and into the suburbs then on back to Boston and we lost touch. Miss Kern died.

I would play for her again if we could get her students together for it.

Here is the main thing. I had a lot of fun and even made money with the piano playing but I mostly got a lifelong love of music which came directly from the work with her. The best way to appreciate music is to be able to play it and I still can.

Another thing. I learned from her and others, even when I was in middle age, to take direction from a master player. A life lesson.

And, what is more, I learned that practice is never over. Progress is our most important product. And keep your wrists elevated!

Labels: music, nostalgia

CHEERS

There don't seem to be as many home town moments in America as there used to be.

Maybe because we leave our home towns as soon as we can. Maybe because there is so much information pushed at us that we miss the little stories that mean so much. The ones about community.

I was very touched by this.

THIS LAND: For a Moment of Glory, Mastering a Million Details

The Olympian gold winner Hannah Kearney returns home to accolades from her townies.

I love that the story is not so much about Hannah but about the town that turned out for her.

It made me teary.

I live in a small city now. Well, 40,000 some people, half of whom are not here all year.

It ain't the same.

But I'm not the same either. I left my small town when I was 18 and I never went back.

Oh yes. I went home to visit my parents and a bare minimum of my extended family. But I was on my way. Busy. Headed in other directions all of which were labeled "away".

As far as possible.

But there are some kid memories of the community that still remain and feel good.

I found a lot of wonderful times in life "away" and I don't regret leaving but I can keep the small town memories green and be happy when I read about another small town that puts aside its differences for a little celebration of a once in a life time event.

Labels: nostalgia, sports

CITRUS TREAT

We joke that Palm Spring has no seasons. Just different variations of temperature.

But if you look closely at plants, many of them behave in a seasonal way. Just not all at the same time.

Citrus trees abide by the traditional spring bloom, summer fruit set and autumn through winter fruit harvest.

It is raining some today. I went out back and walked by the small grove that we have. One tangerine tree, a grapefruit tree and, in huge pots, a lemon and a "mexican" lime. Back east we called them "key limes". Funny.

I realized that we have abundant blossom buds on all four trees. It seems that they appeared over night!

The tangerine is an every other year harvest. This is the year for fruit. We will have a lot. The last harvest broke a couple of tree limbs.

The lemon and grapefruit are ready to go with average buds. The grapefruit is dying but very slowly. It is still bearing smaller fruit. We will keep it going as long as we can. It is an old, old tree. There would be no easy replacing it for beauty, shade or fruit.

The surprise is the small lime which has not done all that well since it was planted. It has had two seasons of just a few fruits. This year, the blossoms are extraordinary. The thickest. The most.

We love these limes. We first ran into them when we went to the Virgin Islands and, of course, Key West. They are small and have a bite. One lime serves two glasses of carbonated water very nicely. Nothing like it on a hot day.

One more thing. There are two harvests with citrus. The first one is the wonderful aroma that saturates the neighborhood when these buds break open. A week away? I hope.

So, I am a happy farmer. A good beginning to a bounty year. If the weather holds.

Labels: citrus, garden, horticulture

SUB-INDEPENDENT

Today's film was Shane Meadows'

Somers Town (2009)

This is a small effort with very big impact. A "drama/comedy". I would call it a love story.

Two kids, outsiders, meet and develop a friendship.

One kid is a runaway who has nothing, can't go back. The other kid is a Polish immigrant, son of a worker on the Chunnel. Alone all day.

The immigrant kid smuggles the runaway kid into his apartment. He feeds him. The runaway shows the immigrant kid a thing or two about living on the streets.

There are others.

The immigrant's father. Young. Empathetic. Absent much of the time but kind.

A neighbor who deals in shady merchandise in a small street mart. He hires the kids in a kind of chiseling way. Then befriends them.

A french girl, also an immigrant who the boys get a joint crush on. She is charming with them.

There are a lot of vignettes. They add up.

Everyone has something to add to the mix. Everyone gains from someone else.

These people are not alone. They are, actually, quite rich. They are open, willing to change. They engage with one another. They have all been lonely.

The film is short. One hour. On the face of it, I wanted more time with them. On the other hand, I had more. I had a heart full of experience.

The photography on this project is wonderful to watch. We aren't clubbed over the head with arty shots but the art is there. It is effectively done in black and white with some color thrown in for good measure.

The film won some awards and all but disappeared. A few critics praised loud enough that it exists for us to enjoy on disc. It would be almost impossible to get distribution with a one hour film. Too bad.

I would love to see it again sometime. I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

UNFIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

Brecht Vandenbroucke: “citystairs”

Labels: culture

FASCINATING*

Watch for the little stuff. A kiss goodbye. Setting tables.

Labels: fun, music

JEFF

If you appreciate Jeff Bridges as much as I do (I just finished an 8 film retrospective) you will like this article about him.

The Dude Plumbs His Weary Soul

There is a good slide show with it.

I can't add a lot. Bridges is finally getting his due. I have seen almost every picture. There are a few that still don't have a tape or disc. He is a great actor. Just because he makes it look easy shouldn't take away from his accomplishments.

That's him in Starman. Incredible.

Labels: best films, films, heroes

DOG EARED

I just finished a great book.

How to Teach Physics to Your Dog

This is a great book if (1) you are interested in finally kind of, more or less, understanding quantum physics and (2) if you have any hope of meaningful conversation with an intelligent pooch on long walks. This has kept Booker and me occupied in deep conversation for weeks now.

Hey, I went to MIT and I didn't really grasp quantum physics. I passed the quizzes and got my gentleman's C but it was just barely.

This book lays it down in a way that is fun. But that is not the point. It is not the fun that makes it work. It is the clear prose and the simple diagrams.

It is also the continuous interjection of the real world of a dog as well as the real world of classical physics to make sense of basically a non-sensical science. Read the book and you will agree. Quantum physics is non-sense. Beyond sensing. But it is, at certain points, analogous to our familiar world and this is where the author Chad Orzel shines.

By talking to his dog Emmy (photo) and letting the dog talk back he hooks into the sort of non-rational, non-humanoid universe of dogs as a way to explain the non-rational, non-humanoid world of quantum physics.

Orzel is an engaging character. Learn more about him at his website.

Why should this be interesting to you? Aha! That is exactly Emmy's point throughout the book. And Orzel brings home the growing importance of quantum physics to our daily lives. Try digital photography for one. Lasers anyone? Like that.

Like an auto engine, it is not necessary to understand all the intricacies of the thing but it helps to have a general knowledge, to appreciate it.

I do not know how I found this book. Some blog.

I am really glad that I got it and read it.

A tip. This is the kind of book that improves and works best at a slow pace. It has been my toilet companion for over a month.

Labels: Booker, books

THE MISSIONARY POSITION

It has been awhile since I gave the christers a good bashing.

Here is a good opportunity.

The Missionary Impulse

Doing "good" for others and "bringing them to the word" has always been a good money making proposition.

Missionaries, by their very job description, are cultural aliens bent on erasing the norms and beliefs of others no matter what it takes. Even some hellacious solutions.

The people who got their hands caught in the cookie jar in Haiti were, clearly, up to no good. But the missionary always clothes his motives with the soothing words of their religion.

I have known a few missionaries. They came back to the States after serving abroad. A lot of them were just dupes. Caught up in the "doing good" impulse. Carrying out the evil designs of their higher authorities. A lot of them were manipulative bastards who tried to run their holy scam on people back home.

To a man or woman, not one of them had a clue how to run their own lives or exist in a society of equals.

I am sure that somewhere, somehow, there are some "missionaries" doing some kind of good. Surely some of the people working in Haiti are doing so. But Haiti is already a country so yoked to catholicism and the voodoo stuff that a missionary here or there can't hurt it much more. Just keep it in the same subjugated place.

If you want to know what the religionists and the christers are up to, just follow the money.

Labels: christist watch, religion

DON'T LISTEN TO THEM

Listen to me.

The pundits don't know what they are talking about.

It was a successful day. Period.

It was worth the time. Period.

It is always useful to bring people together. It is never a bad idea.

You can cheer for whatever side you want but it is sill a successful day.

The GOP can't kick. They were heard. The Demos can't kick. They had the cards and they shared the deck around the table. Everyone had a chance to deal.

Another thing.

Obama made it plain in the end. There are areas of agreement. Some already in the bills passed. There could be more. It is up to how the GOP plays it. And if they play it "badly" there will be the reconciliation approach and if that doesn't work there will be November and so be it.

He said it. Good for him. Truth.

The Republicans talked a lot about overwhelming polls today. Try this one.

Two-thirds of Americans think Republicans in Congress are not doing enough to work across the aisle with President Barack Obama and his Democratic colleagues, according to an excerpt of a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Wednesday.

The 67 percent of those surveyed who said the GOP is not reaching out is the same that said so in an early November poll. At no point in Obama’s presidency have less than 60 percent of those surveyed in the poll said Republicans are not doing enough.

Labels: Administration Obama

LITTLE MAC

John McCain revived the 2008 campaign today and Obama reprimanded him for it.

He had nothing substantive about the content of health reform. It was all about process. Whining about process.

At the end Obama did a turn around the table. It was interesting to see McCain actually back up and move to the side to avoid shaking hands.

Prick.

Labels: McCain

OFF SIDES

I have been watching the President's Bipartisan Meeting on Health Reform.

It is going pretty well, I think.

No one is changing their minds. All the issues are getting on the table. The lines have been drawn. Everyone will be able to see that the GOP does not have a plan but wants to eat up the Democratic plan. It will end today with a concentrated amount of attention.

And now the House and Senate can go about ramming the Democratic plan through. Or not.

But, soon, we will be over the discussion.

I have little patience for all of this but I did watch. I gave it my best shot. I do respect the GOP for not going all nasty on it. They did misrepresent facts and allude to poll results which do not match any poll I have seen (all 50/50 ish). But they were gentlemen and ladies. Something that does not often happen.

Did anyone notice any Republican women there? Any blacks or other brown people on the GOP side? No, I thought not.

I have heard or read all this stuff before. Obama is doing a good job I think. He always does. No one can complain about his over running it but they probably will.

What else can I say?

God Bless America.

Labels: Administration Obama, Democrats, Republicans

MILLENIAL OR NOT

I love quizzes where there is no right answer. I will not do intelligence tests or puzzles or shit.

I was always a poor tester in school.

But this kind of thing. Wow. I love it.

How Millenial Are You?

by Pew Research.

I liked taking the test a lot. The only question I had trouble with was the religious one. I draw a line between spiritual and religious and so I said "no" to the question.

I loved the results. I am a 44. Which means post gen-Xer. Or something.

In other words, I don't act my age. Well, only moderately not my age.

A good thing, no?

Iit is a relief. I don't think I would want to be in the Gen Y cohort. All that texting. And sexting.

Labels: life

GIVING BACK GIVES BACK

Today's film was the documentary

The Way We Get By (2009)

The focus is on the troop greeters at Bangor Airport the crossroads almost all planes going to or coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. The greeters are mostly people of a certain age.

The film focuses on the goodbyes and the welcome homes and many touching times with the troops but goes further than that. It explores what this volunteer work means to three of the old timers who faithfully carry out the mission. They are all pushing the end of life. You can see and hear how this work affects them. It is quite inspirational.

The interesting thing is that the director, Aron Gaudet, has chosen three people who have significant problems of their own. Loneliness, loss, serious illness, compulsive behaviors. They are seen closeup warts and all. The service they do is clearly a major experience in long and difficult lives. It transforms them. We stay with the people over a long period of time to see a span of their lives.

One of them is Ms. Gaudet's mother. It is truly an inside story.

These people are older than I am. They are living out more difficulties than I expect I will have. But who knows? I will remember some of the lessons from this fine film.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

STRIKE UP THE BAND

Today, Booker and I were on the trail.

I looked down and there was this beautiful snake sticking about 6-8 inches out from under a rock.

He was a rich brown and black stripe. The stripes about half an inch to an inch wide.

I yelled out loud. I guess that is redundant. A yell is out loud, huh? Well, there are internal yells but this wasn't it. It was pretty loud so I will let "loud yell" stand.

Booker went on point and looked around. Ready to leap. He is amazingly attuned to our emotions.

If something that he could see had shown up it would have been in trouble.

The snake went back under the rock.

There are so many snakes in the desert here that it is difficult to identify them precisely but this one looks like a Sonora semiannulata semiannulata - Variable Groundsnake.

Labels: Booker, desert, wildlife

TERROR GAMES

Today's film was Uli Edel's

The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)

This is a docudrama of the real deal that happened in the 70's.

It is very well done.

You can see how shit can get out of control. The original motives of the "gang" were political but it didn't take too long before the distinction between the people and the pigs got blurred. This is shown quite effectively.

Meinhof is the brain. She is a journalist who inexplicably leaves her kids and literally jumps into the gang situation. She remains the superego. Caution. High purpose. Baader is a bad boy rebel who has found a cause. The id. He just wants to kick out the jams. Together they are an explosive mix and inspire others to follow them.

Bruno Ganz is a point of calm in an otherwise thriller/bamg up fllm. He runs the national security apparatus and has a considerable role in keeping the thing in some level of containment until the trials start and then the 2d, 3d and 4th generation of rebels start to run amock. We see the birth of modern terrorism and the involvement of the Middle East comes to play.

It is a good movie. I am glad that I saw it.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

LATER

Labels: fun

ANOTHER TORTURE FREE SUCCESS

Zasi to Plead Guilty

This year has been marked by continuous success with the "old American way" of dealing with criminals both regular and the war kind.

Labels: Administration Obama

WELL THERE IS HOPE

Today some Republicans (upper case) broke ranks with the powers that be. Or were.

With G.O.P. Help, Senate Advances Jobs Bill

Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, the newly elected Republican, was the first to join Democrats in backing the measure. He was then joined by Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, George Voinovich of Ohio and Christopher Bond of Missouri, who voted after it became obvious Democrats would prevail.

Whatever.

Labels: Democrats, Republicans

FAMILY

Today's film was Arnaud Desplechin’s

Un conte de Noël / A Christmas Tale (2008)

with Catherine Deneuve at the center of a rather large, wonderful extended family of somewhat talented, odd and occasionally dysfunctional people.

This is a warm and satisfying film aimed at thinking adults. You have to work a bit to get the angles on the clan and the story but at about half way through it all gels and we become part of the whole scene.

The acting is superb.

This is not necessarily the family I wish I had but it would serve as a good substitute if I had to be part of it.

Chances are good that some of what goes on goes on with them goes on with me.

I do not mean to create the idea that this is a family circus by any means. These are solid citizens with substantial lives. They just do not mix as well or as easily as one might assume.

Deneuve stands at the center with her older husband, the estimable Jean-Paul Roussillon. I liked it very much and would like to see it again.

I have seen other films by Desplechin and could return to them all together.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

GOOD BOYS AND GIRLS

Gay military have often been treated as salacious miscreants, as though their promiscuous behavior is somehow so flagrant that other, straight, soldiers could not bear it.

Yeh. As though those straight kids are behaving like little saints.

Of course, we know this is not true as there are presently many gay and lesbian soldiers already in the forces without a ripple. Sure, there are some incidents but there are straight rapes and misbehavior as well. These are cooped up young people.

Now this.

Gay Soldiers Don’t Cause Disruption, Study Says

How many more studies will it take to just get this DADT thing over with?

Labels: gay military, gay rights

GEEZER PLANTS

I have always regarded people who kept their poinsettias after the holidays as seriously out of whack with the system.

I am not sure what system that would be but it was definitely in the same category of keeping wreaths on your door and lights in your trees too long.

Now, for two successive years, I am keeping the poinsettia plants alive through, well, almost the easter season.

It may be a geezer thing. Puttering.

Today I went out and cut down the repotted poinsettia we got from the kids back east as I should have done last year.

They say that it will now produce new stems and not be "leggy".

Well, the problem with last year's plant, other than its being leggy, was that it didn't survive the heat.

Now we know that poinsettias grow wild out here. They use them to curb highway bank erosion.

But that doesn't account for desert heat and exposure to the ultra-violet.

So this year I will cover the plant for a couple of months during the summer. We have "suncloth" that cuts down the exposure more than 50%.

The plant that I have inside is doing fine. I will keep it going as long as it goes. This is the one from the supermarket.

Last year's supermarket plant did fine and grew a lot of new green growth but never turned red because I didn't put it in the dark.

I can't put the outdoors plant in the dark. Maybe 100% dark cover for awhile.

These are the kind of life problems that would only be pondered by the unemployed and under engaged. I am certainly not employed but I thought I was engaged. Maybe a little more dog walking. The gym. Cook longer gourmet dinners.

In the meantime I will putter with the poinsettias.

Labels: holidays, horticulture, life, retirement

ELEGY

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 film and Jeff Bridges selection was Peter Bogdonavich's

The Last Picture Show (1971).

This examination of sadness and loss in a small, dying Texas town is now a classic.

It still packs a punch.

I am surprised at how deeply it still affects me.

Perhaps this is because I came from a dying town at the same period but I don't think so. The music is right out of the radio that I played in my bedroom. No one else in the house wanted to hear any of it.

The cast of this film, relatively unknown at the time, is the heart and soul of the thing.

Timothy Bottoms, Sam Bottoms, Ben Johnson, Ellen Burstyn, Clu Gulager, Cybill Shepherd and, best of the lot, Cloris Leachman.

There is a lot of crap written about this film but there is no overstating its impact at the time. It has many firsts including the music, no one had done that. It has a lot of real residents of the town where they shot it. This is cinema realité American style. It is very much of the "new wave". More with less. Show don't tell. All that.

Part of the crap written about the film is this second review that Ebert wrote comparing this film with Citizen Kane.

Jeez. Even my main review man can go over the top and off the reservation.

The last picture show is Red River which I still remember from the first time I saw it as a kid.

Theis film still gets a 5 out of Netflix5. Sonny and Duane still rule.

I put up with the watermark to use this picture. It is so apt.

Labels: best films, films

SEVEN DEGREES OF SEPARATION

I have had the pool cover on for a week and have gotten a rise of seven degrees. One a day. 67 degrees. Almost enough for some people to take a dip.

We will need another fifteen degrees for the SoCal body to take it.

I will not get a degree a day for the next period of time but this is a good start.

I can keep the cover on and just remove it for the pool guy twice a week.

The goal is to have it up and warming by April. I think we will make it.

The weather has been warm again this week. We were supposed to get rain and a cooling trend yesterday but it didn't show up.

They have also taken the wet weather out of the long range forecast.

All tee shirt weather. Very nice.

Labels: pool

CPAUL

Today, in a straw poll, the CPAC people voted an astonishing majority to Ron Paul!

Romney fell to second place by 11 points. He had won the CPAC poll four years running.

This is not good news for Romney (or the lame Pawlenty who came to pander or Palin who is falling like a stone).

Nor is it particularly good news for conservatives.

The whole tea party thing is made up of a significant number of disaffected Paulists. They have now come to CPAC.

I actually like Ron Paul. He is a libertarian. Sort of. Mix in the gold standard and stuff. He is clear and concise about his beliefs and he is not a god-guy or a social conservative all that much. He is an "aginner" for sure.

Nate Silver has an interesting take on this result which actually, I have read, shook up the organizers of CPAC quite a bit. It was not to turn out this way.

Paul is a non starter electorally. He is 74 and unelectable. He is draining support out of the GOP machine.

Read this.

The Tea Paullers.

Just when I was afraid all this was going to quit being interesting.

Labels: republican whack jobs

NOTHING LOOKS LIKE A LOT TO ME

The whiners and malcontents on my side piss and moan about how little Obama has done for them. Accent on the last two words, "for me".

Take a look at The Obameter run by the Washington Post.

I would say he has done pretty well.

Of course, our friends on the other side of the aisle would point out that he has done too much. As they should. It is there job to do so.

Labels: Administration Obama

WINNING BIG

Today's movie is also a NYTimes 1176 Best Film

Last American Hero (1973)

with Jeff Bridges.

This great film is part biopic, part auto mania, a little Dukes of Hazzard and a lot of good cinema to say nothing of life lessons.

What saves this from being a B-film destined for the drive-ins is the quality of production and the true inspiration of the story.

We have a story based on Tom Wolfe's article of the same name. We have a title song that became world famous, Jim Croce's I've Got a Name which they use sparingly but effectively.

They've got Ned Beatty as an early mentor. The manic redneck promoter. They have Geraldine Fitzgerald as Mom and Art Lund* as Dad. Valerie Perrine as the break-your-young-heart race groupie. And they have, bless him, Jeff Bridges.

They also have a kickass ending.

It is a lot of show not tell. There is nothing fake about the picture. And, it is the real story of Junior Johnson.

Did I mention that it is short? They move it really fast. 100 minutes.

Well, it is a racing film.

I wanted to see this again. That makes it a 5 out of Netflix5. I liked it as much as I did the first time.

It is interesting. There are virtually no reviews of this in IMDb. It is lost in the ether. But not for me.

*Art Lund was a great actor. He began as a band singer. Had a few hits. Always on the margins. In this film he plays Johnson's Dad who is a moonshiner. It is hard not to make this a stereotype role but Lund keeps it on the emo level so well, all his scenes have impact. Some have tears. He and Bridges are archetypical in their competitive father/son love. I saw Lund in the Frank Loesser musical called The Most Happy Fella. It was a considerable hit. He played a drifter. Same kind of thing. He stole the show with one song. Joey. I have never forgotten him or it. I can still hear him. In this film he would be maybe 20 years older and his energy does not dim.

Labels: best films

RAGE IS IN

The C-PAC meeting is an opportunity for a lot of fun at the expense of some pretty whacked out people. So it goes.

But when some of the more "establishment" types of the GOP try to get down and irate, it is a sorry spectacle.

Nerds on a rampage.

Gail Collins has a good take today on this latest development of the "willing to do anything to get anywhere" gang. Panderers, demagogues and nitwits.

The Wages of Rages

Labels: republican whack jobs

HOLD THAT TIGER

I watched Tiger Woods' mea culpa today.

I thought he did a pretty good job according to the standards the media and others hold about such things. Mostly hypocritical. Let him who hath not sinned cast the first stone kind of thing.

It is all PR bullshit and everyone knows it. Kabuki.

I watched CNN this morning. The reporter assigned to be on site (not in the same room with Woods, only an invited list got in there) was giddy with excitement and full of speculation. Would the wife be there? All that. It was really disgusting. And the anchor's smarmy kind of moral superiority.

When I say he did a good job I mean that he hit all the marks. I liked that he stuck to his Buddhist rules and didn't kiss Brit Hume's ass by "going christian".

I suspect that he was as well coached in this as you can be. Anywhere. The PGA is desperate to get over this. He is their draw. Nike has a fortune tied up in his brand.

You can bet that all of his backers have been in on this and a top flight PR firm prepared a lot of the script and rehearsed him.

What a crock!

I personally like the approach of The Onion.

Tiger Woods Announces Return To Sex.

We demand impossible standards of our celebrities. Woods tried his damnedest not to be a celebrity but just to play the game. They got him for that too.

Oh and let's not pass without mentioning the differential standards around race. White women. Blonds. It is in there.

Some jerk-off at CPAC got up today and managed to analogize between Tiger and Barack. Strained. Inept. Horribly racist and sexist. But he did it anyway. And they all laughed and cheered. There is no end to this kind of crap.

Labels: hypocrites, media, republican whack jobs, sports

THE POWER OF COMING OUT

We are told that the best and most effective gay liberation move is to come out personally to as many people as possible.

When we do this, people have to face their prejudices, if any, and through contact with us most people become enlightened and somewhat freed of their homophobia.

It seems simple. And yet, a lot of gay people do not come out to the people they think might disrespect or dislike them. Just the people who probably need to know a gay person!

The multiplier of this effect can be considerable.

In this vignette, a true coming out story, about a hundred people were affected by one man's willingness to be honest with another man about himself.

An interesting aside is that Sims is the bench press record holder in Pennsylvania. Not that being butch has anything to do with it but, still. The hundred people are guys and jocks and football players. A population that suffers its own stereotype.

You will notice, above, that I used the term "gay liberation". I have not done that for years. I was going to change it and then though "no, it is still a matter of liberating oneself. No one else is going to do it. But if they help us then we all are liberated.

I think that I will make it a new "label" for the blog.

Labels: gay history, gay liberation, gay rights

PHOTO OPP

Booker went to the groomer today for the first time since he has been with us.

He didn't want to go and, to tell you the truth, I didn't him to go either.

It is the first time that he has been away from us, with someone else, in a strange place.

I am still stung with the warning that rescue dogs will run for it.

I know it has been a long time since he was "rescued" but still. Once you get that in your head it sticks.

We took him in because, while we have been doing a pretty good job on his haircut, it was time for a pro to take care of the head and the butt as well as to give him a very short crew cut on his saddle.

Well, of course he did fine. He stood like a good soldier and let them do their stuff. He did need a long nap when he got back and he peed forever.

He not only looks gorgeous, he feels like velvet. He is getting a bit wary of our petting him at every opportunity.

I figured it was an occasion for some photos and here they are.

I have omitted the ones where he comes up and looks the camera in the eye or rolls over in the grass and bites at my foot. There is no shot of him walking behind the banana trees.

You are seeing the best of the best of the best dog.

He is such a good boy.

It is a little difficult to see his hard won wasp waist. It disappears on the sit and when he is standing the light has to be right. But he is svelt as an Airedale should be. And in the right place. Right before the hip.

Labels: Booker

GET UP AND GO

Today's movie was Francis Ford Coppola's

Tucker: the Man and His Dream (1988)

with Jeff Bridges as Tucker and Joan Allen as his wife. Christian Slater is one of the kids.

Coppola has cornered every gee whiz, can do trope from thirties movies to tell a fifties story about a man who dared to defy Detroit and invent a car that was safer and easier to drive to say nothing about fuel efficiency.

Mr. Deeds goes to Detroit.

While he failed on the outside, he won on the inside and with his supporters.

Jeff Bridges is perfect for this ode to positive thinking. Smiling through adversity, he whips the villain's ass in court and, when he loses the main chance with the car, he moves on to a new invention.

Coppola enriches the fuel mix with a stream of near over the top tricks of the trade. Screen splits, back to back sets that the camera merely pans (telephone conversations) and walk throughs.

It is fun.

One feature is that the villain, a corrupt Michigan senator, is played by Jeff's dad Lloyd. A nasty piece of work if there ever was one.

I liked it quite a bit. More than I expected. The cars are great. They are the real thing. 46 of the 50 cars made are still in service.

I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

QUIET DAY

I met with a friend this morning to work on a project together.

Then, the house got cleaned while Booker and I moved back and forth to accomodate.

Not a lot else happened. I did some reading. Right now I am reading the authorized biography of Alan Bates, Otherwise Engaged.

I am not a frequent biography reader. Most are yawnworthy especially the authorized ones which are meant to be definitive. Based on private family interviews and records.

This is better than most. I am interested in Bates. He touched me as an actor. He had an interesting life. Not easy. He was a serious closet case but still had semi-long term relationships with some neat men and had a marriage and family. It cost him in the end. He died fairly young. 69.

I also spent some time today on removing our names from catalog mailings. You can do this too. Catalog Choice

It is pretty effective. We have used this before but now that catalogs are mounting up again.

Booker and I had a nice vanilla walk. Nothing big. No trails. No fountains. No crossing busy East Palm Canyon.

A quiet adventure.

That is about it. I don't know where the time went.

Nice. I like not knowing where the time went and not knowing how it got spent.

Labels: books, fun, reading

DONE AGAIN

I just finished compiling my tax data for my accountant to process.

It didn't take too long.

It gets simpler every year.

I suppose that I could do the returns myself but it would break tradition. Peter has been doing this for me for ten years or more. He is the longest serving accountant.

When I was in business we would fire the accountants and lawyers every five years. We didn't have that as a matter of policy. It just seemed that every one of them got sloppy after that time and, in a way, fired themselves.

But I have done well this time. Or, rather, he has done well this time.

I don't feel a lot of relief at having done the work. It is just like making sausages. Every year. Grind it out.

I am pretty good on my estimated taxes so I don't even sweat that anymore.

Oh.

And one more thing.

It is an honor and a privilege to pay taxes.

With all the bitching and whining, I am happy to say that I do not resent a dollar paid. I didn't even resent paying when the other guy was in office.

We live in the greatest country in the world and whatever the complaints we may have between ourselves, I can say that I would rather be here than anywhere I have ever seen. I am proud to be an American and I am happy to do my part.

Labels: America

LOVE AND PAIN

Today's movie was Nina Paley's animated

Sita sings the Blues (2008)

This is a wonderful film. Paley's real life romantic difficulties are compared to the saga of Sita and Rama in the Ramayana.

There are four levels of experience. Paley's line drawing animation of her own story, shadow puppet narrators of the Rama/Sita story (contemporary, ironically funny, Indian voices), the legend itself in classical indian art and a wonderful Betty Boop kind of cartoon of Sita singing the blues to the 1920s recordings of Annette Henshaw.

What a mix.

Cultural overload. Almost.

I was a little apprehensive about seeing this film. All that Indian stuff. But it is quite contemporary with a true multi-culti post-fem sensibility. Very nicely done.

Paley pretty much produced this herself. It was not promoted highly but won a lot of Fest awards and had a semi-successful theater history. It is now one of the longest waits on Neflix. It lives on as a DVD.

I enjoyed it a lot and would not mind at all seeing it again.

That makes it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

WHO ARE THEY

I told you that a friend of mine had become a tea party member.

I am not sure what he is a member of exactly. But I know that he is not a member of this gang.

Tea Party Movement Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right

Well, I think not.

These people are the ones who usually have sat at home on their resentments and peculiar ideas and, normally, would simply try, unilaterally, to go off the grid or just be eccentric.

Now through the internet and such demagogues as Glenn Beck and the Fox crowd they have found a center to rally around. A tea bag.

Don't laugh.

it is the real thing.

Normally people in this category are not joiners. But now they seem to have found a way to get together without actually confronting the differences between them. Most would not want community organizers or a leaderless group, a commune.

These folks have always been with us. When I was younger, we had the John Birch Society. I had a bit of a brush with them. They had all the appearance of being sane and normal people until they opened their mouths and then, I discovered, they believed, as fact, a whole raft of arrant nonsense. Actually, the Birch Society had a fairly coherent set of values. They still do. Their proponents, often, did not.

That is a 1958 placard up there, incidentally. Look familiar?

It is just interesting.

I also credit the rising up of this group as a reaction to the thorough trouncing Obama, a black man, gave to the GOP.

This touched a nerve.

Some of the fears that it aroused are incredible to witness but, nevertheless, are real to many of these people.

I love the patriot hats.

The waving of the flags.

The last refuge of a scoundrel.

DOWN CYCLE

I wrote a year ago about food prices.

I could actually see the prices increasing week to week.

What had been 80$ a visit had become $90, then topped at $110.

Now it is going the other way.

I am not down to 80 yet but it is close.

Of course, week to week, it is not a constant figure. There are big meat weeks (2.00 off yesterday's ground beef, buy 5 packages) and not.

The other week I had to buy stamps.

But the trend has stayed in place over the last three months.

I credit a few things. One is that the food manufacturers got caught with their hand in the cookie jar cutting weights of packages and leaving the prices the same. Another, people cut back in volume. I read there was an enormous impact of average people cutting inventories of food in the home. I didn't do that. I am compulsive. I have to have one or two backups for everything.

In my case, it has been a steady trend towards private label.

I shop at a regional chain, Stater Brothers. For such a small outfit, they have an enormous selection of "as good as" private label items. Some better!

Another thing about Stater's. It does not have a plastic discount card. It does have unbelievable savings on the shelf. These are ubiquitous in the store. The other day, John's favorite cereal, a branded one at that, was marked down to 60% of its normal price. I bought eight. $2.00 a box.

Please understand. I have never been a price buyer. I get what I want when I want it. I do not do coupons. I don't buy specials unless they knock me over the head.

This is just normal, nearly inattentive buying. And I am spending less on food.

Yeeeeaaaahhhhhh!

Labels: economy, food, life, shopping

FUCK YOU DICK CHENEY

This just in from the NYT:

Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban's Top Commander

The Taliban's top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials.

The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is an Afghan described by American officials as the most significant Taliban figure to be detained since the American led war in Afghanistan started more than eight years ago. He ranks second in influence only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban's founder, and was a close associate of Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Labels: bushies

ANTI-MARRIAGE

Labels: marriage equality

BAYH BYE II

More about what an asshole Bayh is.

Evan Bayh Quits in a Huff

Says here he wanted to be President.

See?

He told no body. It is a real "fuck you" to his party and friends if there are any.

Labels: Democrats

WHO

The owl is back.

Booker and I go out about 3AM and there is the whooo. One whooo.

He moves around sometimes when I answer quietly.

We have never really seen him.

Occasionally at twilight, a fly over. Big white belly.

I assume that he is a desert owl although we have barn owls living in nooks and crannies here and there.

You can see them during the day if you know where to look.

They are great, owls.

I would like to have one to pet.

But I think that I will have to be satisfied with one that whooo's to me in the morning.

Labels: desert

BYE BAYH

Bayh Decides Against Re-election Bid

Good riddance.

Evan Bayh is one of those Democrats who is a thorn in the Party's side.

He is aimless. Undoctrinaire is OK. But he has no loyalty. Cannot be counted on.

When they say that "organizing the Democrats is like herding cats", he is the original cat.

I like independence of mind and spirit but Bayh is not thoughtful and he is a somewhat spiritless character.

If anything, he is boring.

He was a governor twice. And a good one.

Some executives cannot follow.

And there you have it.

I don't know whether they will come up with another guy good enough to get elected from the marginal Indiana but I would almost rather have a Republican than some Democrat who has no predictable pattern of contribution to the effort.

Labels: Democrats

AFTERMATH

Today's Jeff Bridges film was Peter Wier's

Fearless (1993)

There is a plane crash and a few people survive mostly led from the plane by Bridges.

He is in a daze.

But a daze that keeps him in thrall to the accident and also gives him the ability to help another survivor cope with the post-trauma and all. Rosy Perez. Wonderful Rosy.

This causes some trouble for his family. And others.

Some of this is a little too simplistic. There is the stereotypical airline shrink who is hired to make everyone better, John Turturro. (He will bowl later with Bridges. Jesus.) It is good to see Tom Hulce as the ambulance chasing lawyer.

All of this sideshow fades as Bridges and Perez work together on their emotional healing along with Isabella Rossellini as the wife. Very good.

The crash sequences are riveting. I have never seen the like.

I liked this very much and would not mind seeing it again.

It is a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

THESE PEOPLE ACTUALLY READ

I am mostly turned off completely by the "comments" section in blogs.

They are places where dark currents lurk. People on a rant, people on a flaming mission, people who don't make sense, people who are pure trolls.

I don't like conflict much. It seems to me there is enough in the world. And there, in the comments section is more conflict and some of it pushes the envelope of sanity.

The other thing that I think is that some of these people must fucking live on the blog comment sections. They even know each other, some of them.

No time for lives. And purpose. And making nice.

But, every once in a while I am surprised.

Today Kevin Drum asked for suggestions about fiction reads.

Book Bleg

And he got a surprising number of responses from people. Even I contributed. You can find me in there somewhere near the 50's.

These people read! Fiction! And they seem somewhat coherent about it. And I didn't go into them all in detail but there were none that attacked another. Just a nice sharing.

I offered Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, a Booker Prize winner, because it is a wonderful book and, also, because it has political intrigue enough to satisfy the needs of political junkies. Sort of.

Once the reader gets into it it takes on its own life and times. But it is a good way to get people started.

I was the 4th person to recommend this book. But I did it anyway. It is a vote! See. It is all political all the time.

Labels: blogging, books

BROTHERLY LOVE

Today's movie was

Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

with Jeff Bridges, brother Beau and Michelle Pfeiffer.

This is a kind of musical but with some switches here and there. It is also a brother film. And, as it happens, in addition to having Jeff Bridges which is the reason to see it today, it is a breakout role for Pfeiffer.

I can remember seeing this when it came out and the impact of her performance was very high. She was something/someone new.

This is a good story. It is also good music. The music floats the film along, actually. Fills the cracks. One of my favorites, Dave Grusin, does the score and the serious jazz piano playing for Jeff B. That is Grusin in the photo. Very nice.

I have seen this a few times. That makes it a 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films, music

HAPPY

Labels: holidays

WARM UP

I know the rest of the country is not thinking about this. Well, maybe in Florida.

But we have to get our pool ready for visitors in April.

The water temperature right now is 57 F. Not very good for swimming. We have to warm it up.

That means, for the first time in a long time, I will be using the "solar cover" instead of the solar heating.

Our solar system hit the skids last summer and after seven years would have to be replaced. The ultra violet rays are killer even on the nylon from which the solar mats are made.

I wasn't ready to cough up the 4,000 dollars plus to replace it.

We use a bubble wrap looking pool cover. It absorbs the rays in (radiation) but doesn't let the water's heat out (convection). Not to get technical but, actually, there is heat transfer from conduction too. The ground is not all that warm yet.

The pool cover lasts three years and costs about $200 to replace.

I will get a degree or two a day rise. Maybe three.

It doesn't sound like much but figure this. All the days are sunny. Most. In 20 days I will have a 20 degree rise which is just what I want. Actually it is not a geometric curve. It will tail off. Say 30 days. It will be 80.

Best guess.

By April, actually, the night temps will get to about 70 so it will be in equilibrium. Or something.

It is aqua incognita.

Labels: pool

QUIET DESPERATION

Today's movie was Jim Jarmusch'

Broken Flowers (2005)

with Bill Murray.

When you have Jarmusch moving slowly and Murray being minimal there is a lot to see.

I appreciate this. The slow pace and rich locations make the film worth really, really watching. Seeing.

Murray gets a letter implying that he has a son born of one of the women that he has known and lived with.

He visits all of them to find out what, well, we are not sure. He certainly finds out more than he expected to or less.

He is aided and abetted by a wonderful neighbor, Jeffrey Wright, who urges him to go find out what happened to the women and to see if there are clues to the son's situation. Wright is the anti-Bill Murray. It is fun, and relevant, to see one who says "yes" to life and the other who, well, doesn't.

In a funny way, this is a road flick. Murray with his memories. And a dash of present reality in each case.

It is also a quest film.

We are not sure what Murray has found but I know what I got out of it.

At the end, Murray stands at a crossroads. Literally.

What now?

I liked it. The usual high quality Jarmusch' cinema (now that he can afford all the frills) and some great work by the women on the road.

Very nice.

I would gladly see this again. Maybe a Jarmusch' fest way in the future.

That makes it a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

CELEBRITY AIREDALES

Booker's Aunt Rusty sent us this article.

The White House’s First Celebrity Dog

There are some great pictures of this beautiful Airedale. Look midway down and to the right.

He has the same charm.

Charisma.

All of them do.

He is groomed a lot closer than most Airedales and more like we keep Booker.

Slim and trim.

It looks like Laddy Boy wanted some of Harding's glove. That would be more Franklin's trick. He was hot for gloves.

Booker, as in many things, is interested but not avid and will take a bite or two but is really interested in following or leading and helping. That means getting constructively in the way which is also what is going on in this picture.

Airedales usually do not pose. They take over the scene and make it theirs.

Labels: Booker, Franklin

ROLLOVER

This is a great photo from APOD.

Teide Sky Trails

I still look at this site every day but most of the photos are of nebulae. Misty, milky swirls. Yawn. I know it is the universe and all but still. Quite boring.

Then every once in awhile they hit one like this and I am astounded by the beauty in the skies.

This, obviously, is not the photo I am referring to. You gotta go to the link and then roll your mouse over the photo.

Labels: APOD

TOUR DE TRAFFIC JAM

Tour de Palm Springs events begin today

This means that we will be dodging bikes and bikers all weekend.

But they are the motorless kind. Only blocked streets and highways.

They move quickly so it won't take long.

Better yet, I could stay home. I would anyway.

It is a pretty good event. There are short and long courses. 100 miles.

I almost did it one year with my no-gear, coaster brake Schwinn. Just to show that I could.

But I didn't.

No regrets.

Biking is over for me now. The stationary bike in the gym is my race.

Good enough.

Labels: bicycle

A LOAD OFF MY FEET

I am done with my diet. I lost 12 pounds. That's over the goal by two with a little to work with on the up and down.

Oddly, or not, my plantar fasciitis has gone away.

I don't really want to believe that I had that ailment because I was too fat but there isn't much other reason to connect to the healing. No other data.

I feel better. There is an extra notch or two in my belt.

The loss of weight doesn't change the sags here and there but I have given up the cosmetic benefit of good diet and physical fitness.

The gym is for cardiovascular benefit, stretching and weight ability. The buff body is a thing of the past. Good riddance. I was always chasing the illusive anyway.

I am happy about the foot though. Or feet. There was a touch of it in the right foot. Now it is all gone. Only normal "feelings".

Did you know that your feet take three times your weight? I just read that.

I guess, if it is true, that I took off 36 pounds!

Labels: diet, health