Tuesday, May 31, 2011
HIDE AND SEEK
Today's Michael Haneke film was
with the estimable Daniel Auteuil, Juiette Binoche and Maurice Bénichu.
In this, Haneke plays with our ability to observe and find answers to unanswerable (maybe) questions.
Superb.
I have seen this before and it is the reason I am looking at all of Haneke's films.
The story is riveting, the acting superb and shocking. The photography is pristine and the use of various media to "explain" doesn't so much as to implode one's idea of what is going on.
In parallel, we have the unfinished story of France and Algeria. The old and present tensions.
There is a clue in the Ebert review which is helpful but not in a way that makes anything obvious.
It is a 5 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
POUND ON MY KEYS
:Today's film was the first of the Michael Haneke films I am seeing.
La pianiste / The Piano Teacher (2002)
with Isabel Huppert.
Piano teachers. I had four or five. Six. The first was a wonderful spinster who was strict and tough. After that, I suffered from the lax ones. I gained some. But I never got as much as I did from working with Miss Kern.>
This piano teacher is in that Kern mode. Tough. Up tight. Deeply into the music and if you can't do the work fuck off.
She is deeply repressed, lives with her mother and has wild sexual fantasies which she acts on.
On this side, we have gorgeous music, mostly Schubert and on that side we have the porn shop with the little room you go into to watch the video and sniff the Kleenex.
She meets a guy and he is smitten. She finally has a chance to act out her fantasies. Guess what? The sadistic piano teacher is an M.
He doesn't want any part of it but wants to do something. The film is about this power struggle. Beauty and the beast. Love versus lust. Tie me up, tie me down.
Sometimes hard to take, always riveting and suspenseful. How many films about piano teachers have you seen let alone be on the edge of your seat or piano bench.
I am making light of this because it really got under my skin seriously.
Haneke is interested in making the viewer a participant. For many scenes we are the ones at the piano. Later we are in the middle of the "fight". It is no walk in the park.
Huppert is great and so is her fantasy lover Benoit Magimel.
The contrast between the great music and the twisted sex is considerable. The settings are reminiscent of Jordan Hall in Boston. A lot of music. Musicians. The musician's life.
A great start to the Haneke fest. A 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
Monday, May 30, 2011
AFTERMATH
We had all the visitors over the weekend. It was good.
John's friend from 50 years ago showed up with his wife and they all went to lunch. The wife got to hear the two reminisce. I missed out.
Then our friend Randy came for an overnight. Good time had by all. Booker fell in love all over again.
Yesterday an old business friend, alienated for 20 years, came into town, emailed about getting together and we said yes.
It went well. Not a long time. An amend for the past was made to me and accepted. I had forgiven any grievance a long time ago but it was nice to hear it anyway. It was a bit indirect but the meaning came through. They stayed an hour. They were with friends so they packaged it nicely for the friends to come back and pick them up.
Just what I would have done. No open ended visits for me.
So I don't know if we will see any of them again. Well, Randy. Of course. It was great he was here between. He provided a nice meat in an anxious sandwich. Not meat. He is a vegetarian. But you know what I mean.
MEMORIAL DAY SPEAKERS
When I was a kid there was a Memorial Day parade that began at the high school and ended at one of the local cemeteries to pay tribute to one of the town's guys who have been killed in action.
Each year, one kid, a sixth grader, would be assigned to recite the Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
One year that was me.
I remember the whole thing. My Dad was in the American Legion color guard and was standing nearby. In his Navy uniform, I think.
WWII had only been over three years. He was in the North Atlantic on a tin can destroyer escort and then in the Pacific at the end of things but still in time to have a kamikaze hit his ship and to see a couple of friends killed, reduced to pulp.
He never got over it.
So at this juncture, the time was ripe. I got to say something about war. And peace.
I couldn't really recite this today but I could do a good job of faking it. My Dad would be watching. What else could I do?
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Labels: family, holidays, patriotism
OFF THE BENCH
Today's film had to come into the game and sub.
I had planned a one hour DVD on the men of the American Ballet Theater but the disc came cracked. I usually check when the Netflix envelope arrives but I have been slack lately as the cracked or visibly damaged ones are rarer than rare these days.
I didn't want to show the next in line because I am about to view and review all of the Michael Hanike films and they are not all here yet.
So, I ran Richard Linklater's
What a great film. This is where Linklater made a straight film, edited it and then turned it over for animation on top. Motion capture.
Linklater (that is him at the image) is a great film maker but the best of his films are the ones that talk and talk and talk.
He began with Slackers (1991), still on my list of fives. I saw it in the old Coolidge Corner theater with son Tom. Ten years before this one. Similar technique. Slide from scene to scene, the talking heads at each scene. Tthe motion capture changes the whole thing in a way that is, well, dreamy.
The subject here is a young man who is dreaming. All the time? I think so. He is not sure. The question arises whether this is a waking dream, meaning, I believe, that he is a live. Or perhaps not.
He runs into a whole lot of people who expound. Some is real philosophy. Some rant. Some just bullshit. All of it ties together.
It is challenging. Some think it might be a stoner film but I think this is not so. Stoned would just confuse. One needs all the faculties for this one.
I gave and will give it a 5 out of Netflix5 even though it came out of my own collection. Hence, off the bench. I don't own a lot of DVDs. Only a few straight ones, meaning not high quality gay films which are hard to rent. Billy Elliot, Love Songs, Across the Universe, Pride and Prejudice and Momento.
I know. What an odd assortment of films to have on hand. And I didn't even list the gay ones. Plan B, Love Songs, Strapped, The String, Lillies and Boy Culture.
There is nothing more to say about it. Strange. that's me.
You never know when it will be necessary to go to the bench for a sub.
Labels: films
Sunday, May 29, 2011
SUMMARY
We are by standers. The GOP primary season has many twists and turns. It is fun to watch though.
This is as good a summary of where things stand and what the players have going for them, or not, that I have seen.
It is just a comment starter for Daily Kos but it is pretty good.
They all seem to be on the wrong track one way or another but it doesn't matter nearly as much as how this mix is going to go at each other in their debates and campaigning.
This is the great unknown which I never, ever see analyzed.
Obviously they are going to try to one up each other in their attacks on Obama but how about the way that they deal with their opponents? Will Sarah go after Mitt and Tim? What will a loose cannon like Cain do. He commands a rather high percentage in the ratings--see at the bottom of the page.
It is all rather suspenseful. The real trouble is that they are all a little boring, in their way. Even the bombthrowers are predictable.
But there will be surprises as the box shakes.
Labels: Republican primary
Saturday, May 28, 2011
VISITORS
It never rains but it pours. Even in the desert.
Every day this weekend, visitors.
Yesterday, an old high school mate of John's came by to say hello. I let them all go to lunch. No need to hear the 50 plus year old stories. The guy's wife came along. She had no choice but to listen. I suppose she could have stayed with me and we would have a spouse lunch but we would have even less to talk about. Seemed like nice people though.
Today, Randy is here. Over from Long Beach. It has been a while since we have seen him. He will stay overnight. A lot to talk and talk about. Good old friend. The best.
Tomorrow, an old business relationship comes alive. I got an email asking if I wanted to get together. It has been twenty years. We didn't part on the best of terms. Something like appropriating, the nicest word I can put on it, our training copyrights and writing their own to go into direct competition.
I got the email. I thought "what could they be thinking?". Do they forget? Maybe they want to make amends. Maybe they are, like many people, in deep denial about the part they played in some old argument.
I thought about it, the visit, and thought, that at the very least, it would be amusing. Or cathartic.
I have already forgiven them many years ago. They are not really on my radar as far as resentments go. I have let it go.
It is only "tea". I even offered a small meal. But it will be "tea".
I am actually looking forward to it.
I haven't told my business partner that I am doing this. He would be disapproving perhaps. Or not. I can see him laughing along when I tell him about how it went, after the fact.
I used to think that when relationships were over, they were over. Not so. Some keep on going whether you think they are working or not.
Often it is surprising which ones come back. Zombies? Or transformations?
I will report.
ANNIVERSARY
One year ago we decided to do three things. Each a separate change.
First, we decided to sell our house. Too big, too much.
Second, we decided to by a condominium. Not another, smaller house. Not an apartment, rented. A condo.
Third, we decided to move to this very condo that we are now living in.
I identify the three separate decisions because even though they all were made in a day, there were three separate problems to be solved.
Often, we don't realize that we are making complex life decisions that have several moving parts. The failure to solve one will mess up the rest. Subdivide.
In selling the house, was it a good time? We didn't know. But we did know that we had paid a very low price for it and, while the real estate market had dropped considerably, the value of that particular house had not dropped so much as to cancel the benefit of selling. We would still make a lot of money at that day's value.
Not that this is the determinate so much as the desire to move, to be out from under, not to worry about, at this time of the year, getting the palm trees trimmed back one more fucking time. We were tired of it. But the differential between price paid and probable sale price made the decision more palatable.
Second. It was not at all in the cards that we would have bought a condominium. We had looked around but had found so many ill suited candidates that we thought, perhaps, a smaller house would be the answer. No palm trees. No yard. A little place. We actually found a couple. One up the street from our "old" house but the owner had far more ambitious financial goals than we were willing to satisfy. Besides, houses carry collateral damage. Maintenance. Worry. Real estate market fluctuations.
Then the third decision. John, in a Sunday afternoon drive, had found this particular condo that we are living in now. Not a two floor deal. Not close, cheek to jowl, with other units. Not ugly outside. Perfect design inside. A designerly home.
He saw it, called me, I came to see it and we made an offer within 24 hours and it was ours soon after.
All three problems solved.
It would not have worked had we not already let go of the house we lived in for 13 years. Neither would we have been open to look at one more condo if we hadn't realized or accepted that the condo was the optimum decision. And then this place. Available. A good price. A good location in the town and in the complex.
Happiness.
We put our house up for sale and it was gone within three weeks at the price we wanted. Not a fortune but enough. No one is making a killing these days but to get "enough" is rare and we feel quite fortunate to have found a guy who loved the place as much as we did and was willing to pay for it.
A month from now, we will be celebrating the move date. June 28th. And in two months the date of passing paper on the old house. Two months and done.
Are we happy? Yes. Everything we surmised was to be so. We furnished the place to suit. We got rid of a lot of stuff. Half of it. In this year we have been able to bring the small gardens back and learn how to live smaller.
An interesting collateral decision was to go to being a one car family. That has worked out too. One garage. One car. There is a parking lot, but we just didn't want the hassle.
We sold two of the cars and wrecked the one so the transportation transition sort of took care of itself.
A friend is here for the weekend. He asked if we had adjusted. Yes. It has taken a bit of effort to let go of the house mentally. I still worry a bit that the new guy isn't getting the palms trimmed. But, yes. We are settled. It is good. Life is good.
We had the courage to change at just the right time. For us.
And look at the pool. No pool man, no maintenance. And the view. We are away from the mountain and now see three separate ranges. There is even snow, still, on one of them. Great.
Labels: condo
Friday, May 27, 2011
FUCK YOU NEWSWEEK
Grand Rapids, Michigan responds to Newsweek article calling it a "dying city" with a massive, record-breaking lip dub: Via TowleRoad
Labels: America, fun. music
THIS IS IT
Terrence Malick. The reclusive director of only five (great) feaeture films has gotten terrific reviews today for his Tree of Life
This on in the NYTimes is poetry itself. God knows, the movie has to be good to get this kind of treatment. And, look, God knows because He is in it. Along with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.
This one sounds a lot like the super wonderful Days of Heaven only more so.
Surprisingly, he is at work on a sixth film to be released in 2012. High speed for Malick.
Very exciting. I may even go to a theater to see it. But probably not.
Labels: films
CASTING A BIG SHADOW
When I first came out, I was heartened to hear from Kinsey that gays were ten percent of the population. I never read the fine print which was that this number, ten, was the number of men who had previous sexual contact with another man.
The exclusively gay male, who had sex with only men, was somewhere around 3-4%
Well, fine. I settled for that as long as I wasn't going to have trouble finding the other three or four percent. I had no trouble.
Obviously the percentage in large cities, particularly the gay ones was a lot more than that. In Palm Springs it is a whoppin' 40%!
We run into each other all the time. In numbers. I go to a Meeting in the morning that has 50-60 gay men in it and we are the sober ones.
Now this.
A majority of people thought that the population was 29% gay! You wish.
No wonder we scare some people!
That is one out of five.
It is just interesting. There is no doubt that we get a large press coverage but I don't think that it is disproportionate. There is no more than 3-4% of the NYTimes devoted to gay news. If that.
Anyway, interesting. We are casting a big shadow.
Labels: gay life
REVOLUTIONARY
Today's movie was
a Canadian film with Jay Baruchel about a kid who thinks that he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky.
This sounds like a premise that would fly off the reel but, since they play it totally straight faced, it is a great movie.
A little like a political Ferris Buehler.
I like Jay Baruchel. The movie was made in Montreal. I like Canada.
Canadian films get no respect from distributors or critics in the US.
This is too bad because this is a good example of a fine film that should have gotten more attention. It is a comedy, but in its way, dead serious. About power in schools and how it is used.
Baruchel is a fine actor, constrained to the dumb guy role in American films but still victorious. He is dedicated to working in Canada and to Canadian theater and film. Good for him.
This is so good I will see it again sometime as a retrospective of Jay B. Or something.
My life is not long enough to see all the fives that I have done but still I am going to make a jab at it.
Labels: films
Thursday, May 26, 2011
HISTORY
You know that the gay rights movement has been going on for a long time when you read this.
Chuck Dima, Gay Softball Pioneer Dies at 81
He is third from the left.
Gay softball was a breakout activity for gay men in the 70s. Something that was group oriented, organizable and fun. Dima organized an east coast west coast tournament in 1976.
I never went for it myself. I was political.
But for the non-political and the jock, softball was the answer.
There were leagues in Boston from the very beginning. Ideal.
There are many gay pioneers reaching their old age and dying from relatively natural causes.
I have a friend who has all kinds of "in the old days" stories who is slipping away from emphysema and he is in his late 80s.
I will soon be a part of the last cohort passing on.
I don't say that sentimentally or morbidly, but with the realization that so much has been gained, so much has happened. A very full life. Satisfied.
Labels: gay history, gay pride
SIBILANT
There is a belief that you can tell a gay man by the way he speaks.
Usually this is based on the sound of consonants, particularly the "s" sound.
We had a friend who would commonly joke, when a femmish man passed, by asking "how many s's in "good morning"?.
But it isn't all in the consonants. There is a gay-ish lilt that is particularly urban. You probably won't hear this in Kansas. In fact as gay men get less ghettoized there is probably a lot less of any of it.
I go to a group of all gay men, 50 or so, in the morning and, if I shut my eyes, I can't tell that any but a few are gay. But then what do I know? I never thought I acted or looked or sounded gay but I was told otherwise.
Here is a new study that says it is all in the vowels!
The Science Behind the ‘Gayccent’
I am willing to accept this as I think there is another factor; the in-crowd camp that does go on even among the butchest of men. There has to be a spillover.
Anyway, it is interesting. We often fly below the radar. Or we think we do.
Oh. One other thing. This is not 100%. There are some straight guys who talk just like Bette Davis and there isn't a gay bone in their body. Not even that bone. Fem, all the way through. So, there is nothing that is a sure thing.
And besides, who gives a shit? Are they looking to profile us? Driving while gay?
Maybe.
That's enough.
Labels: gay life
MARC II
Another Marc Almond DVD today.
A Lover Spurned. Live at the Astoria Club.
Here is the official video. The straight version. A bit campy, this.
Another muddy transfer. He needs to watch the QC. But the music is great and he pours it out as always.
HUNTSMAN WELCOMED BY RIGHT WINGERS
I think it is OK to show some interest in the Republican Primary. After all we went through in ours three years ago, we deserve a break and this is the first shot over the bow for Huntsman.
It is subtle to a Democrat. Almost not a slam at all. But, if you can, put yourself in the shoes of a conservative Republican. It will not be subtle at all. They even sideswipe Romney.
And Huntsman has not even declared yet.
A hint about the Rhino. Think RINO.
This is going to be some show.
Palin, who is not running yet, is "touring" the East Coast this weekend. Memorial Day. Grist for the patriotic mill.
Incidentally, notice who costars. The Attorney General of California is considering charging our former Governor with misusing State funds to pay for his dalliances.
Labels: Republican primary, Schadenfreude
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
MACHO MEN WITH A PAST
Today's film was Bette Gordon's
This is about what happens to men of a certain age who have a history but have forgotten critical parts. They are partly frozen in time.
Five sailors have a life together in the Viet Nam era when something happens and four gang up on one and beat the shit out of him.
They all have guilt thirty years later but one, dying, asks another to help make amends which the second one sets out to do.
Each man is seen in his present circumstances as the seeker flashes on the past. We get to see the flashes grow in magnitude as each visit to one of the three others underlines what happened. How and why.
I don't want to seem to mysterious about this but anything said would be a spoiler.
This is a road movie, a character study and a kind of buddy film although they are not buddies anymore.
Stars are great in their present tense. Jamie Sheridan, Steve Buscemi, John Savage, Aidan Quinn and Campbell Scott as the older men. Very good. The young men are pretty good too. Fun to watch in a happier times.
I liked this very much. It is intense. A little melodramatic. Almost like a Greek tragedy.
I would be fine watching it again.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films, gay history
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
REVIEWING AN OLD DECISION
I hate the term but, the truth is, I am a cancer survivor. It sounds so breathless. Or something.
I was diagnosed with PC in 1996 when I was 59 and opted for treatment. First decision. Then, because I could and because I am surgery averse, I chose radiation treatment. Second decision.
I have been cancer free for 15 years. Five is considered enough.
Whatever they tell you, the aftermath of a cancer treatment does not end with the removal of the cancer no matter how happy that might make us feel.
There are problems with both potency and bladder control that, for some people, are severe. I missed "severe" but I am not without collateral damage. All manageable.
So the decision to get treatment is one which is very important.
One's age has always been a consideration for PC. Older men who have it will most likely not die of it. It is a very slow moving cancer.
On the other hand, younger men who get it need to be treated immediately if not sooner as the cancer is very fast moving. Think Frank Zappa.
The problem with prostate cancer is that it will spread to all the parts you see in the diagram. It must be eradicated in time before it moves.
Since my treatment I have thought about the decision I made. I have never doubted that it was the right one but, at the same time, one looks for verification and it has been hard to find.
I was part of a study of after effects. They are slow to evolve with radiation. People who get the surgery have real trouble immediately and then, sometimes, improve. People who get radiation have a slow onset of scarring "down there" and collateral problems.
Now, a new study tells me that I probably did the right thing.
When to Treat Prostate Cancer".
Makes a lot of sense to me. Before 65? Do it. After, think it through. There is no life expectancy advantage.
That is pretty clear, huh?
I am lucky. The damage is moderate. The life appears to be going along pretty well. I am otherwise very healthy.
I still go to the doc for tests. The PSA and the digital. That will probably go on until the end. A study tells about averages it doesn't cover the outliers. But so far, so good.
Incidentally, don't fool around with this. Get the tests done regularly. When you are 65 you can back off if you haven't had it yet.
IGNOBEL CAUSES
Today's film was the Norwegian
an epic account of the Norwegian Literature Nobel Prize winner Knut Hamsun who became a mouthpiece for the National Socialist takeover of Norway in WWII. A puppet government run by a cruel Nazi puppet master. It avoided literal invasion but was occupied nonetheless.
Hansum was sort of duped but this intense character study by Max Von Sydow gives background and depth to the question of how such a thing could happen. Naivete does not explain.
The film explores the relationship between Hamsun and his wife which is part of the picture and also shows the reality of Norway's occupation.
The War ends and Hamsun and his more active sympathizer wife are taken into custody as war criminals.
We are made to think through the nature of their crimes and to see how others responded. Disgrace takes many forms. Protected from the realities of the Nazi's deeds, the same isolation helps Hamsun withstand the disgrace and the venom of other Norwegians who stayed loyal to their country.
Von Sydow is an actor of monumental talent. And he is matched tooth and nail with Ghita Norby as his wife. She is up to the job. Together they carry us through the pre-War, the War and into its aftermath.
I sat glued.
I would not mind seeing it again. That makes it a 4 out of Neetflix5.
Labels: films
Monday, May 23, 2011
CLOG DANCE
Our kitchen drain clogged today.
Just like that. Clogged.
First the fear. This will never get fixed. This will never get fixed today, it is noon. This is going to involve the street sewer lines, tree roots. Christ!
But, as it turns out, we called the plumber through our Warranty service bought last year with the new house. He was here in less than two hours and cleaned it out in about five minutes.
Banana skins in the pipe just under the disposal before the trap.
Common.
When we got the new disposal we thought it would take everything. Not so, says the plumber.
It will not take husks and big skins or rice (it clumps qnd swells) and never potato peelings.
His patter. "My grandma never had drain trouble. She didn't have a disposal. She just threw the peelings out."
Well, I don't mind that if we are going to send the trash out soon. I am used to it actually. When we had a septic tank I didn't put any garbage in the disposall. Just little shit.
So. Here we are again.
We are not going to continue the warranty service. Five hundred a year and 55 dollar deductible on each call. I will bite the bullet and go for the other way. Call when needed. We have warranties on anything new. Worse case is a new water heater or something.
I mostly don't believe in warranties. And besides, this guy was good. I took his card.
His name is Spanky. No shit. "Let "our gang" help you with your plumbing problem". But I don't think there is a gang. Just Spanky himself.
Spanky was probably cute twenty years ago. So was I. Sort of. But now he is a great big boy. But he was nice to talk to, no bullshit and strong as a bull with the wrench.
Labels: condo
STICKING YOUR LOGICAL HEAD UP YOUR ILLOGICAL ASS
A new term. Epistemic Closure.
It is everywhere. And used mostly to describe conservative Republicans. Here is a long, tedious explanation of what it means.
Will the Real Epistemic Closure Please Stand Up
I love terms like this. I will probably not use the term but I love the discussion.
This article tells on and on what it is NOT and what it is. After lines and lines of blather it comes up with this.
You may not want to wander into this deep grass but let's say that this term, epistemic closure, can describe the right's view of climate change, evolution, the effects of taxation (trickle down), and many other issues which now have been so thoroughly drained of actual logic that they are walking in a thoughtless desert.
The latest example is the case where the Republican leadership actually thought that the public would like the Ryan budget proposal which tampered with Medicaire. They even believed it despite strong data from their own polling people.
What GOP Leaders Were Thinking on Medicare
You will note that this argues that epistemic closure was not to blame in this case but the articles argument illuminates the point.
Deeper grass.
Labels: philosophy, politics, republican whack jobs
THE FOX KNOWS
I wrote below about the skill with which Obama has laid out the negotiation parameters on the Israel / Palestine question.
Abe Foxman, head of the Anti Defamation League, among the most rabid of Israel supporters, understands Obama's approach even if Faux News and the right wingnuts do not. He supports the "Arab spring" approach.
Foxman is a canny pro. He knows how the game works and how it does not. The Israeli's game has not been working. Obama has opened up a new gambit. A simple on really.
Let's start telling out loud what everyone knows in their hearts. The 1967 boundaries are the basic start with swaps to go along with the process. We must have two states. Period. Or this will never, ever end.
I think that solving this issue is one of the most important foreign affairs goals Obama has. Hillary Clinton has led the way as well.
No more shifting goal posts. Just get 'er done.
Labels: Administration Obama, Israel
HERE WE GO
The campaign is on.
Today, as Tim Pawlenty spoke to 200 people and announced his candidacy for President. the real President stood before 25,000 cheering Irishfolk and started his world tour prior to the G-8 meeting later in the week.
World Stage Gives Obama an Edge on His Challengers
The Pawlenty campaign stupidly chose to do this at the same time as Obama was scheduled. They got wiped.
And to top it off, Obama is Irish, didn't you know.
Thus sealing the Irish vote in America.
Labels: Re-election of Barack Obama, Republicans
STREET ART
Today's film was
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
So, maybe not street art. Graffiti?
In any case this is a fun film that has several things going for it. Lots of video shots of graffiti artists at work. I have never seen this before. Some stuff about Banksy, who produced this film, that I did not know before. His is high-graffiti in the sense that he is an excellent draftsman (stencils mostly) and very witty.
And, the through story is about this french guy who does the early videos, gets to know Banksy, tries to make a graffiti film, fails, Banksy takes it over and, in the end, the video guy tries to do a big show of pop art which, incredibly or not, wows the LA art scene and he makes millions of dollars and goes on to do the new Madonna album cover. Whew. One breath.
What is the point? Some think that the whole thing is a hoax. I did not. Time has shown not.
Look. I know that graffiti is vandalism and against the law. But I also know that I like it when I see it when it is "good". Whatever that means.
I used to enjoy the railroad ride into New York City because it had some of the best graphical graffiti that I have ever seen.
Banksy is a different case. A provocateur. His work on the Gaza wall in Israel is stunning. Mockery is his forté.
All this is rather Warholian. So, I am an audience.
As a former art buyer I would not be interested in any of this. But one guy we collected, Sam Earle, is strongly influenced by street art and, I am reasonable sure, had a history of this kind of thing in his past. He uses icons, he makes his paintings on real doors, he covers them in a kind of plate that looks laid down. It has nails or nail heads throughout. The subjects are often ironic.
The other main guy is less streety but still uses icons, has DNA symbols working around his work and uses high art as a take off point.
So there you are. This is right in my area of interest. A ittle rough and a bit cheesy and seedy but it is mostly stuff that is made on the run, at night, with the cops breathing down their neck.
I liked the film. I thought it funny and a little scary at the same time. I would not mind seeing it again as it goes fast. there is a lot to miss.
There is nothing like the exhilaration of the early videos with young guys doing the derring do thing up the side of buildings. Like parkour with a mission.
I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5.
PINNED
Mourning the Loss of Yet Another Alley
I grew up with a regular bowling alley just down the road. I went and occasionally bowled but I wasn't very good at it.
Then I moved to Boston to go to MIT. The Dining Hall where I worked had a bowling alley in the basement but it wasn't the same bowling! It was candle pins. A small ball. No thumb holes.
Way different.
And, what is more, I was good at it. And I enjoyed the sport.
A lot of us did a lot of bowling as a way to slack out. Beer bowling was a special occasion.
One thing I liked about candle pins is that it evoked a much more informal atmosphere. No special shoes required. Smaller scale. No elaborate scoring pads and equipment. We set up our own pins.
It was a great sport.
I am not sure that you could find the kind of bowling the rest of the country enjoyed around New England. All candle, all the time.
But it is fading now. Its time is passing.
Bowling itself is a lesser sport. I grew up hearing about the likes of Andy Varipapa was the reigning bowling champ. There were bowling shows on teevee! People would watch them breathless with anticipation.
Sure it was slow. Not the roller derby. But a lot of people still watch golf. Not as many. But slow? Golf is very very slow. Bowling is speed of light compared.
So there goes another thing that isn't done any more. Too bad.
I haven't bowled in years. When I was a Dad and a Grandad still back east we would go to the old bowling alley I knew as a kid to pass the time on visits to my parents. My own kids were just there and played a frame or two.
We have bowling here. One alley I think. It has lasers and a light show.
Times change.
Labels: nostalgia
Sunday, May 22, 2011
AN OLD FRIEND
Today I watched the concert DVD Marc Almond: Live at the Union Chapel (2003)
Very good. Almond does a great show. Starts slow and a bit obscure then gets a bit wild in the second half finishing with I Created Me, a song that celebrates his acceptance of himself and the building of his image in spite of hate and harassment.
He is, perhaps, the longest time "out" popular singer of any. And if not, long enough to have earned his place. Very good. I am getting two more concert discs over the next weeks.
This is not from the DVD. It is just neat generic Marc. And in a setting that is very British pop compared to his concerts.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
MORE CHANGE
Look at this.
‘Coming Out’: Gay Teenagers, in Their Own Words
I can remember when the NYTimes ignored gay people entirely. Gay issues? Come on.
Then, after Stonewall, they had to cover us and they began to use the term "avowed homosexual". Redundant?
Then in a landmark decision they decided to use the word "gay".
Next was gay marriage announcements. Not even the "sanctified" kind but civil unions or just plain "marriage" parties.
Then openly gay reporters assigned to gay events. Then, openly gay reporters for any events.
Now this.
Very nice.
COMMANDER IN CHIEF
This is one of the best speeches that I have seen Obama give.
It is at the CIA and in the lobby. It is very emotional.
It is not for us. It is for his team. And we get to watch.
No leader can afford to forget his team. And Obama has not forgotten.
All good leaders inspire. He does that too.
There is no gloating. There is no victory dance.
There is pure, unadorned good leadership.
Labels: Administration Obama, terrorism
FEMALE TEEN ANGST
Today's movie was Will Gluck's
with Emma Stone. Who I saw in Zombieland. A star in this! She carries a film that doesn't really need carrying. It is that good. And this is about a girl! Not some horny guy. Boring after all those horny guy films.
A not-popular girl, she lies to her best friend about a weekend that didn't happen. A sex fantasy.
Overheard in the girls' room, of course, by a pious christian bitch (there is no ambiguity about this gang of christers) the word spreads quickly that she has given it up.
With a new reputation, she is approached by a gay boy who suffers daily bullying to pretend that she and he did it too. She agrees. New gays here. All positive. Very good messages about this.
Then it is only a next step to another, this time fat, boy asks her to lie again for pay and soon there is a line of them.
You can see where this is going. Let it be noted that their class is currently studying Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. She should stop digging but she does not.
I should mention that her parents are Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. Not your stereotype teen movie parents. Wonderful. Delicious. There is a younger black adopted brother and a near Airedale family dog. There is a surprising Prince Charming, Penn Badgely, standing in the wings.
Malcolm McDowell is the school principal, Lisa Kudrow a counsellor and Thomas Haden Church, Kudrow's teacher husband.
I have a feeling that the sexual politics being played out are a little behind the times but they are still funny and apt and well played.
Watch the outtakes reel and stay for the ending titles.
I knew as I was watching that this entire movie was shot in Ojai California where they say it is right at the start. There is a city sign! I am also sure that the kids are real Ojai High School kids even though the stars are in their twenties and look it. Not a problem. Ojai is the quintessential California community and co-stars in the film. This is confirmed in the roll at the end.
Music. Great. This is a contemporary teen picture and there is no rap or hip hop music. Fantastic. Another retro thing. Good.
I would not mind seeing this again. It is a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
COACHING THE NEGOTIATION
So, Obama says that they need to return to the 1967 boundaries as the basis for further debate of the Israeli/Palestinian standoff.
And Bibi Netanyahu says no way.
Exactly.
Obama just reset the negotiation to the 1967 boundaries and the negotiation has started.
That is the point of negotiation. Opening positions are opening positions.
All the Faux News screaming heads don't get it.
The actual Obama program is rather mild. Considering.
And "everyone" who knows, knows that the 1967 boundaries are exactly the place to restart.
It is all blather.
Now Bibi is going to speak to Congress next week and try to go over Obama's head.
But Obama already trumped Bibi by making his speech when he did.
Get it?
I used to teach negotiation and this is by the book.
Israel just lost the first round.
And Netanyahu lost his temper. Not good. He scolded Clinton for half an hour before the speech and Obama left all of it in anyway.
Labels: Administration Obama, Israel
Friday, May 20, 2011
APPROVAL
Not that I am looking for anyone's approval but it is sure nice to see it. Have it.
I attribute this to those of us who have married. The world has not ended. In fact, the divorce rate of mixed gender marriages has fallen!
For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage
This is by Gallup.
Actually, it is quite phenomenal. I know. It is redundant to say that. But it is quite phenomenal.
In 1996 right before we moved to Palm Springs, it was 68-27 the other way. Only 27% surveyed approved of gay marriage.
Fifteen years.
We gave a lot of money to the first law suits in Massachusetts that sued for the right to marry but then we moved and missed out when the law was changed.
Then we got a window of opportunity here and finally tied the knot after being together 33 years.
The tide has turned. By the time this gets to the Supreme Court, the court of public opinion will be flowing for repeal of DOMA and, in particular, the Prop 8 repeal. And the numbers will be better. They cannot get worse. Ever.
Labels: gay history, gay marriage, gay rights
RAPTURE PREP--HIGH SCHOOL EDITION
A school administrator has prepared this for students.
FAQ for my Students: The RaptureQ: With the rapture coming, should I bother working on my final paper?
A: Yes. The odds are you will not be judged worthy of ascent to heaven, in which case your grades will still be a basis of judgment for rewards in this earthly sphere.
Q: What if my instructor is raptured?
A: None of our instructors bear much chance of being judged worthy. However, on the off chance your instructor is chosen, an army of unemployed secular Marxists is waiting to take his/her place.
Q: If my mother/father/grandfather/grandmother/favorite aunt/etc. is chosen, will I be excused from the final so that I may mourn his/her loss?
A: No. They have not died, but been granted eternal life, thus this does not count as a case of a death in the family.
Q: If my instructor is not raptured, is he really fit to judge me
A: Yes, seeing as you were not raptured, you are still subject to the earthly judgment of the unsaved. If/when you are redeemed, a change of grade form will be automatically processed by heavenly authorities if they decide your grade was unfairly given by one of the damned.Q: If my computer crashes and my printer breaks and there is no email on account of the rapture, will I be able to get an extension on the paper?
A: Everyone in tech and IT departments is of Satan’s party, so the internet, your computer, and your printer should continue to work the way they always have: sporadically.
Q: How will the rapture affect your curving, particularly if raptured students are exempt from final tests/papers?
A: Final grades are not curved, but students who are taken up in the rapture will be given incompletes, just in case.
Oddly, the actual Rapture people think that they will ascend naked.
Hot, huh?
Labels: christist watch, fun
LAUGHLAUGHCRYLAUGHCRY
Today's film was the New York Times Critic's pick by Fatih Akin
This film, in German, is just one of the best comedies that I have seen in awhile.
And it is the best kind of comedy. It has heart. And at the end there are tears of happiness. How many comedies are like that today? One. This one.
The story hurtles from one scene to the next. Basically it is the travails of a greek guy who has a restaurant, Soul Kitchen. Adam Bousdoukos. He is a hack. He is a slacker. And he has a brother who is a burglar and gambler out on release. He has great friends and a not so great girlfriend. Settling for less.
Then he hires a real chef and the fun begins. His crowd of customers who are those who eat low don't like eating high. Does this sound funny? No? Watch the film.
Great cast. Ensemble theater.
Breakneck. Worrisome. Good comedy requires anxiety on top of heart.
Boy is this good.
There is a lot of cooking and food!
And now, the soundtrack. It is all great blues sides. How many? Many. All tie into the scene.
Beautiful.
This is a 5 out of Netflix5. I have also ordered some more of Akin's (he is a Turk) films. A fest. I saw one of his short films in an anthology about New York.
Labels: films
ALBERT BROOKS AUTHOR
Albert Brooks has a novel.
2030.
Here he is telling about it.
I just thought about him again. The first in awhile.
I would order all his movies but somehow as much as I like Albert, I find some his movies too labored. Funny. Once.
But I have ordered the book.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
MORE ACCURATE WEATHER
This one is more complete than the one I posted earlier. As we draw closer to the day, we will certainly get more detailed estimates.
Labels: christist watch, weather
MISOGYNY
This morning at the gym, one of my friends commented on the IMF frog who got caught with his pants down in New York. Pulled off the plane. "Disgraced" in the perp walk according to some French intellectuals.
My friend, surprisingly, said that "they" should have just let him get on the plane and fly away. That she was probably used to servicing guests.
Jesus H. Christ. And this is a guy who is, otherwise, a liberal.
I, of course, do not want to do the same and jump to conclusions about the haughty bastard himself who was staying in a 3,000 dollar a night suite. Man of privilege. A nice suit.
He is innocent until proven guilty. But the grand jury returned an indictment on him today and he sits with five million dollars bail and a bracelet in one apartment until his trial.
They have already started on the woman. But, evidently, there is ample forensic evidence to support the indictment. It is not just "he said, she said".
The guy has a record of this. Rich and powerful men who can't keep their dicks in their pants.
But people will want to blame the victim.
I have a friend who was recently gang raped, males on male. He has had access to great counseling and the police have been superb. There is a network of positive support now in the official world. Same in New York City. The Times wrote extensively about this in today's "paper".
But still, my friend has been gossiped about, wrong info put out. All biased against him. By other men.
Fortunately for him there have been a number of men who have come up to him and told their own story of having this done to them. One man even came to tell how he had been a perpetrator and had never been able to shake the guilt of it.
So there are good people and good outcomes. But the power game of rich white men continues and society still wants to blame the victim for whatever dereliction that they can make up.
Our ex Governor is also just one of many such examples.
Sad.
Labels: crime, criminal behavior
SAVE THE CHILDREN
Well, I was not the only one to worry about the kids.
The Schwarzenegger Kids: Coping with Parental Betrayal in the Public Eye
It also calls a spade a spade.
It took the media about 24 hours to find the woman and kid and find the kids's picture on FaceBook. The devil's handiwork.
I cannot imagine the impact on the family's four kids let alone this secret "love child".
It is terrible. What can I say. In some writeup they referred to the kid as "collateral damage".
Sick.
It is scandal porn. With kids.
Labels: child pornography, media
YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN
Today's film was the French director Agnès Jaoui's
Parlez-moi de la pluie / Let It Rain (2008)
Actually "tell me about the rain" in the original title.
The reviewer says that this is like Woody Allen without the laughs. Well, there are some laughs. But I see the point.
A feminist writer (Ms. Jaoui) goes home to her provincial area to run for the legislature. I don't know what office as we never really see that aspect of things. What she gets is family drama. The sister, the housekeeper, the housekeeper's son and his friend who want to make a documentary of the feminist and a few others.
Everything gets enmeshed.
This is a typical French film in respect to its pace and development. They do not lay it in your lap. You have to listen and think. Novel for these cinematic days in the US film world.
This pays off very well. Questions are raised, answers are given, fantasies are explored, reality is plumbed.
Very nice.
I enjoyed it very much.
I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
THE 28 PERCENT WE ARE ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT
The ones who were bushie diehards, the teas, the other know nothings.
Labels: criminal morons, republican whack jobs
GET READY
see more The Daily What
In case you missed it, this is all the fault of "the gays". God has had enough.
As one who is staying around, I can say that I will be more than happy to see these sorry sons-a-bitches taken where they belong.
Here is the grand poohbah.
Labels: christist watch, fun
DOING THE ROUNDS
Thrilled to hear that Obama is appearing in Boston's South End Cyclorama building as I type.
Only a few blocks from "our house" there.
We would be there if we were there.
The Cyclorama is the original home of a Civil War painting in the round. You sat in seats and were pushed or pulled along a circle to watch the diorama with scenes on the canvas and a foreground set.
The painting still exists somewhere.
Maybe it tells you the details in here. I don't feel like looking it up.
And, oh, it is officially called the Center for the Arts now but no one ever says that out loud. It is still the Cyclorama. In fact, the White House announcement today says "Cyclorama".
Labels: Boston, Re-election of Barack Obama
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
BASH
Today's film, a NYTimes Critics' Pick is a Danish film
Broderskab / Brotherhood (2009)
This is a film about two men who belong to a Neo-Nazi group and fall in love.
Well, it can happen. All that brotherhood stuff. Close together. Affinity for mosh pits at heavy metal concerts.
I am not making fun of this. It is a serious film.
Given that we are everywhere and that some of us work out or own homophobia on others, it is natural that this film could be very close to life.
The director, in his first film, Nicolo Donato serves up a very convincing story with considerable tension. Are the love scenes realistic and exciting? Yes. Will they be found out? Yes. What will happen? Nothing good.
The two men in this film, Thure Lindhardt and David Dencik, are superb. Working through their feelings as members of the group and their attraction for each other.
I have seen some very happy gay films lately and this will not be one of them. It is difficult to watch and feel the tension of the plot and the thin ice life of the two men.
The story is clean as a whistle. The men are great. The outcome is upsetting. But not too much.
I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
HARMON KILLEBREW HARMON KILLEBREW HARMON KILLEBREW
He was my age. A natural hero. No chemicals. They said that he got his strength from lifting milk cans.
Eight seasons with over 40 homers.
I always liked him because I loved his name. I can't say it enough. Weird but true.
I don't know another thing about him.
Somehow this touched me.
Harmon Killebrew, Hall of Fame Slugger for the Minnesota Twins, Dies at 74
Maybe it is the "my age" part too.
Labels: sports
REGRESSION
If you think that the fight for gay rights is over, take a look at the latest action of the Walker administration in Wisconsin.
Walker moves to ban hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples
This would be unbelievable less than a year ago.
Now it is quite believable. This guy is a major force in removing "the liberal agenda" from all state services.
And he is a right bastard.
Labels: christist watch, republican whack jobs
VILLAIN
I didn't vote for him. And I am embarrassed that this thug got into office.
His repeal of the registration "tax" killed the state revenue and we are still recovering.
He had a reputation for near rape during the short election but "bad boyed" out of it.
All the time he has lied to his wife and to the people of California about what most regard as disqualifying behavior for public office. But that is not all the scandal. His administration was a clown act. A cavalcade of incompetence. Getting by.
Arnold's True Love Child: California
In his wake is a weakened State, a wife who gave up her career so he could have his macho trip, an anonymous woman servant who got paid off for her participation and, most tragically, a ten year old child who has no father.
There is no doubt that the maggots of the media will hunt these people down and further wreck their lives.
Another Republican whose private life fails to match his rhetoric. Notice how many sex scandals involve GOoPers?
Jerry Brown has lived in public service all his life and has operated truthfully even when he, unmarried, was chasing girls.
He is dealing with the budget. He is working with the legislative branch.
He does not think that public office is a game or a prize to be won.
Arnold. A fucking disgrace. Take that literally.
Labels: California, republican whack jobs
DEATH BENEFITS
Today's film was the Indian satire
India is trying to industrialize and is in the process of making farming impossible to continue. They want a rural move to the cities for labor.
This is nothing new. Stalin did it by killing and transporting the peasants against their wishes. India is doing it with bureaucracy and hypocrisy with many weird outcomes.
One is that farmers began to commit suicide at a high rate as result of government policies. So the government, in its haste to cover things over, decided to give a benefit to farmers who committed suicide as a result of the measures taken or not taken against them. A sweetener to the families and the liberal reformists as well as the agrarians who want India, like Gandhi, to revert to villages.
this is for real as is the suicides to get the money for the families to survive and keep the land.
This film stretches the point of the suicide benefit by showing one peasant's decision to kill himself after he loses his land to a government mortgage agency. A media and political freakout ensues. Everything gets twirled into the perfect storm. Media, politicians, state bureaucracy, federal institutions, local protection rackets, caste representatives and so on. All the while the guy who is doing this and his family are lost in the shuffle.
Funny but also tragic.
I liked this film because it gave what seemed to be an honest view of village life which I have never seen. The characters are funny in a nice way. The point is made. A lot gets said and done. It is not at all offputting as I expected. I am not naturally drawn to the sub-continent.
I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
Monday, May 16, 2011
DON'T TAKE IT PERSONAL
I have just had a lot of facebook in my face lately. Not only from one person. Maybe three or four. Initiates.
Converts are always the hardest to deal with.
Pink clouds.
I just found this. A breath of fresh air.
see more The Daily What
PERSONALIZED OUT
Did you know this?
If you and I Google a word or go to Yahoo News right now we will get different results.
The search or the news will be tailored to our computer use history, where we live, what we normally click on. All that.
Holy shit.
Things are getting rather fucked up I would say.
This is, actually, not virtually, censorship.
Labels: internet
NEWT DOES THE PLANK
After only a few days of being a primary GOoPer candidate, Newt the Snoot has stepped into it with health care policy. Flip. Flop. Flip.
He was, in the old days, in favor of health care intervention, then, the other day, he not only damned the Affordable Care Act but the Paul Ryan Medicare Destruction Act, favoring a more moderate approach.
Today, he flopped and backed off his criticism of the Ryan plan which is, actually, wildly unpopular.
Gingrich Seeks to Clarify Comments on Individual Mandate
For a moment there, we thought that Snewt was going to be a moderate candidate. Think again.
Actually, the only kind of candidate the Newter will be is a self serving and mendacious one.
But when it comes to lying, he is in very good company with the rest of the primary folks.
Labels: republican whack jobs
PRANKS PLANKS
I love this kind of shit.
If I was twenty years younger and lived in Australia I would do this.
You also have to put the pic on Facebook so that would leave me out too.
In the meantime, I will just be an appreciative bystander.
Labels: fun
WINNER
Obama spoke, today, to the class that won the national competition for best presentation. That was the prize.
Here is their video.
I don't have a video of his speech as yet. I hear that it was a raucous and wild celebration.
The President gives the commencement address at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, chosen as a finalist for the Commencement Challenge on the basis of its inspiring turn-around story, and voted the winner by the public.
Labels: Administration Obama, Barack Obama
BIZZY AND COOL
I spent most of the morning on some personal work with a friend.
Very good.
That didn't leave a lot of room for my routine. Actually none.
And no time for a film today either. The session was my "movie".
It was a good one.
We are having another cool spell. Word from the crowd at the spa is that we are going to have another cool summer. The product of global conditions. Cold fronts moving south from their usual track sweeping arctic air into the desert.
I guess this is what they are referring to when they talk about the "open freezer door" effect.
Who Left the Freezer Door Open?
The cold air is being allowed to spill down from the north because of something which I don't quite understand.
If anyone can explain this I will be pleased. I read it somewhere, the Times I think, and didn't get it then either.
In any case we are glad to have some cool air here. I don't know if it compromises any of the flora and fauna. Probably. Long term. But surely we aren't long term for a few more years. Yes?
Labels: climate change, life, spiritual life
Sunday, May 15, 2011
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
Today's film was Mehdi Ben Attia's
Architect Malik comes home to Tunisia to rejoin his family. Religious, familial, and class customs collide and restrict him. He is strung up. Nice use of a visual metaphor here. A bit of magical realism that fits right in.
The string is broken when he meets Bilal, a young man who works for Malik's mother.
Their relationship has the effect of cutting the string(s) but in helping bridge gaps between family members and friends.
This is not a film about Islam and gay life. It isn't really about coming out. It is just a realistic melange of family and tradition and getting the changes to fit.
This is a really good hearted film and nothing bad happens. Spoiler, too late. It is all good. Nice even.
The gay men are beautiful and the wonderful Claudia Cardinale, in old age now, is the mother who knows but doesn't want to know her son is gay. Until she does.
This all plays out in Tunisia, not a backward country as we recently know. I enjoyed this film very much and will see it again.
I will give it a 5 out of a Netflix5.
Labels: films
Saturday, May 14, 2011
KOCH SUCKERS
The Koch Brothers must hate this shit but I love it.
How the Lincoln Center Anti-Koch Prank Went Down: An Insider's Account
There are demos everywhere to disrupt their equilibrium and to show what and where they are doing to support right wing causes.
We even had an event here in the Coachella Valley. The Kochs put on a show for national right wing leaders at a local resort. A retreat.
They took over the whole place and put security guards on the perimeter. Almost a thousand people showed up to walk around the place and create a scene. Some got thrown out. Some got arrested.
Just like the old days in Harvard Square and other lefty places. I was there, man!
Had I known about the local rumble, I might have attended.
Labels: lefty fringe, republican whack jobs
TWO
Two years ago yesterday, we went to Las Vegas to pick up Booker.
Our beloved Franklin had died six weeks before. Melanoma. No warning. Very fast.
We stood the pain for two weeks and then called the Southwest Airedale Rescue people.
Booker had arrived two days before we called. He had been living in Reno with a younger couple. The mom had died, we think in an auto accident, and the dad couldn't cope. He had the good sense to call the Airedale Rescue people who cover the four SW states for the breed.
We didn't get him right away. They keep the dogs for a month to check out if there are issues. Health and temperament. We call it Airedale Camp. He had a great foster mom who watched over him and had all the stuff checked out. He was in good health, a nice personality with good habits and they declared us a match. They checked us out as well.
We went to pick him up and stayed over after going through the paper work and paying his expenses.
The photo is one of the first batch that we ever saw of this big Aire boy while he was at his "camp" in Las Vegas.
We wanted to leave early and so he was up with his caretaker, ready to hit the road at 5AM.
We had rented an SUV and had the seats down so he would be comfortable. His foster mom gave him a big bag of treats and goodies and we were off.
Booker climbed up on the console between us and stayed there for the five hour drive back to Palm Springs. He leaned first on one of us and then the other. It is hard to explain but Booker has a high odor that comes off him when he is being affectionate or excited. It is very nice. Woodsy. I remember the pervasiveness of that smell through the ride. When it arises today I remember how we bonded that day, the three of us.
People find out he is a rescue dog somehow. Usually when they ask how old he is and we do not know the answer.
They make a fuss about how good it was of us to do this "for him". They often tell us that they have a rescue dog too. There is a lot of self regard in all this. We used to go to the pound to pick up a dog. Now we are rescuing them.
Don't get me wrong. This is all fundamentally good and people should do it if they can. But one thing is very clear about our process.
We all rescued each other. We were lost without Franklin.
Sure, we would have gotten over it sooner or later. Although I must admit to have gotten teary the other day about him when we did some reminiscing. He is still in our hearts.
What Booker has done is mended us for our loss and made a new family unit.
He is not Franklin. Rather, he is emphatically Booker and in many ways a gift of his own to us.
Hard to explain this. But I don't have to.
Just say that it has been a very rich two years and we are all very happy and learning more all the time about how to be together and share the kind of love that comes with special animals.
Labels: Booker
