One Last Thing

Look Into The Soul

2011-12-01T10:02:00.001-08:00

What would life be like if we could see the soul of each person rather than what we wear on the outside?

Steve Jobs Thought Differently

2011-10-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

Think Different. I loved that ad campaign. I had the photo of Albert Einstein with the words "Think Different" and the apple logo on the wall of my special education classroom. It was a perfect slogan for them because they all thought differently. Anyway, I was sad to hear of Steve Jobs passing. Thank you for everything Steve, including the fancy fonts we use.

Here is a passage from a speech he gave at Stanford University in 2005. Google it to read the whole speech. it might change the way you think.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

In the words of Steve Jobs, "Stay hungry, stay foolish... and find what you love."

Dog Dancing Merengue

2011-10-23T09:39:00.001-07:00

The Happy Movie

2011-08-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

For The People of Libya

2011-08-21T20:19:00.001-07:00

Russell Brand on Amy Winehouse

2011-07-24T17:06:00.000-07:00

I knew Russell Brand was friends with Amy. I was waiting for his words on her death. I am pasting the link to the full piece he wrote. I think everyone has been touched by the tragedy of addiction, be it directly or indirectly. Here is his last paragraph and below that is the link to full piece. One last thing, Russell says it, albeit indirectly, that he is for decriminalization. So am I.

"Whether this tragedy was preventable or not is now irrelevant. It is not preventable today. We have lost a beautiful and talented woman to this disease. Not all addicts have Amy’s incredible talent. Or Kurt’s or Jimi’s or Janis’s, some people just get the affliction. All we can do is adapt the way we view this condition, not as a crime or a romantic affectation but as a disease that will kill. We need to review the way society treats addicts, not as criminals but as sick people in need of care. We need to look at the way our government funds rehabilitation. It is cheaper to rehabilitate an addict than to send them to prison, so criminalisation doesn’t even make economic sense. Not all of us know someone with the incredible talent that Amy had but we all know drunks and junkies and they all need help and the help is out there. All they have to do is pick up the phone and make the call. Or not. Either way, there will be a phone call."
Russell Brand

http://www.russellbrand.tv/2011/07/for-amy/

Funniest Dog Video

2011-05-12T00:34:00.000-07:00

This video just cracked me up.

Tragedy in Tucson, January 8, 2011

2011-01-30T07:34:00.000-08:00

Gabrielle Giffords

Gabrielle Giffords survived. She is on a long and difficult road to recovery. In memory of all who lost thier lives. To all of those who were injured physically or emotionally in any way by this tragedy. May we all heal and move forward toward positve change.

"In the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame -- but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.

We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us."
President Barack Obama, Memorial Service in Tucson,
January 12, 20100

We Support Sheriff Dupnik

2011-01-29T08:04:00.000-08:00

I was contacted by a local journalist the day before the rally the tea party was holding to support a recall of Sheriff Dupnik. Of course I am against a recall and so agreed to the interview. I was able to post the interview, however, it seems to be on autoplay and I can't seem to remove it. Sorry about that. Here is a link and the URL to an interview with me on KVOA Channel 4, Tucson in support of Sheriff Dupnik.
http://www.kvoa.com/player/?video_id=4493
http://www.kvoa.com/videoplayer/?video_id=4493&categories=

Collateral Murder, Wikileaks Video

2010-04-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

Julian Assange, co-founder WikiLeaks

Julian Assange, co-founder of WikiLeaks, is badass. Mr. Assange said in his interview with MSNBC yesterday that the soldiers in the video below were playing video games with people's lives. Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks give me hope.

This happened in 2007. Innocent civilians killed along with two journalists. The audio of soldiers will make you sick.

Please spread the word on this. The interviews on MSNBC that follow this video are quite interesting and eye opening. There is one overhead shot of the table where the journalists are engaging in discussion. It has this written on the table: 12 billion spent this month on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Right on MSNBC!

Comments welcomed.

Caveat: This video is graphic and disturbing.

The Charles Shultz Philosophy for the Holiday Season

2009-12-23T12:52:00.000-08:00

This holiday season I thought I would use the Charles Shultz Philosophy, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, to thank some people who have touched my life.

For those who do not know his philosophy, here it is:

You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series Winners.

How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no
second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special!!
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson:
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They simply are the ones who care the most.

Newport Beach, California

To Aryon who I went to high school with in Tucson and ran into at a hair salon in Newport Beach. Strange that we should run into each other after many years of no contact. Because of you Aryon and your engagement to Wayne, I took over your room in that cool apartment. And because of you, I met Paul at your engagement party. Thank you for being in my life. Running into you altered the course my life would take.

To Paul who took me to London and New Zealand with him. Although our relationship did not work out, and we both know it would not have. And had I stayed in New Zealand, I would more than likely weigh 300 pounds, or be a hopeless alcoholic or pill popper. But if you had not taken me to London with you, I know for a fact I would have never had the nerve to go teach in Colombia on my own. Yes I had been an "explorer" so to speak in my own country, living in countless cities, encountering many adventures along the way, but never to a foreign land. So thank you for being in my life. You also altered the course my life would take.
London, England

To glamorous Janice and Agostina...also crazy Carmen, Isabella, and Sylvia who I have lost touch with unfortunatley. You are by far the most interesting women I have met. Although we live oceans away and I have only seen you a couple of times in 20 years, I consider you my sisters in this life. Agostina, I will never forget your kindness when I was having a tough time in London town. You made it so much more enjoyable. And glam Jan, you always just cracked me up. And you are so smart. Both of you are. I thank you for being in my life. You inspired me to go back to university. You made me curious again about many things. I had become a little shallow while living in Newport Beach surrounded by wealth.

Upon my return stateside and back to college, I met Leslie. Leslie you were there through some difficult times and stood up for me during one terrible moment in my life. I will never forget that. And your cooking when we lived a few floors apart in that old hisotric landmark in downtown Long Beach, the Cooper Arms, was fabulous. Most nights I was eating bean burritos at Super Mex or Top Ramen. So thank you for being in my life.

To all the people I met while I was in Colombia, and that includes the international teachers as well as my Colombian friends, thank you for being in my life. I am so glad we keep in touch Peter. And Octavio, love your emails. You were the one who told me to take a trip to Rio Claro when the city walls of Bogota and all that war stuff was about to cause a nervous breakdown. That trip was just what the doctor ordered.

And to Marcela who took me on that trip. Thank you for that. I will never forget how when we encountered a road block and I asked if it was the rebels, paramilitaries or Colombian army, you shrugged your shoulders, said you didn't know, passed me a joint of some killer Colombian weed, and turned up the salsa music on the car radio. Yes I smoked weed. It kept me sane.

Bogota, Colombia

To my colleague Luisa. You were so kind. Without you I do not think I could have handled Queen Annie.

To Catalina, man little sister, you and your boyfriend Maurizio were so kind and took me out even though there was a huge age difference. I do act immature and never looked my age. Anyway, taking me to the film fests and on trips out of town saved me from utter lonliness.

To Che, thanks for your kindness as well. You have a heart of gold.

To Karen, Heather, and Connie who let me crash on their couches/extra rooms when I came home for the summer from Colombia. Connie, you let me stay with you upon my return while I looked for a place. Thank you. I am glad you all are in my life. And Heather thanks for making my movie postcard. So kind of you. And thanks for being there when my mother was dying of cancer.

To Bella, I have told you many times how much it meant to me to be able to hang out at your place after my mom died. Just could not bear to be alone at that time. Thanks for being in my life.

To Gilbert, thank you for believing in me and giving me the confidence to pursue making a documentary film on Colombia. That also altered the course my life would take. Had I not pursued that dream, I would have never met the most amazing man I have ever had the privilege of being in the presence of, Marino Cordoba. Seldom do people get the chance of being in the presence of greatness and I did. Never would have happened if Gil did not encourage me to pursue the dream.

Marino, I am glad to have met you and am so glad you were reunited with your family. I am glad to have you in my life...although only via email.

Which brings me to Gimena. Although I have never met you Gimena, I feel that I know you. You worked tirelessly to get Marino's family over from Colombia. Even though doors kept closing, you kept knocking until someone FINALLY listened. I am glad you are in my life though only in cyberspace. I hope to meet you one day.
Tucson, Arizona

To my boyfriend, Billy. I love you and thank you for being in my life. You have
a wicked sense of humor and a heart of gold. It is funny how I had to come home to find my true love. I left Tucson in 1978 and 31 years later I met you. Our lives took very different paths, but wound up on the same road and collided at Eric's art opening. So glad for that collision.

I know I am missing lots of people to thank, but if you are on this list it means I am glad to have you in my life. Without you, who knows how my life would have turned out.

Love you all. I am wishing you all a most wonderful holiday season.

And yes Noelle....almost forgot to thank you for being there when I got back from my time in S. Korea. Love you sister.

Sophie's Choice at Arizona Border: A Humanitarian Crisis

2009-03-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

Crossing the border can be deadly. Body of migrant found outside Tucson

I drove down to Nogales on Wednesday and crossed over to the Mexican side. No More Deaths has an aid station set up there where they ask migrants being sent back to Mexico if they need medical assistance and if they were abused by Border Patrol.

No More Deaths aid station in Nogales

While I was standing there taking photos, an older woman with two younger girls walked up. The older woman told us with terror in her eyes that she was held for 30 days for a false passport and that her money was taken from her. The tears were welling up in her eyes. The volunteer nurse who was standing next to me got the number on her documents and immediately made a call to the Mexican Consulate. The nurse was unable to make contact, but left a message.

No More Deaths aid station and Red Cross combine efforts to assist migrants

Later while we were at the food bank they have set up about a block away, this nurse got the call from the Mexican Consulate to say they were going to get every cent that woman had back. The point of my story is that the exploitation of the migrants who are in desperate situations is appalling.

Food Bank in Nogales

At the food bank, the migrants are provided with donated food, clothes, shoes, and socks. The lines are long and often the donated items run out long before everyone has a chance to get what they need. The volunteer nurse who came down that day provides medical attention.

No More Deaths volunteers hand out donated clothes at Food Bank

I was so overwhelmed with what I saw that the tears were welling up behind my sunglasses. One young girl came up for medical assistance. I sat next to her while she was being treated for a knee injury and talked to her in my broken Spanish.

Maria Guadalupe gets medical treatment by No More Deaths volunteer nurse

Twenty-two year old Maria Guadalupe was from Michoacan. Maria got picked up in a car headed for Phoenix after having walked for four days through the desert. She was about an hour away from her journey's end where her husband was waiting. To join her husband in Phoenix, Maria had to make a Sophie's Choice-like decision. So desperately poor and wanting a better life for her child, she was forced to leave her 7 month old baby with family to make minimum wage thousands of miles away from her home.

Maria Gudalupe

I could not sleep that night and I still see Maria Guadalupe's face.

Post looking for family member who more than likely perished in the desert trying to cross

The number of people who have passed through the No More Deaths aid station in Nogales is more than 300,000 since 2006. The NMD volunteers have documented 345 cases of abuse at the hands of the Border Patrol. 183 people have died in the desert so far this year trying to cross. The numbers are likely 9 or 10 times higher since many migrants are never found. The body decomposes quickly in the desert sun. Often times when a body is found in the desert, the migrant has taken off all his clothes and folded it neatly next to him/her. The intensity of the sun makes it unbearable for clothes to touch their burning skin. Or sometimes the body is buried under the sand or dirt in attempt to stay out of the heat. It is a horrible, painful, and terrifying death.
Border Patrol escorting migrants to detention center, please note the lack of water provided for them by Border Patrol, no one is carrying a water bottle

As mentioned in a previous post, until Mexico and the United States address the economic root of the problem, there will continue to be a massive migration. The unsightly wall that has been put up only delays a migrant's crossing by about 5 minutes. The wall must come down not only because it is useless, but the message it sends is not the message our government should support. Moreover, it is wreaking havoc on the desert animal migration and the ecosystem.

The Wall, near Sasabe, AZ

I met two men at the aid station. One from Honduras and one from Guatemala. They told me that they were going to attempt to cross again the next day. The man from Guatemala had lived in Phoenix for fourteen years. He was stopped on a traffic violation and did not have a chance to say good bye to his family comprised of a wife and four children.

Honduran man on left, Guatemalan man on right

There are three organizations helping migrants in Tucson. No More Deaths is the most hands on organization. Since this work is controversial, No More Deaths has difficulty finding funding. However, the work they do has saved countless lives. They set up camps in the desert and go out on daily patrols looking for migrants in distress. They drive the back roads and also get out and hike.

No More Deaths truck parked at the camp site waiting for the morning patrol

They recently set up a tent like what we saw on the show M.A.S.H. The tent is equipped with cots and medical supplies to treat migrants. Most suffer from heat-related illness and blisters on the feet from wearing improper shoes.

No More Deaths Medical Tent at camp site

The Samaritans are similar in their efforts, but they do not have camps set up out in the desert. They patrol the back roads and also hike.

A Samaritan volunteer ready for a desert patrol on the migrant trail

Humane Borders is the least controversial and thus gets the most funding. Pima County government gives them a $25,000 grant every year. They have 99 water stations set up across the desert outside Tucson and as far as Organ Pipe.

Humane Borders truck

If this post and photos have moved you in any way to action, please write a check and make it out to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson (memo line: No More Deaths-Mary Cuevas) and mail it to the address below. Financial donations are tax-deductible and April 15th is just around the corner.

Please mention that you heard about NMD through my blog. Thanks in advance. Your donation will surely save countless lives this summer where temperatures soar above 100 degrees for days on end.

No More Deaths
Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson
PO Box 40782
Tucson, AZ 85717

Migrants at Food Bank in Nogales

For more information please visit the website: www.nomoredeaths.org
A No More Deaths volunteer nurse helps remove a cactus spine from a migrant's foot at the Nogales Food Bank

Humane Borders

2009-03-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

Bob and Joe of Humane Borders standing next to truck at Mexican border; the wall in the background

I went out with Humane Borders yesterday. Left Tucson at seven in the morning and returned around one in the afternoon. We went down through Three Points out on the Tohono O'odham Nation and then on down Highway 286 towards Sasabe and the Mexican border. We hit 7 water stations. Meaning we checked on 7 water stations.

The stations are set up off the highway down dirt roads. Humane Borders has placed blue flags so we can find them...and more importantly, so the migrants crossing the deadly heat and cold of the desert out here can find them.

I forgot to take a photo of a water station, but if you look at the photo of the truck, the two blue barrels are exactly what we have set up out at the water stations. Migrants can either fill up bottles they are carrying, or sip from the faucets.

Humane Borders truck

The trucks, filled with water, have a hose similar to what you might see on a fire truck, only smaller. If the barrels are empty, we take the hose and fill it up. Pretty simple.

Humane Borders has an excellent set up out there. Pima County government gives $25,000 to keep the barrels full. Some rich benefactor in Tucson gives $20,000 a year. And then various other orgs and places help fund the $100,000 per year operation.

Humane borders has 5 trucks. I think that is what Bob and Joe told me yesterday. Bob has been volunteering for 2 years or so. And Joe has gone out on 7 or 8 runs. I asked Bob how many water stations were set up out in the desert. He said 99. They even have a few out Organ Pipe way.

Since this was my first trip out, Bob and Joe gave me the grand tour and took me on the scenic route. We saw a herd of deer. Not sure if herd is the right word. A pack of deer? Anyway, that was way cool. He also took me to meet the park ranger out at Buenos Aires Refuge/National Park. Cool old man with a cool old chocolate colored dog.

Sasabe Store

Bob asked if I had seen the wall yet. I had not. So we drove through Sasabe, passing the one and only store in the town. Just past Sasabe is the Mexican border. We passed the new detention center they have built to process the migrants. The border checkpoint was completely empty except for us.

Detention Center built to process migrants

The wall is definitely an unsightly sight for sore eyes. Bob told me that they brought in the metal from old airstrips in Vietnam. Think that is what he said. He also told me that about two weeks ago an endangered jaguar was found trying to get to the other side of the fence. It is a long unhappy story, but Bob said they tried to collar the jaguar to track it. They found the jaguar again in some serious distress a few weeks later and were forced to euthanize it.
The Wall

In my training last weekend, I discovered that the wall only causes a 5 minute delay to migrant crossing. They manage to get over quite easily. However, the animals who live out in the desert are not so lucky and it is causing their migration to be interrupted. I actually saw a video on all of this last week during our training presented by someone from the Sierra Club. You can watch it on their website if interested.

Sign just outside Sasabe

In my humble opinion the wall must come down. Moreover, we need to get to the economic root of the problem with migration. A European Union type system was proposed by Vicente Fox at the beginning of his term as president of Mexico. Can you imagine that? An open border between Canada and Mexico?

Border check point was empty outside Sasabe

Bet the disparity between rich and poor in Mexico would be on the top of the agenda of whomever became president of this European Union type system. Guess a good name would be North American Union.
The wall that killed the jaguar

Tucson, Arizona: Get Back To Where You Once Belonged

2009-03-07T05:47:00.001-08:00

Saguaro National Monument (West)

I have moved to many places in my life, including four countries outside the USA, but this was indeed in record breaking time for me.

I found a place on Sunday, February 22nd. More on that later. I drove back on Monday, hired my friend Heather's teenage son to act as my "production assistant" on Tuesday. Packed everything that day and put it in storage. I cleaned the place Wednesday morning and drove back to Tucson in the afternoon.

Desert Bloom

In a weird way I guess I am lucky not to be in a career, or relationship, or a property owner. If I were, I would not have been able to pick up and leave like I just did.

I was thinking of the Beatles song Get Back on my drive back to Tucson. You know..."Jo Jo left her home in Tucson, Arizona for some California grass...Get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged."

Tucson Sunset

My dad has made a remarkable recovery. He is using a cane now rather than the walker. He had a doctor's appointment on March 4th. The doctor told my dad he no longer needs the catheter. Oh happy day.

My dad has been going to lunch at the country club with his buddies. My dad has also been hanging with his "lady friend" so much that he is never home when I call to check on him. Rumor has it they may be shacking up soon and living in sin. She is 75, my dad is 81.

San Xavier Mission

I found a place through my friends Tim and Mary. Tim is a fantastic journalist who writes for the Tucson Weekly. He writes a lot on border issues. His wife, Mary, is a playwright and teacher. They hooked me up to this woman I am sharing a condo. Her husband just left and so she wanted a roommate.

La Placita Village in Tucson

It is a gorgeous Spanish-style condo in central Tucson, Speedway and Alvernon area. This is five minutes from my dad's place. When I drove up to look at the place, I saw the name of the condos are Cuernavaca Villas . I knew it was a good sign.

That fab summer of 1990 I spent in Mexico while in college where I had the affair with the sexy lawyer... well I spent 3 weeks in Cuernavaca. Absolutely loved that city. Gorgeous.

My rent $350. Yes way.

City of Tucson

Anyway, my roomie is from Mexico and a department manager for Barnes and Noble. She has maid service twice a week. Man I feel like I am in Bogota, Colombia again. The maid asked if I wanted her to make my bed. I said, "no, gracias." The next time she came she made breakfast. She asked if I wanted some breakfast. I said, "si gracias." The maid does not speak English so I have been practicing my Spanish with her. I swear, I feel so lucky that everything fell into place so easily.

One last thing about my condo, I have an assigned covered parking space. Very good to have in this Arizona heat. Also, it is gated. So I feel safe. And we have a pool. Important to have one here in the desert.

One more last thing about my roomie. She gets advanced copies of books from Barnes and Nobles. This condo is full of new books. I am in heaven. I have about eleven books by my bed right now that I am trying to power through. I have not watched TV since I have been here, except once. The tennis match in Dubai.

My roomie gets the Tennis Channel. I am in heaven. Watched the men's final. David Ferrer lost to Novak Djokovic. I love David Ferrer. He was not playing his best tennis and consequently lost. Anyway, I can't believe I have the Tennis Channel now.

Monsoon Season in Tucson

Now I just need a job. Signed up with a temp agency, will start the process to sub teach, and have been applying to non-profits. There are four agencies who help refugees right here in Tucson. So have been applying.

Lastly, I hung out with Tim and Mary Saturday night. I met a guy named Ted. He is a filmmaker. And guess what? He volunteers with a couple of orgs that help the immigrants who are crossing over by leaving water and food. I told him I want to volunteer. Tucson summers are brutal and folks die out there.

I went to a meeting for Humane Borders Wednesday night. I signed up to go out to Three Points next Saturday. Three Points is out on the Tohono O'Odham Nation. I used to teach out there so know the area well. Unfortunately, the drug runners are going through there now making it a dangerous place.

I learned at the meeting on Tuesday Humane Borders is going down to Mexico via Sasabe. They said a big time director is shooting a documentary about border crossings and Humane Borders for HBO. Always thought this would make a great story. Wonder who it is.

A friend of Tim and Mary's bartends down at the swanky Marriot out at Starr Pass. She said she gabbed with Sam Mendes last week for about three hours. I asked her what he was doing in Tucson. she said, "shooting a film." Wonder if it is him. He is the director of American Beauty and Revolutionary Road .

The folks at Humane Borders asked if I wanted to come out on Tuesday. I sure would love to but my passport expired over the summer. It was on my list of "thing to do." Damn.

I stopped by the International Rescue Committee last Tuesday. I am going to a full day training today for volunteers. I will be a mentor to recently arrived refugee families. I will love this.

The volunteer coordinator told me that 45% of the refugees they are receiving are from Iraq now. Imagine that? We go and blow up their cities, and then accept them with open arms into our country when all they want to be is in their homes in their own country. Reminds me of the Vietnam era. We go in in slaughter and then invite them into our country.

Bisbee, AZ

Lastly, to my friends who read my blog, I am giving you all an open invitation to come out and visit. Best time of year would be spring or fall. I also love the monsoon season in the summer. But it is deadly hot and my English friends I think would melt.

I would love to show you my city and state. I took a drive out to Bisbee and Douglas last weekend. I will take you there. And depending on my work schedule, once I get a job, I will take you as far as the Grand Canyon. If work does not allow, then I'll give you a map. Just head north until you run into a giant hole in the ground.

Hotel Gadsden, Douglas, AZ

The first photo at the top of this post is Saguaro National Monument, West. It is not far from where I live. There is great hiking within minutes of my home.

The Hotel Gadsden Coffee Shop

And the Hotel Gadsden Coffee Shop and staircase are a sight to see. I had lunch in the coffee shop last weekend. A most excellent tuna melt with bacon. The two waitresses working in the empty coffee shop were very friendly... and bored. I learned that one lived on a ranch 15 miles outside Douglas. The other was 20 and married with a two year old daughter. Very sweet young women.

Hotel Gadsden Coffee Shop

The drive out there is full of wide open space and skies that go on for miles.

I have seen about a billion stars in the sky every night. One night last week Venus was shining so bright next to the moon. I have never seen her shine so bright.

I knew then that I have come home to where I belong. It has been a long journey. The journey still continues, but this time in the place where it all began.
Hotel Gadsden staircase, Douglas, AZ

My Dad

2009-02-12T07:23:00.000-08:00

My Dad at Schooner or Later Restaurant on the waterfront, Long Beach, CA, May 2008

I have heard and used this phrase, "put it out in the universe and you never know what will happen." If you have stopped by to visit my blog, please send positive thoughts out for my Dad. If you pray, please say a little prayer for him. I am putting this out in the blogosphere universe in the hopes that my Dad makes a full recovery and gets to go home to his own place. Not some assisted living situation that I think will kill him.

My Dad at El Torito Restaurant in Long Beach, May 2008

My Dad is 81. He is the wisest man I know and also the most compassionate. He is funny as hell. He can be stubborn and has a lot of the old school in him. However, he rolls with the changes.

My Dad taught me how to drive, how to take chances, how to travel to foreign lands without fear.

My Dad served in Vietnam. He asked my mother to send care packages which he distributed to the orphanages in Vietnam.

He told me that many of the members of the armed forces were racist towards the Vietnamese. It sickened him and hit close to home since he suffered his own share of racism as a young man.

My favorite Vietnam story is when he had some young enlisted man come up to him to complain about a Vietnamese man who he was helping refuel a plane. The young kid called the Vietnamese man a "zipper head." So my Dad with clipboard in hand, taking notes to report the complaint, stopped, looked at the kid, and said, "how do you spell zipper head." Can you just see the look on the kid's face now?

My Dad in the garden of my home, Long Beach, CA May 2008

He had gall bladder surgery. We thought he would be home in a few days. It is seven weeks now. He developed a urinary tract infection that was so bad he has suffered kidney damage. He has arthritis and not walking has made walking again extremely painful. He is using a walker and getting physical therapy. He has excellent insurance so is in a good rehab, but man does he want to get home. Who wouldn't?

My Dad in the garden of my home, Long Beach, CA, May 2008

Anyway, I could go on and on about my Dad, but feeling a little emotional right now. So will ask again, if you pray, do yoga, meditate, please send positive thoughts my Dad's way. His name is Albert. He is in Tucson.

My sister is there and has been doing an excellent job acting as his advocate in terms of making sure his needs are being met. There are so many stories about elder abuse that having my sister there is a comfort. I am thinking of moving back home to assist in his transition home.

I am driving home this weekend. I will be spending Valentine's Day with my Dad and his lady friend in the rehab center. Can't think of a better man to spend my Valentine's Day. He's a good egg.

Che: Part One and Part Two

2009-02-07T09:33:00.001-08:00

Movie Poster uploaded on Flickr by Cine Fanatico

If you are hoping to learn everything about Che Guevara from these two films, you will be disappointed. If you read about Che on Wikipedia or the most excellent book by Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevara, A Revolutionary Life
before coming to watch these two films, you will love what you see.

Che Guevara, uploaded on Flickr by Ray Cunningham

I was hoping for more history other than how they took Cuba and what happened when Che went to Bolivia. However, if director Steven Soderbergh and producers Benico Del Toro and Laura Bickman, who produced Traffic, would have taken us on a journey beyond Cuba and Bolivia, I believe they would need to make a 10 part series.

Che Guevara, photo uploaded on Flickr

To see Che in Africa, his relationship with the existentialists Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, also his relationship with his second wife, Aleida, who he met on the revolutionary trail in Cuba, and a more developed view of Che's complex relationship with Fidel would have been intriguing as well.

Che Guevara in Africa with President Nasser of Egypt, Pan-African News Wire

Instead, the films takes place primarily in the mountains of Cuba and the jungles of Bolivia.

There is some footage of Che's trip to the United Nations in New York, the interview with a journalist played by Julia Ormand, and the party he attended at her apartment full of New York intellectuals later that evening.

Che Guevara on Meet the Press, 1964, Pan-African News Wire

I did stay long enough through the credits to see that they did indeed use Jon Lee Anderson as their chief consultant. Excellent choice. I wonder if Soderbergh read the 754 page book and then decided to make this film.

The Anderson book is a thoroughly researched biography that reads like great fiction. I knew what happened to Che in the end, but cried all the same. The book gives such great little insights I never knew. Like how Che was banging the maid in the kitchen when he was very young in his upper class home.

Che's motorcyle

How the motorcycle trip he took through South America is what turned him away from his bourgeois existence and into a revolutionary. He could have easily finished his studies and lived a comfortable life as a doctor, married with children, and mistresses.

A side note, if you have not seen the film, Motorcyle Diaries, I highly recommend you rent it. The film is a perfect depiction of this defining time in Che's young life.

After his trip through South America, Che returned to Buenos Aires to finish his medical studies in record breaking time of three years. He took another trip up through South America into Central America and ended up in Mexico City. This is where he met Fidel. They spent many a late night discussing poetry, philosophy, and the revolution.

Che Guevara and Fidel Castro in Cuba after the revolution

As a matter of fact, they start the film in Mexico City at a dinner party.

And near the end of the film there is a flashback of the boat ride to Cuba. Fidel and Che managed to buy an old fishing boat and convince 80-100 recruits to join them on this revolutionary journey. Che looks at Fidel standing at the other end of the boat. A look to me that said he wasn't sure he trusted Fidel.

Fidel and Che in heated discussion

Many think Che was betrayed by Fidel and abandoned in Bolivia. We get some indication of this in Part Two when Che is in need of funding and asks a journalist to get a letter to Jean-Paul Sartre and Betrand Russell telling them he needs more financing for his revolution.
Benicio Del Toro, photo uploaded on Flickr

Benicio Del Toro does a great job in his film. Fidel is played by the actor who plays the mayor of Tijuana in the Showtime Series Weeds. It is shot in a docudrama style by Soderbergh. He often shoots his own films under the name Peter Andrews.

I am glad this film was made. I hope it sparks an interest in Che Guevara's life other than his image on t-shirts and posters that adorn many a college dorm room. It is an important part of history that sadly did not make my high school history books.
Movie Poster uploaded by Cine Fanatico on Flickr

Australian Open 2009 Men's Final: Rafael Nadal Defeats Roger Federer in Thrilling Five Set Match

2009-02-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

Rafael Nadal wins Australian Open, photo uploaded on azzurri_nr1

Roger Federer was hoping to tie the Pete Sampras record of fourteen major titles. Rafael Nadal was hoping to win his first major title on a hard court. The rivalry between these two champions is legendary. This was destined to be an absolutely thrilling match. Tennis fans were not let down.

Roger Federer, photo uploaded by azzurrri_nr1

Federer showed an unusual vulnerability in this 4 hour and 23 minute five set slug fest. There were double faults normally not seen from this former number one in the world.

Rafael Nadal, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1 on Flickr

Rafa and Roger during trophy ceremony, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1 on Flickr

Rafa showed his usual class after defeating Roger. When Roger lost his composure during the trophy ceremony, it looked as though Rafa was going to cry as well. Roger had to be led from the podium. After Rafa was given his ,he backed up and let Roger come back up to the podium and try again.
Roger Federer at trophy ceremony, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1

Both players are class acts. Rafael Nadal is solid gold. As a musician friend of mine, Pete Fahey, says, "solid gold, with a lion's heart and a gentle soul."
Roger and Rafa, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1

Rafael Nadal celebrates his win, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1 on Flickr

One last thing, the commentators asked the drivers for the driving service that shuttled players back and forth to their hotels how the players behaved in the cars. The drivers said the nicest player all the time is Rafael Nadal. Of course he is.

Here are some more photos I found on flickr that tell the story of this amazing match.

Roger Federer after his loss to Nadal, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1 on Flickr

Rafa drops to ground after winning Australian Open, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1

Rod Laver, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1

Jimmy Carter on Peace in the Holy Land, NPR Interview

2009-01-27T08:14:00.000-08:00

Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter, and Anwar Al Sadat, 1979, uploaded on Flickr by Jeff Kubina

NPR's Renee Montagne interviewed Jimmy Carter this morning on Morning Edition. Carter discusses his new book, We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land. Carter suggests a return to the 1967 borders before the Six Day War as viable solution.

President Obama and special envoy George Mitchell have spoken to Carter twice to discuss peace in the region. Good news, since Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Jimmy Carter, has been working on peace in the region for over thirty years.

Probably been thinking about it since the 1972 Munich Olympics when Palestinians took Israeli athletes hostage. It did not end well when German commandos botched the rescue attempt and all athletes were killed.

1972 Munich Olympics, photo uploaded on Flickr by ciatjj5

The tragic events and trial are covered in a great documentary, One Day in September, narrated by Michael Douglas. During the trial, one of the surviving Palestinians looks directly at the camera and says, "Before this, no one knew about Palestine. Now they do." Absolutely chilling to say the least.

Here is an excerpt of the NPR interview:

Morning Edition, January 27, 2009 · Nearly 30 years ago, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty that holds to this day. Much of the credit for that treaty goes to former President Jimmy Carter.

In the decades since, Carter has pursued a much more elusive goal: a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. And he says there have been three recent developments that could help achieve it.

The first development was the election of Barack Obama as president, he tells NPR's Renee Montagne. For the Middle East, Carter said, that should mean "a balanced and aggressive commitment to bring peace. That's quite a change."

The former president also cited progress in his meetings with members of the Palestinian parties, Hamas and Fatah, in April and December of 2008.

"For the first time, the Hamas leaders pledged that they would accept any peace agreement negotiated between the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israel," Carter said — as long as Palestinians approve the agreement in a referendum.

And the recent violence between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which Carter called an "evolving tragedy," adds what he said is "another element of urgency to bringing peace to Israel."

Carter has written a new book on that topic, titled We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land. It follows his 2006 analysis, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, which sparked protests from supporters of Israel.

His latest book is subtitled, "A Plan That Will Work." And that plan, Carter said, is no secret: a two-state solution in which Israel's right to exist is recognized by its neighbors — within its pre-1967 borders.

Noting that those borders could be altered by negotiations, Carter said, "By the way, that's also what's been espoused most recently by the prime minister of Israel at this moment — that is, Ehud Olmert."

Carter said Olmert also realizes that Israel must withdraw from the West Bank, that Palestinians must be allowed to return to their land and that Israel must share Jerusalem.

I encourage readers to read or listen to the whole interview with Jimmy Carter on NPR.

Here is the link to the whole story on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99870908

Obama Grants Al Arabiya TV Excluxive Interview

2009-01-27T07:31:00.000-08:00

Al Arabiya Interview, Part 1

Obama discusses peace and mutual respect in this interview aired last night on Al Arabiya Muslim TV. Yet another powerful move by Obama to show the Arab world we are serious about a solution to the conflict in Palestine and Israel.

Obama discusses a new era of mutual respect and how the region is interrelated. This sends a message to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iran to name a few, that he is indeed interested in listening.

As a mattter of fact, he says in his interview that he has advised his ME envoy, George Mithcell, to listen and come back with a report on what was said. Mitchell leaves today to talk with leaders in Egypt, Palestine, and Israel.

Al Arabiya Interview, Part 2

Obama Talks Fuel Efficiency With EPA

2009-01-26T08:18:00.000-08:00

Photo uploaded by staticbob on Flickr

President Obama would like stricter emission standards in California for trucks and cars. Trucks leaving the Port of Long Beach, the second largest port in the nation, spew toxic fumes in the air every day. Consequently, this has caused a rise in respiratory problems for residents in the area.

The issue has become quite serious and receives very little press. A friend lost his mother a few years back from lung cancer. She lived in an ocean front condo about a mile or two from the port. Never smoked a cigarette in her life.

President Barack Obama, photo uploaded by jurvetson on Flickr

This president continues to do exactly what I was dreaming he would do once he took office. I hope to hear something about his plan for health insurance next.

Australian Open 2009 - Tennis Anyone?

2009-01-25T09:23:00.001-08:00

Rafael Nadal, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1 on Flickr

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1 on Flickr

Fernando Gonzales, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1

Gael Monfils, photo uploaded by azzurri_nr1

Four very good reasons to follow tennis (see photos above).

My favorite match so far was the one between Gonzales of Chile and Gasquet of France. Gonzales was down two sets, but with the help of the Chilean fans in the stands, he came back to beat Gasquet. That match felt more like a Davis Cup match. Fans were waving the flags of Chile and France like crazy.

I am looking forward to the match between Gonzales and Nadal, and Tsonga and Blake. If interested and in the USA, check it out on ESPN2.

Obama's New Envoy, Mitchell, Asked to Talk to Ordinary People in Gaza

2009-01-24T08:03:00.000-08:00

Middle East Envoy George Mitchell, photo uploaded on Flickr by mashget

Even though Israel did not allow journalists into Gaza during the recent incursion, the world was watching. Bloggers were posting photos of women and children murdered, schools blown to smitereens, and mayhem in the blood drenched streets.

Child in Gaza awaiting medical treatment, photo uploaded on Flickr by pink turtle 2

The video uploaded on YouTube of the doctor who called the Israeli journalist when his house was attacked put a human face on this war. It allowed people from around the world to see that Palestinians are ordinary people. Not all are extremists with a mission to destroy Israel.

Dr. Abuelaish lost three daughters and a niece asks why, photo uploaded by mashget

This incursion undoubtedly boosted extremists inside Gaza and in the rest of the Arab world. Extreme behavior in any situation is usually born out of feelings of injustice or unfair treatment.

In order to stop the extremists, we must openly discuss why they are angry. It is time to open up dialogue between both sides without fear of being labeled an anti-Semite.

Obama's new order to stop the all powerful stranglehold lobbyists have had on how government is run is an excellent beginning. AIPAC has always had a hold on decision making concerning the question of Palestine. Now, without their influence, maybe, just maybe, we will see real dialogue and possible diplomatic solution to this conflict.

Young woman protests in Paris to end war in Gaza, photo uploaded on Flickr by looking 4 poetry

And again, instead of being labeled an anti-Semite, we will be viewed as people or a government with a genuine concern for fair and just treatment for all people.

George Mitchell negotiated peace in Northern Ireland. Moreover, he worked with the Clinton Administration on issues concerning Palestine and Israel. His experience in the region will help expedite the process for real diplomacy and dialogue.

Here is an excerpt of an article filed by Stephanie Nebehay of Reuters yesterday:

War boosted extremists in Gaza, says U.N. official
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA (Reuters)

John Ging, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, called for new U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell to talk to ordinary people in Gaza as part of a "new track" in diplomacy.

Ging, who is Irish, welcomed Mitchell's appointment.

"An individual of his experience and ability coming now to this conflict gives me cause for more than hope, it actually gives me cause for optimism that we will move on to a new track where we will see real progress," he said.

"What we hope will happen is that the U.S. administration will listen to the people. There has to be a rebalancing of the focus," he said.

(Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Elizabeth Piper)

Obama's First 48 Hours Cause a London Train Station to Erupt in Spontaneous Dance

2009-01-22T18:58:00.000-08:00

London train stations are usually crowded with people rushing to work, looking tired and forlorn. However, on this particular morning at 11 o'clock, it was a different story.

News of Obama's plan to close Gitmo and end torture caused this busy Liverpool train station in London to erupt in spontaneous dance.

Just kidding. Although it is a rehearsal for the actual advert, the impromptu crowd reaction and participation are priceless.

I love the old grannies who participate and the guy with the funky mod hairdo.

Obama Signs Executive Order to Close Gitmo

2009-01-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

Amnesty International protest against torture and human rights violations at Guantanamo Bay prison, photo uploaded on Flickr by damonlynch

President Obama just signed an executive order to close down Guantanamo Bay prison (a.k.a. hell on earth). He is listening to Amnesty International. He is listening to all ordinary citizens around the world who have expressed concerns about human rights.
Photo uploaded by mashget on Flickr

More importantly, the Arab world is listening and watching. This is sending a powerful message and perhaps will be the beginning of the Muslim world believing and trusting that our new president does indeed want to engage in dialogue and diplomacy, not in war and destruction.

I have never been so full of hope as I am right now. I love this man.

Open Letter to Obama in New York Times (Full Page Ad)

2009-01-22T06:14:00.000-08:00

2004 Billboard in Times Square, photo by brian glanz uploaded on Flickr

Here is an excerpt of the speech Obama gave on election night, November 4, 2008:

To all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright --tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope."

Here is an excerpt from the open letter to Obama in today's New York Times:

"With your historic inauguration as the 44th President of the United States, we share our sincerest congratulations and hope that you will uphold your commitment to change.

"As American citizens we are deeply concerned that our nation's one-sided approach to the Middle East crisis compromises America's ability to act as a fair negotiator. Our foreign policy has upheld the interests of Israel, but has failed to do the same for the Palestinian people. Israel the fourth largest military power in the world has devastated a population of 1.5 million people, one without an army, navy, or air force.

"As the attacks in Gaza demonstrated, the outgoing administration chose to defend Israeli aggression even though the violence resulted in the disproportionate deaths of more than 1,300 Palestinians, including 300 children, as compared to 13 Israelis. Indeed, the loss of all of these lives cannot be justified."

The letter continues with solutions for ending the violence and concentration camp-like conditions the Palestinians have been forced to live in for so very long.

The signatories of the letter include prominent Muslim and Jewish groups such as the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Jews Against the Occupation, L.A. Jews For Peace, Pax Christi Metro New York, U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, United for Peace and Justice, the Muslim Finance Professionals Association and the Muslim Bar Association of New York.

This is what I am talking about, an open dialogue. Dialogue and diplomacy, not bombs and destruction. And you know Obama and his team have read this letter. I am posting a URL for the full page ad. If that doesn't work for you, just type in google "Open Letter to Obama in NY Times," and you should be able to find it.

http://files.e2ma.net/2785/assets/docs/ny-times-ad-obama-gaza.pdf

President Obama's First Day on the Job

2009-01-21T16:12:00.000-08:00

Obama street art, Atlanta, Georgia, uploaded on Flickr by brianmanley

And some people thought Obama wasn't ready to run the country. President Obama has done more in eight hours for peace and justice, freedom and ethics than Bush did in his whole eight years in office.

Palestinian children, uploaded from Flickr by shimriz

President Obama called the leaders of Palestine, Israel, Egypt, and Jordan. In the simple act of picking up the phone in his office, this president sent out a strong message, not only to the leaders on the other end of the phone line, but to all of the Arab world that he is serious about opening up a dialogue and engaging in diplomacy toward a peace process in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

Wrapped present, uploaded on Flickr by altered angel

Obama also signed an executive order banning gifts to staff from lobbyists. Also, if staff members are former lobbyists, they are not allowed to engage in in any activities to promote the lobby they were involved. He also plans to limit access of lobbyists to the White House. No more revolving doors. With these acts, we are definitely going to get a more just government without the stranglehold of the all powerful lobbyists.

President Obama plans to comply with the Freedom of Information Act. The FOIA holds the government accountable by allowing access to public records. No more massive blacked out pages like in previous administrations.

The president said to staff, "Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency."

President Obama also held meetings with economic and military advisers.

And as mentioned in my post yesterday, he has suspended all hearings at Guantanamo Bay prison for 120 days. This is a step toward closing down this torture and absolute hell on earth. Obama is expected to sign an executive order by Thursday that will call for the closing down of the prison within a year.

Lastly, he has imposed a pay freeze on staffers making more than $100,000 in an effort to ease the economic crisis.

I would say a most productive first day. Please remember that his website is up and running. It is interactive and I have heard the Obama will be blogging there. This president welcomes comments and suggestions. Check it out and get involved. We are one, we are the change. Here is the website: www.whitehouse.gov
Art by Koolhats, uploaded on Flickr by seetwist

Obama Family on Inauguration Day

2009-01-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

Photo by H Darr Beiser, USA Today

I just love this photo of Barack Obama listening to what his young daughter Sasha has to say moments after he took the oath of office.

An exciting time in history. I heard last night that he already made a move on Guantanamo Bay prison. Obama has signed an order to suspend all war crimes trials for 120 days. I believe this is a step toward closing down this torture chamber of a prison.

I hope he sends out an apology and monetary compensation to those who were wrongly confined in this hell on earth.

Hope: The Inauguration of Barack Obama

2009-01-20T06:21:00.000-08:00

I have been ashamed to be an American at various points in my life. But for the last eight years, my shame has not abated for even one day.

I am hopeful on this day, in this place, at this time, for my country.

I set my alarm for 3 o'clock in the morning to watch all the coverage of this historic event. I just heard on CNN that aides and staff will be getting to work right after the swearing in at noon today.

On the agenda are closing Guantanamo Bay prison, torture, and ending the international gag order for birth control funding around the world. Excellent start.

I only wish Martin Luther King Jr. was alive to see this.

Former Israeli IDF Captain Denounces Attacks on Gaza

2009-01-19T07:16:00.000-08:00

In this BBC News interview, former IDF Captain, Yonatan Schapira. says that the Palestinians have been forced to live in ghetto-like conditions and are treated like animals. Please watch this 3:25 minute interview. At about the 2:00 minute mark he talks about the horrible treatment of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israel government and IDF.

Gazan Doctor and Peace Advocate Attacked Asks Why

2009-01-18T07:32:00.000-08:00

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish in waiting room of hospital, photo uploaded from NY Times by mashget on Flickr

I wanted the world to see what happened to this doctor and my wish is coming true. There is a most excellent article on Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish in the New York Times.

My only complaint with the article is that it did not make the front page which is where this story belongs. Here is an excerpt of the article by Dina Kraft:

TEL HASHOMER, Israel — Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is a Gazan and a doctor who has devoted his life to medicine and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. But on Saturday, the day after three of his daughters and a niece were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, Dr. Abuelaish, 53, struggled to hold on to the humane philosophy that has guided his life and work.

As he sat in a waiting room of the Israeli hospital where he works part time, he asked over and over, "Why did they do this?"

And listen to this, Kraft reports in her article that the doctor recently lost his wife to leukemia. One tragedy caused by disease, and another by the disease of war inflicted by man, namely the IDF.

Please read the full article by Kraft in the New York Times. Here is the URL to the article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/world/middleeast/18doctor.html?_r=1&scp=1&

Gaza Doctors and Medics Attacked

2009-01-17T11:08:00.000-08:00

Found this on YouTube from Al Jazeera. A doctor's family was attacked just as an Israeli television journalist was about to interview him to discuss casualties and the situation at the hospitals.

It is a moving video. The journalist breaks down not just because he knows this doctor, but as a fellow human being hearing the screams of a man in distress. The journalist does manage through his contacts in Gaza to get an ambulance to the doctor's house. By the time he reaches the doctor, three of his daughters are already dead. One is still alive.

I have seen footage of medics bringing in wounded on foot. One medic said he walked two kilometers because the Israeli soldiers would not allow his ambulance to drive to the hospital. This medic said that their vehicles are clearly marked as ambulances. They also wear vests that show they are medics and they still come under fire while trying to rescue the wounded.

This simply must qualify as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sadly, I doubt we will ever see any member of the Israeli government standing trial in the Hague.

Please help spread this blog post and video so the world, that is seemingly turning a blind eye to the continued violence and massacres in Gaza, see the reality of this incursion.

US Airways Plane Crash Lands in Hudson River

2009-01-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

US Airways crash lands in Hudson River, photo uploaded
by truthislove_org on Flickr

I think all survivors should buy lottery tickets today. Depending on how you look at it, they are all so very lucky. And especially lucky they had Sully at the helm. He is a hero for landing that plane like he did.
Chelsey B Sullenberger, Pilot of US Airways
Ft 1549, photo uploaded on Flickr by Jennster

Movie Review: The Wrestler

2009-01-14T19:49:00.000-08:00

Marisa Tomei and Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, photo by Niko Tavernese

Mickey Rourke's performance in this film absolutely deserved the Golden Globe he was awarded Sunday night. He was this broken down wrestler. His character is so touching and sad, you just want to take him home and tell him everything is going to be okay.

From the opening scene until the end, you heart is breaking for this man who obviously has seen better days. I have heard Rourke say in interviews that he could relate to the character he was playing.

Rourke was the bad boy of Hollywood who gave killer performances in Barfly and 9 and 1/2 Weeks. Then poof... he was gone. I don't read the tabloids, but always wondered what happened to him. And now I wonder if he ended up living in a trailer or some rat trap off Hollywood Blvd.

Rourke thanked his dogs in his acceptance speech. He said they were the only friends he had for a long time. Must have been horrible to live on the fringe of Hollywood when you were once in the spotlight.

Mickey Rourke, photo by Niko Tavernese

Marisa Tomei plays an old stripper with a heart of gold. Tomei's character seems to mirror Rourke's in terms of the stage they seemingly love to be on and the cold reality staring them both in the face; their days on stage are numbered.

Rourke tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter played by Evan Rachel Wood. She plays her part perfectly. The scenes with the two of them are exactly what it might be like for the abandoned daughter and the guilt-ridden absent father trying to make amends.

Evan Rachel Wood and Mickey Rourke, photo by Niko Tavernese

Darren Aronofsky directs this film. While trying to get financing, Aronofsky was turned down left and right with Rourke in the lead. Aronofsky made the film on a very low budget. Seven million is what I heard. I am glad he kept Rourke in the lead. A very good call.

Robert D. Siegel wrote this screenplay. I do not know anything about this writer, but wonder if he is an old wrestler. Or maybe he lived next door to an old wrestler in some trailer park in Anytown, USA. If not, he did one hell of a job with his research.

Without giving the film away, I just want to say that I love when we are shown Rourke's character, Randy the Ram, fiddling with his hearing aid, playing video games with neighbor kids in his trailer, and when he is working at the deli. His interaction with the customers are priceless.

Mickey Rourke, photo uploaded on Flickr by robiffic

Also love when he is at a convention of sorts where wrestler's are signing autographs. Rourke is in a room with other old wrestlers. At one point he looks down the leg of one guy and sees his urine bag sticking out of his pant leg. Made me weep.

I am torn between three stellar performances this year for the upcoming award season; Mickey Rourke, Sean Penn, and Frank Langella. Although all performances are great, I think I want Rourke to win. Rourke's career desperately needs a win for the SAG and Academy Awards.

Sean Penn and Frank Langella will continue to work until the day they die if they want. However, Rourke may end up on the fringe again when he deserves the spotlight. This man is a truly talented artist and deserves our forgiveness for whatever he did. Everybody deserves a second chance.

Mickey Rourke at the Golden Globe Awards, photo uploaded by mashnet on Flickr

One last thing, Bruce Springsteen said in his acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards for best song that Rourke called asking if he might do the song for the film. Rourke briefly described the character to Springsteen. Springsteen said, "I know guys like that."

I have always loved Bruce Springsteen. And love him even more for doing the song for this film. Bet he did it for peanuts too. Guess Springsteen also believes everybody deserves a second chance.
Bruce Springsteen, photo uploaded on Flickr by nachocorreanet

Book Review: Three Cups of Tea

2009-01-13T17:22:00.000-08:00

Three Cups of Tea - One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time, photo by elycefeliz, Flickr

Greg Mortenson has done more to combat terrorism than the trillions of dollars the Bush administration has spent on the illegal war in Iraq will ever do. This is a true story of one man's journey and failure to make it to the summit of K2. This event changed Mortenson's life forever.

Mortenson spent 7 weeks in a remote village in Pakistan healing from this attempt. One of the village elder's opened his home and treated Mortenson with kindness and tender loving care.

When Mortenson felt strong enough to return to his home in the United States, he promised this village elder to return and build a school for the children in this impoverished region.

Once back home in Oakland, CA, Mortenson downsized like you wouldn't believe to make this happen. He rented a storage unit before he left for his lifelong dream to make it to the summit of K2. Instead of renting an apartment, he kept everything in storage and slept in his car. He showered in various locations and worked in his field of nursing at night.

During the day he wrote letters to rich people, foundations, journalists, Oprah Winfrey. Tom Brokaw was the only one who responded by sending a check for $100.

Greg Mortenson with children in Pakistan, photo uploaded by benauchc76 on Flickr

A fellow climber heard about the 580 letters Mortenson sent out asking for funding of his school in Pakistan. This climber suggested he write an open letter to a climbing magazine. Did this ever turn out to be the best advice.

An old climber, Dr. Jean Hoerni, who was filthy rich, called Mortenson after reading the open letter in the magazine. Hoerni asked how much he needed for the school. Mortenson told him $12,000. The rich man sent the check and the rest is history.

Mortenson has built several schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He opened schools for girls. Girls never went to school until he built these schools.

Anyway, this is a great book. It will inspire you to act. We can all do little things to make the world a better place. When Mortenson was trying to raise money for the first school, a group of school children donated jars and jars of pennies. Little things make such a difference.

On a personal note, my brother's first wife worked for the Kiriyama Book Prize. Three Cups of Tea won the prize a few years back. She told me that she met Mortenson and he was the most amazing individual she had ever met in her life. And she has met some pretty amazing writers in her life.

Greg Mortenson with children in Pakistan, photo uploaded by benauchc76 on Flickr

So if you want to make a difference, buy this book. Or check out the link on the left hand side of this post, Central Asia Institute. This is Mortenson's foundation. For my educator friends, maybe tell your students about Mortenson and his schools. Maybe your students will be inspired to help by holding a bake sale, or raising jars of pennies.

One last thing, Mortenson talks about how if we all knew more about the Islamic world and culture of Central Asia, maybe we wouldn't be so full of hate and fear.

I took a few ME history courses in college. I remember one of the 5 pillars of faith in the Koran is the tithe. Every Muslim has to give a percentage of their earnings to charity. Imagine that. Imagine if we all did that. The world would surely be a much better place.
Greg Mortenson and children in Pakistan, photo uploaded by benauchc76 on Flickr

Kate Wins Two and Mickey Gets a Second Chance

2009-01-12T18:23:00.001-08:00

A happy Kate Winslet with her two Golden Globe Awards, photo uploaded on Flickr by beastandbean

Kate Winslet absolutely deserved both Golden Globe Awards. Her performances in Revolutionary Road and The Reader were screen perfection. She won best actress for Revolutionary Road and best supporting actress for The Reader. Winslet was the embodiment of these two very different women.

Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, photo uploaded on Flickr by robiffic

Loved seeing Mickey Rourke win best actor for The Wrestler. He was that character. There were countless scenes in that film that ripped my heart apart. One that stands out in my mind was when he was working in the deli. His interactions with the customers were priceless.

Others include when he was playing video games with the kids in his trailer, the autograph signing convention, every time he adjusted his hearing aid, and the opening scene in the trailer park where Rourke's character lived.

I loved Rourke's acceptance speech. Rourke thanked his dogs because they were the only friends he had while he was living a life of loneliness on the fringe of Hollywood.

I have heard interviews with Rourke where he says that so many things about the character resonated with him.

Also loved that Bruce Springsteen won best song for The Wrestler. Springsteen said that Rourke called him, described the character he was playing, and asked if he would write a song for the film. Springsteen said, "I told Mickey that I knew guys like that." Love Bruce Sprinsteen. Always have.

Rourke also thanked the director for taking a chance on him. Rourke said that Darren Aronofsky had a hard time getting financing because he was playing the lead. But Aronofsky stuck with his choice forcing him to make the film on a very low budget. Good call Mr. Aronofsky.

Slumdog Millionaire, photo uploaded by beast and bean on Flickr

Best picture and director went to Slumdog Millionaire. The director, Danny Boyle got all choked up while giving his speech. They won two other awards as well. This is a great film that takes you right into the slums of Mumbai and the undying love of a man for a woman.

Waltz With Bashir won for best foreign film. The director, Ari Folman, gave a perfect speech in light of the recent incursion by Israel into Gaza. He said,"Four children from members of my crew were born during the making of this film. I only hope that when they are old enough to see my film, it will all seem unreal and foreign to them because they have never seen anything like it in their life time."
Waltz With Bashir, photo uploaded by guido castillo on Flickr

Surprisingly, Vicky Christina Barcelona won for best comedy. I am happy, but was not expecting it. This is a great film with the sexy Javier Bardem. This film takes you to the heart of Barcelona, passion, lust, and adventures in travel. The film made me think of a spontaneous affair I had with a sexy lawyer in Mexico one summer while I was in college. Even if you never had an affair while traveling, go see this film. It will make you want to hop on a plane for Spain.

Vicky Christina Barcelona, photo uploaded on Flickr

Sally Hawkins won for best actress in a comedy for Happy Go Lucky. Just loved this film. Mike Leigh usually makes such dark and creepy films. Granted, there are a couple of creepy moments, but nothing like you normally see in one of Mr. Leigh's films. I especially like the flamenco dance instructor. God, I thought I would never stop laughing.

Sally Hawkins in Happy Go Lucky, photo uploaded on Flickr

Lastly, Madmen won. I was hoping it would win. If you haven't seen this series on AMC, I highly recommend it. Madmen takes place in the 1960s at an advertising firm. This, my friends, was the beginning of the massive influence advertisers have had on the world. We live in a society of the spectacle.

I have written reviews for the movies above, except Happy Go Lucky. Check December 2008 archives if interested. A review of Vicky Christina Barcelona can be found in August 2008 and an addendum to the post in September 2008. But I must warn you, the review is more about my affair with a sexy lawyer in Mexico while traveling for the summer.

I have absolutely no complaints about the choices the Hollywood foreign press made last night. They were all perfect in my humble opinion.

Che Guevara Movie

2009-01-09T06:43:00.000-08:00

Poster for new Che movie, directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Benicio Del Toro as Che, photo uploaded on Flickr

I heard five years ago Steven Soderbergh was making this film. Been waiting patiently ever since. My boyfriend, Benicio Del Toro, plays Che. The very sexy mayor of Tijuana on the show Weeds plays Fidel. I think I can sit through four hours of this important time in our history quite easily with those two in the leading roles.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara, photo uploaded on Flickr by notinet

The movie has been playing in limited release, but opens across the nation this weekend. For folks in my area, it is playing at the theater near South Coast Plaza starting next weekend.

Benicio Del Toro, photo uploaded on Flickr by bbsammlung

Soderbergh directs this two part film. Can't think of a better director for this film. Many who only know of Che as the guy on the poster adorning many dorm room walls on university campuses. Or as the guy on the t-shirts hipsters, revolutionaries, and students wear will get the full story.

Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro, photo
uploaded by cineando on Flickr

Motorcycle Diaries shows the experiences that laid the ground work for Che's revolutionary ideas. After his trip through South America on a motorcycle, Che returned to Buenos Aires, finished his medical studies, in record time by the way, and then took off again on another tour through South America, up into Central America, and ended up in Mexico City. I do not know if this film shows how Che and Fidel met in Mexico City, but they spent many a night talking poetry, philosophy and the revolution.

Fidel, Che and about 80 to100 men boarded a run down old fishing boat off the coast of Mexico and headed for Cuba. In a few short years they, achieved their dreams.
Ernesto "Che" Guevara, photo uploaded on Flickr by broocey

Inside Gaza: Ribhi Salem on Radio Program, To the Point , Today

2009-01-07T07:31:00.000-08:00

American International School in Gaza, all photos courtesy of Ribhi Salem

Just got an email from Dr. Taatgen. Andrea Brody, the producer, made contact. Yes! Dr. Taatgen gave her the cell phone number for Ribhi Salem, the current director of American International School in Gaza. Please try to tune in today at noon. The whole hour will be on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

AISG blown to smithereens

I do not know what the plans are for the future of AISG students, but I am guessing they may try to do what they did when Dr. Taatgen was director. In 2005, the Israeli Defense Forces engaged relentlessly in low flying missions over the school, blowing out windows and ear drums, and wreaking havoc on the well being of staff and students. In response, because the international community ignored this psychological warfare, they began teaching the students at the apartment complex where the international teachers lived. A "home school" of sorts.

AISG after bombing

Lastly, I just heard on NPR that the Israeli government has expressed concern about the humanitarian crisis and will help in anyway they can. This reminds me of an interview with the Syrian ambassador in Washington D.C. on CNN shortly after the invasion of Lebanon in 2006. The journalist said, "but Israel has said they are a friend of Lebanon."

AISG after bombing

Ambassador Moustapha responded in a very excited, high pitched voice that I thought was going to break the juice glass I was holding by saying, "this is like a rapist telling a woman after he rapes her that he wants to be her friend."

AISG after bombing

God I loved that and was so glad he was not censored. I sent Ambassador Moustapha an email telling him I saw and loved his interview. He wrote me back and thanked me. Told me that he was glad to know American citizens were paying attention.

If you miss To the Point today, you can listen to it on line. I have the direct link for To the Point on my links "news outlets trying to make the world a better place." Or just go to www.kcrw.com and click on link for news. You will find it there.
AISG playground

To the Point on KCRW

2009-01-06T20:53:00.001-08:00

KCRW Billboard, photo posted by exuberance on Flickr

I almost got Dr. Taatgen an interview on the KCRW program To the Point today.

Long story short, I sent an email to Warren Olney yesterday, his producer contacted me this morning, and I quickly began trying to chase down a telephone number for Dr. Taatgen.

Lesson learned, I should have asked for Dr. Taatgen's number yesterday when I told him I emailed Warren.

Think you all know how much I love Warren. This was a real thrill. I wanted to say to Andrea Brody, the producer, "hey, give me a job."

Anyway, I told Andrea to use him for future shows. Maybe manana.

Dr. Taatgen will be a great source and has many contacts inside the Gaza Strip which will allow the civilian voice to be heard. Something that has been sorely lacking since the Israeli government has yet to let journalists inside Gaza.

You can read about Dr. Taatgen in my Jan 2, 2008 post End the Siege of Gaza or in today's post American School in Gaza Blown to Smitehreens.

Lastly, those not familiar with the most excellent radio show, To the Point, this show is hosted by the award-winning Warren Olney. The show is syndicated through PRI.

For overseas readers, you can listen to him live or archived shows at www.kcrw.com. Just click on news link...or go to my link on left under "news outlets making the world a better place." That link will take you directly to his show.

Hope Man and Peace Man on NPR Today

2009-01-06T18:16:00.000-08:00

Life in Gaza and Sderot, photo uploaded on Flickr by Bert Kommerij

I heard Hope man on NPR today. Wow. So exciting and encouraging. I have mentioned this blog in a previous post and have it listed on my blog roll.

In case you missed it, this blog is written by two men. Hope man writes from Sderot, a border town on the Israeli side, and Peace man writes from inside Gaza. You really have to check out this blog. They describe their experiences from opposite sides of the conflict. Heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.

Peace man has not posted in several days since this invasion began. The NPR journalist asked Hope man if he had any word on Peace man. Hope man said he had received a text that day. A very short text stating that he was okay. I sighed in relief... and I bet so did all their blog followers.

This blog was written about in the French newspaper Le Monde. Check out the comments left for these two men after every post. This is what I am talking about. Dialogue, not bombs. Here is the blog address and also a link to the NPR report.

Life in Gaza and Sderot Blog:
http://gaza-sderot.blogspot.com

NPR report:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99053041

I found the photo above on Flickr. It is a poster for a series of 2 minute film episodes on Life in Gaza and Sderot. This is not in anyway tied to the blog, however, if you would like some visuals, check it out.

Film episodes for Life in Gaza and Sdeort:
http://gaza-sderot.arte.tv/

One last thing, I have been told I am not linking, but merely putting in URL addresses. Sorry. I can't seem to find out how to link. Please take the time to copy and paste it into your browser until I become more blog savvy. Thank you in advance for your patience.

American School in Gaza Blown to Smithereens

2009-01-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

Gaza man carries wounded child, photo posted by Pan-African News Wire on Flickr

The American International School in Gaza was blown to smithereens. The Israelis said it was because Hamas weapons were hidden in the school. A ridiculous claim according to staff. I emailed Dr. Taatgen to see if this news was indeed true. And he confirmed. I will post his email below. So sad.

If you remember from my post of Jan. 2, 2009, End the Siege on Gaza, Dr. Taatgen was the director of the school, had been kidnapped for a day, kept the school open after the IDF relentlessly engaged in low flying misssions over Gaza, causing windows to be blown out, and wreaking havoc on ear drums and the genaeral well-being of staff and students. He kept the school open by having the kids come to the apartment buildings where the teachers lived. A sort of "home school" for lack of a better word.

Just watched BBC News and Newshour on PBS. The BBC journalist interviewed a western doctor. This doctor said he was only one of two doctors and was wondering where the international doctors were and when they were coming.

This doctor said the reports we were getting were untrue. He said 45% of the deaths were women and children. This doctor said he had only seen two Hamass fighters killed. Anyway, I hope the siege ends soon.

One last thing, on Newshour they did a very balanced report with experts on both sides. The expert on Hamas said that leaders of Hamas went to Egypt six months ago asking that the economic hardships and the blockade of supplies entering Gaza that the Israelis were imposing be lifted. Their requests were denied. The press is/was not reporting on how desperate the situation was becoming for the Palestinians.

For those interested, if you scroll down below this post, you will find my original post with Dr. Taatgen's excellent synopsis. And please visit the link Educators for Ending the Siege on Gaza on left under links making the world a better place. Or copy this link into your browser: http://www.endthesiege.org

One more thing, about Dr. Taatgen, a colleague I worked with in Bogota, Colombia told me I would have loved working with him. For those who have not read my post from the other day, I was considering teaching in Gaza. This colleague, who happened to be Palestinian, said Dr. Taatgen was a fascinating man who studied anthropology. I am sorry I missed this opportunity. Here is the email Dr. Taatgen sent after I asked if it was his old school that was blown to smithereens.

Mary,

Yes, this is, or rather was, my old school.

The Israeli justification is that it concealed Hamas weapons.

If this is what they believe, nobody, not even the 200 students of the school and their teachers, are safe.

Everyone in Gaza becomes a target or if they are lucky, collateral damage in a murderous plot, while the world is watching- “helplessly.”

Where have we seen this before? Which occasion elicited similar bitter commentary?

How long will it take before the holocaust of one people has become the fateful destiny of another?

Hendrik

Addendum: I forgot to mention that the school was bombed over the weekend. No students were on campus. However, a security guard was killed. Very sad.

Addendum Two: Just heard on NPR that the IDF bombed the UN school killing 40 kids and others who were seeking refuge. Criminal.

Movie Review: Revolutionary Road

2009-01-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

April and Frank, poster uploaded on Flickr by clemato

This film will resonate on many different levels with everyone who sees it. And I hope those who see it, who maybe loathe their husbands , like Kate Winslet's character does, have the courage and strength to run away as fast as they can. Do not settle for 2 or 3 martinis every night, or a trip to the jewelry store for another piece of bling, or a trip to a psychiatrist for happy pills, or empty meaningless affairs. Hit the road and run run run far far away.

Cocktail hour in suburbia, photo posted by clemato on Flickr

The scene that is in all the trailers for the film showing April (Kate Winslet) taking out the trash reminded me of a story a friend of mine told me. I once asked this friend why she left her marriage.

Trash day in suburbia, photo posted by clemato on Flickr

She said, "one morning I woke up and took the trash can out to the street. I looked down the street at all the other trash cans and homes with well-manicured lawns and realized at that moment this was not the life I wanted."

She left her husband and their mid-western life behind and moved to Laguna Beach, California. She never looked back.
April staring vacantly out the window Emma Bovary-like, photo posted by clemato on Flickr

Anyway, this movie had many Madame Bovary moments for me. The only difference is that April really loved Frank (Leonardo Di Caprio) in the beginning. Another difference would be Emma Bovary's desire for a show house and show things to prove her worth in society. April does not seem to care about material things or the status quo, in fact she rebels against it.

A defiant April, photo posted by clemato on Flickr

Kathy Bates plays the real estate agent who sells the lovely home on Revolutionary Road to April and Frank. Her crazy son, with a PhD in mathematics, is the wisest man in the film. He sees right through the frustration in April's life.

Sam Mendes directs this film. He also directed American Beauty. An excellent choice since both show nightmare suburban lives. Different decades, but nightmares all the same.
April and Frank, photo posted by cine fanatico on Flickr

Adapted for the screen by Justin Haythe from the book by Richard Yates. Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio give award winning performances. Kathy Bates is great as the real estate agent. Her crazy son John (Michael Shannon) is only on the screen for a short time,, but an award winning appearance in my humble opinion. This is the first time Kate Winslet has worked with her husband, Sam Mendes.

April looking lovingly at Frank when they first meet, photo posted by clemato on Flickr

On a personal note, I came very close to a life like April's while I was living in New Zealand. My ex-fiance is a wealthy real estate developer who owns half of downtown Wellington. I am so glad I had the strength to board that plane that flew me far far away and on to new beginnings.

If interested in my narrow escape, please feel free to read my post on October 11, 2007, An Open Letter to Doris Lessing.
April Wheeler, photo posted by clemato on Flickr

End the Siege of Gaza

2009-01-02T10:07:00.001-08:00

Protests against Israeli attacks on Gaza, photo posted by activestills on Flickr

I thinks some of you may remember that while I was teaching in S. Korea in 2005, I made contact, through a friend, with Hendrik Taatgen, the director of a school in Gaza. I was thinking of heading to the ME next.

Anyway, long story short Dr. Taatgen told me there were no positions open. Moreover, he wasn't sure how much longer the school would remain open since the IDF were engaged in low flying missions over Gaza which were causing school windows to be blown out. The sonic booms were wreaking havoc on ear drums and the general well-being of students and staff.

After this recent siege on Gaza, I sent an email to Dr. Taatgen to see how he was doing. To see if the students and staff were surviving. He wrote me back informing me that he left with his wife at the end of that academic school year.

Dr. Taatgen also sent a link to a paper he wrote with his wife and other colleagues in order to attract world wide attention to the plight of the Palestinians along with a succinct history of the Israeli view point.

The story is chilling yet inspiring at the same time. I did not know that Dr. Taatgen had been kidnapped. Nor did I no know the school had been closed down. Students were being "home schooled" in the apartment building where the teachers lived to finish out the school year. Amazing courage and strength from all involved.

I am pasting a synopsis of the paper below. I have the link listed on the left of my blog entries under organizations working to make the world a better place.

Please take a moment to visit the link and sign the petition, Educators for Ending the Siege of Gaza. You do not have to be an educator to sign the petition. Just someone interested in peace and social justice for all.

And if you have time, I strongly encourage you to read this well-written paper which explains the situation in a way that anyone can understand with no prior knowledge of the conflict.

I encourage my educator friends, Stephanie in particular, who is the director of a progressive school, to forward this information on to your staff. You might be able to use it in a lesson plan. Thank you in advance.

One last thing, if interested, check out the blog listed in my blog roll on left, Life Goes on in Gaza and Sderot. it is written by Peace man in Gaza and Hope man in Sderot, a border town in Israel. It is their perspective from both sides of this conflict.

Synopsis of "Siege and Obstruction to the Right of an Education"

Edward Said repeatedly commented that there can be no lasting peace in the Middle East if Israelis and Palestinians do not recognize each others' history and the pain and suffering that are so much a part of it. Said's observations articulate a daunting challenge in the form of a project we believe is within the reach of international school teachers. International education can contribute to peace in the Middle East through the international scope of its curriculum in the humanities, a broad range of subjects, and the efforts of teachers educated in the traditions of humanism and multiculturalism. We were among the last westerners to teach at the American International School in Gaza, who were forced to halt their efforts in June 2005 as a result of the unending siege compounded by unchecked internecine violence.

The intensification of the suffering of the Gazan people in the past years has been striking, at times unimaginable. The mainstream media persist in refusing to make the point that Gaza's losses are nobody's gain. Who wins if an entire population is being deprived of food, medication, and electrical power? Who benefits if a student receives a scholarship to study abroad, but is not permitted to leave? A country that is occupied cannot properly educate its children, but education in a country that is under siege will only produce hatred.

With a growing number of people we demand that Israel lift the siege of Gaza and end the occupation of the Palestine. Innocent children should not be made to suffer from lack of food, medical help, and economic opportunity; they should not have to give up on their aspirations for the future because they happen to live in or near the target zone of Israeli missiles.

We ask that colleagues, all over the world, join us in delivering the message to the governments of Israel and the United States to lift the siege and end the occupation. We ask that by this measure, Israel give ordinary Palestinians a chance to live a decent life and create a future for themselves and their children. This is the moral and humane thing to do. If Israel takes this step, there's a good chance that its people will live in peace because responsible Palestinian leaders can, and will, effectively make the case against extremists that violence does not work. A peaceful future lies in our capacity to recognize and identify with the human being in one another.

To sign the petition, we ask that you type in your first name, last name, educational affiliation, and your email address. After you have submitted this information you will receive an email asking to confirm your signature. Please click on the link provided in the email response to ensure that your signature is counted.

Again, Dr. Taatgen's website is listed on left. You can sign the petition if you click on the link.

Melanie's Lay Down

2008-12-31T08:08:00.000-08:00

Melanie and The Edwin Hawkins Singers perform "Lay Down" in Holland, 1970

This is a great video of a very young Melanie. She does a little chair dancing. The Edwin Hawkins singers rock out with their bad soul/gospel singing selves. And the shots of the Dutch audience are priceless. Such restrained emotion.

I loved this song when it came out in 1969. I was very young, but loved the passion in Melanie's voice. I had no idea the song was an anti-war song. I will paste the lyrics below.

Another year has passed and we still have a war in Iraq, famine in Africa, a civil war in Colombia, Gaza under attack, various wars being fought around the world, disease and pestilence.

I hope this new year brings peace in these regions, food on the table, and a general love between all humankind. Quixotic? Maybe. Hopeful? Definitely. But you gotta have hope. Happy New Year!

One last thing, lets hope our new president really does make a difference. Can you believe Obama will be our new president? So exciting.

Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)
Melanie

Lay down lay down lay it all down
Let your white birds smile
At the ones who stand and frown
Lay down lay down lay it all down
Let your white birds smile
At the ones who stand and frown

We were so close there was no room
We bled inside each other's wounds
We all had caught the same disease
And we all sang the songs of peace

Lay down lay down lay it all down
Let your white birds smile
At the ones who stand and frown
Lay down lay down lay it all down
Let your white birds smile
At the ones who stand and frown

So raise candles high 'cause if you don't
We could stay black against the night
Oh raise them higher again
And if you do we could stay dry against the rain

Lay down lay down lay it all down
Let your white birds smile
At the ones who stand and frown
Lay down lay down lay it all down
Let your white birds smile
At the ones who stand and frown

We were so close there was no room
We bled inside each other's wounds
We all had caught the same disease
And we all sang the songs of peace

Some came to sing, some came to pray
Some came to keep the dark away
So raise candles high 'cause if you don't
We could stay black against the sky
Oh oh raise them higher again
And if you do we could stay dry against the rain

Lay down lay down lay it all down
Let your white birds smile
At the ones who stand and frown
Lay down lay down lay it all down
Let your white birds smile
At the ones who stand and frown

Lay down lay down lay it all down
Let your white birds smile
At the ones who stand and frown
Lay down lay down lay it all down
Let your white birds smile
At the ones who stand and frown.....

Gaza Attacked by IDF, No Journalists Allowed

2008-12-29T11:10:00.001-08:00

A video from Gaza. It tells the truth through images.

I find it difficult to believe that the Israeli government is not allowing journalists in to the Gaza Strip. What??? Is this Burma? North Korea? Are they afraid the world will look down on these brutal massacres and possibly demand a stop to the indiscriminate killings?

Afraid we might see the killing fields of Gaza at the bloody hands of the IDF and speak out condemning them? Only this time when we condemn the attacks we won't be labeled anti-Semites, merely citizens of the world who see injustice and unfair treatment of the Palestinians. Maybe viewed as human rights activists, which I am, rather than an anti-Semite, which I am not.

I am saddened by the reports of the massacres. It is my understanding the bombing has killed students sitting for midterm exams at school. Students possibly nervous about failing their exams, but never in their wildest dreams did they think bombs would be dropped on their heads.

It is my understanding the Israeli government is reporting that they are bombing the tunnels Hamas has made claiming these tunnels are how Hamas is bringing in weapons.

NPR reported yesterday that the tunnels are also used to bring in refrigerators and much needed supplies into Gaza since the border crossings are closed most of the time by the Israelis. Thank you NPR.

And again, I encourage all of you to see the new anti-war film by Israeli filmmaker, Ari Folman, Waltz With Bashir. It is animated, but does include real footage from the massacres in the Sabra And Shatila camps where 700-3500 Palestinians were killed. See my review of the film (Dec. 27th, 2008) if interested.
Here is a video which tells a story of a forgotten people.

Movie Review: The Reader

2008-12-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

Photo of poster uploaded on Flickr by Clemato

Kate Winslet's performance as Hanna makes this film a memorable experience. Her vacant stares are anything but vacant and will haunt you long after you have left the theater. The subject matter is much more than just an affair with an older woman, albeit this love affair impacts the young man throughout his life. It is more a morality play and a philosophical question of German guilt.
Hanna and Michael (David Kross), photo posted by Clemato on Flickr

Bruno Ganz, who plays the professor, actually includes Karl Jaspers' The Question of German Guilt as required reading for his young law students, including Michael Berg, Hanna's lover. The professor also requires his young law students to attend a trial for low level guards from the concentration camps.

While watching the trial scenes, I tried to make a decision as to what I would have done if I were in Berg's position. It is not an easy question. I guarantee you will be torn apart by this film.

Kate Winslet as Hanna, photo posted by Clemato on Flickr

The young Michael Berg, David Kross, gives a stunning performance. And Ralph Fiennes, as usual, gives the performance he should, reserved, yet multi-layered if you look deep into the philosophical questions this film poses.

It is based on a book by Bernhard Schlick, adapted for the screen by David Hare, and directed by Stephen Daltry. I highly recommend this film.

One last thing, on a personal note, I fell in love with Bruno Ganz in the Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire and I am still in love with that man. So sexy.
Bruno Ganz, photo posted by blue elephant on Flickr

Movie Review: Waltz With Bashir

2008-12-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

Poster posted on Flickr by marzipanrat

Israeli filmmaker,Ari Folman, takes a trip down repressed memory lane with his animated film about the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and his unit's role in the massacres at the Sabra and Shatila camps outside Beirut.

In short, nine days before President-elect, Bashir Gemayel was to take office, he was assassinated. In retaliation, the Christian Phalangists (with no objections from the Israeli Defense Forces) entered the Sabra and Shatila camps. Ari Folman's unit fired flares into the night skies to help the Phalagists see their way into the camps. In this attack, the IDF killed 700 to 3,500 Palestinians, many were women and children.

Ari Folman at the New York Film Festival,photo posted by Brooklyn dude on Flickr

This is an excellent film and worthy of seeing on the big screen. Folman shows how the war has impacted his life. Nightmares that haunt him are animated perfectly. I heard Folman interviewed on NPR yesterday. He said the only way to make this film was through animation since it goes back in forth in time and dream sequences. Moreover, he wanted to attract a young as well as older audience. Here is a what he said on NPR:

"For me, it was very essential to bring young audiences to the theaters to watch the film because I thought that if this film could influence even one teenager making the decision not to go the war, it doesn't matter where I did my job, I earned it," Folman says. "All wars are useless … and sometimes in films we tend to glorify them by making all of those great characters and they show you it's all about bravery and brotherhood of man. And I don't believe in that."

Israeli soldiers, posted by Pegg on Flickr

And I do hope that high school kids thinking about joining our military see this film. War is not glorious. Ask anyone who has been in one.

Folman mentions in the interview that his father did not want him to make the film out of fear Israel would never forgive him and he would be ostracized. Surprisingly, Folman said the exact opposite has happened. The politicians and government have welcomed him with open arms.

An animated Ari Folman, posted on Flickr by Pegg

After viewing the film, I thought for sure it must have been met with opposition by the Israeli government. It surely does not paint the Israeli Defense Forces in a sympathetic light. Anyway, go check out this film. And if you want more information on the invasion of Lebanon or assassination of Gemayel, check out Wikipedia. It is a fascinating read. Furthermore, it helps explain what is happening now in the region.
Waltz With Bashir Poster posted by dosXuno on Flickr

Eartha Kitt Dies at 81

2008-12-26T12:31:00.000-08:00

Eartha Kitt, photo posted by anovelista on Flickr

We lost the legendary Eartha Kitt on Christmas Day to colon cancer. Such a great voice and inspiration. She had many wealthy suitors throughout her life. The founder of Revlon, Charles Revson for one. Yet she chose to maintain her independence to the end. Here is what the AP Wires put out right after the news broke:

Once dubbed the "most exciting woman in the world" by Orson Welles, she spent much of her life single, though brief romances with the rich and famous peppered her younger years.

Anti-War Comments

Kitt was plainspoken about causes she believed in. Her anti-war comments at the White House came as she attended a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson.

"You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed," she told the group of about 50 women. "They rebel in the street. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam."

For four years afterward, Kitt performed almost exclusively overseas. She was investigated by the FBI and CIA, which allegedly found her to be foul-mouthed and promiscuous.

"The thing that hurts, that became anger, was when I realized that if you tell the truth — in a country that says you're entitled to tell the truth — you get your face slapped and you get put out of work," Kitt told Essence magazine two decades later.

May she rest in peace.

Movie Review: Mrs. Palfry at the Claremont

2008-12-24T21:15:00.000-08:00

Rupert Friend and Keira Knighley, photo posted by becksi88 on Flickr

I rented a film on DVD called Mrs. Palfry at the Claremont. Dan Ireland directs, Ruth Sacks adapted it for the screen from a novel by Elizabeth Taylor (the novelist, not the actress). Dame Joan Plowright and Rupert Friend play the two main characters. Both deliver stunning performances.

Mrs. Palfry (Joan Plowright) moves into a hotel that doubles as a retirement home and is essentially abandoned by her family. To save face she tells the other lonely residents that she has a grandson who will be visiting her soon.

Joan Plowright in Enchanted April photo posted on Flickr

Anyway, one day while Mrs. Palfry is out she trips and falls. The very handsome Ludovic Meyer (Rupert Friend) helps her up. He takes her back to his place and nurses her wound. Ludo is a struggling writer. When Ludo walks her back to the hotel, Mrs. Palfry invites him to dinner as a way to thank him. Inadvertently at dinner, the other residents mistake Ludo as the long lost grandson who had yet to make an appearance. A mistake Mrs. Palfry does not correct.

Rupert Friend and Kiera Knightley, photo posted by missjessdoll on Flickr

Ludo and Mrs. Palfry become fast friends filling the void of lonliness they felt in London. Here is one of many of my favorite scenes to the best of my recollection:

Mrs. Palfry: Why isn't a young person like yourself out on a Saturday night with your friends?

Ludo Meyer: It takes money to have friends. I can't afford to go to dinners or out for drinks. So friends have quit calling.
Maciera Restaurant, photo posted by tapas talk on Flickr

Man that line just killed me. Because when I was working on the doc film, I had to down size in many ways while struggling to find financing. My recreation money was non-existent. So I had to turn down dinner invites and drinks with friends. Eventually friends quit calling me as well.

Rupert Friend and Kiera Knightley, photo posted on Flickr

Anyway, I highly recommend this film, and not just because I am completely in love with Rupert Friend. This is a great little story about getting old and being abandoned. By the way, while digging up photos of this film to no avail, I discovered that Rupert Friend is the boyfriend of Kiera Knightley. Looks like they have been together for some time. They look great together. And if he is anywhere near as nice as his character Ludo, Kiera is one lucky girl.

Old People and Fourth Graders

2008-12-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

Old Man on Glascow Train, photo posted on Flickr

I read a post by Steve (a.k.a. Waiter) on his Waiter Rant blog. It was about old people who frequent a deli near his home. It made me think of my local Trader Joe's and fourth graders.

The Trader Joe's on Pacific Coast Highway in my town is close to a retirement center. The old folks come in alone or with their "new" friend from the center. The aisles in this particular TJ's are quite narrow. I do not mind waiting for these folks to slowly meander their way through the crowded aisles. However, I have a friend who hates it and constantly complains. She has gone as far as to suggest that TJ's should designate a "senior's day" and ban them from the store on other days. Wow.

Now the old folks in TJ's are different than the old folks Steve described. These old folks are usually smiling and happy at how cheap everything is at TJ's.

Photo posted by isco72 on Flickr

So last week, I had a fourth grade class from hell. Let me preface this story with the fact that these kids are nine. It was at a small school close to my home. I know most of the 400 students at this school and am mobbed by hugs when I walk onto the campus. However, I didn't know many of the kids in this class.

A week or so before I took this week long assignment, I was teaching next door to this 4th grade class. There was a substitute in the class and she sent a couple of the unruly kids into my class.

By morning recess the class had become out of control. They were choking each other, throwing things, and told the sub to shut up. The principal was called in and had to take over the class. I saw this sub and she looked like a sweet old retired teacher just trying to supplement her retirement. I felt so bad for her.

Classroom, photo posted by Charlyn W on Flickr

So when I stepped in for this fourth grade teacher, who went to Hawaii a week early for her holiday (don't blame her), I already had an idea of what I was walking into. I saw a note from a sub she had on Friday. In short, this sub wrote that she had a rough day. Later, I heard from the school secretary that this particular sub left crying. Wow.

Never in my life have I experienced such bad behavior. Such disrespect from these students. It took all my energy to make it through the week. There were about 5-8 kids who were good. But it is usually the other way around. Usually you have maybe 5 who are not listening.

I shared my hellish week with a friend at a happy hour.

After two margaritas, I said, "what scares me the most about the experience is that these kids were so disrespectful that I fear for the future."

Our waitress stopped by and we ordered another round. I continued my rant when she left.

"In this future I see me at the TJ's on PCH, when I am old, possibly living in the retirement center, trying to maneuver my way through the aisles, and these kids, now grown, knocking me over, causing my hip to break, landing me in the hospital, where I eventually die of pneumonia."

My friend laughed and said, "you can always see humor in the worst experience."
1st grade 1963, photo posted by Jim in Times Square on Flickr

I feel so old because I did keep telling this class things like, "when I was your age, we never disrespected our teachers because we feared the wrath of our parents."

What is sad is that they responded with things like this, "my dad's in prison" and, "my mom doesn't care and she is never home."

In the words of Bob Dylan, "The times they are a changing."

One last thing, if you have never checked out the Waiter rant blog, I highly recommend it. It is in my blog roll. Steve has written a book from the blog, was on Oprah, and has a second book deal from it all. His blog wins awards.

Dan Rather Lawsuit

2008-12-23T08:08:00.000-08:00

Dan Rather photo posted by itsathird on Flickr

Dan Rather is bravely putting CBS on the hot seat with this lawsuit. I hope he wins. I firmly believe Rather was ousted through the pressure of the right wing. And from what I hear the story which resulted in Rather's departure from CBS turns out to be true. Of course it was. I hear Rather has obtained and read memos and emails from senior executives at CBS. Don't know whether we will ever hear about them during the trial, but certainly hope Rather tells us about them later.

I read a comment on the Huffington Post where the commentator brings up how CBS ousted The Smother Brothers Show after they denounced Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War one too many times. The show was still high in the ratings. Shame on CBS for caving in to the Republicans. What happened to freedom of the press?

I am pasting an email I sent out to friends shortly after Mr. Rather left CBS. He was scheduled to be on Larry King Live that evening. The email was written straight from my heart. I have the utmost respect for Dan Rather and his journalistic integrity. Remember Abu Ghraib? Guess who broke that story? Dan the man. That's who.

July 12, 2006

About ten years ago, I read in the L.A. Times that Mr. Rather spoke at a national journalists convention in Texas and said something along these lines: "If the American public keeps wanting us to lead with Michael Jackson stories, then that is what the networks will do. It is the American people who must demand the hard hitting stories so advertisers will continue to buy time on our networks."

And that my friends is the sad state of affairs for journalism. Michael Jackson sells the SUV, the fast food, or cosmetic surgery...then again he might be the poster boy against cosmetic surgery.

The advertisers are paying millions to have their ads air in the hopes the folks who will buy their products are stupid enough to think Jackson and little boys should be lead stories. Entertainment Tonight should be covering that nonsense.

Let me tell you something kids, I just worked a commercial shoot where the budget was anywhere from 2.5 million to 3.5 million. If you think the advertisers are paying that much to make a commercial and another million to have it air on the networks are not hoping that their ads will make you run out and buy their products, I really beg to differ.

The power of advertising is prevalent in our capitalist society. Literally has a strangle hold on it. Why isn't anyone discussing all the fast food commercials that stream on our television incessantly through the night as a culprit in the obesity crisis we suffer from in America? Scared?

Yes I know that we are a society in a rush now days, but come on. I consider myself immune from the advertisers, and yet I find myself running for my kitchen on occasion looking for a snack because of those ads. Anyway, didn't mean to go on and on.

Back on topic, Dan Rather was the only network journalist who traveled to Colombia when I was there teaching in 1998-2000. The only one. And what was happening in Colombia should have been lead stories, not Micheal Jackson and his little boys.

I heard on NPR that Dan Rather has seen the Clooney film, Good Night and Good Luck five times. Three times he said he went by himself. I am sure he can relate to Ed Murrow who was also kicked out for being a hard hitting journalist simply trying to get the truth out to the American public.

The truth is out there and I want Dan Rather back giving it to me.
Mary

Milk, The Movie and Prop 8

2008-12-21T16:44:00.000-08:00

The Castro Theater with a poster for the film Milk, photo posted on Flickr by magerleagues

I wish this movie was released in October, before our elections. Maybe, just maybe, it would have impacted the outcome of Prop 8. Harvey Milk fought against a similar proposition. It wasn't about marriage, but a prop to keep homosexuals from teaching.

Sean Penn as Harvey Milk

Anyway, Sean Penn delivers one of the best lines of the film when arguing against keeping homosexuals from teaching. He says, "I went to school for 12 years and was taught by heterosexuals. It didn't make me a heterosexual." Touche.

Sean Penn and James Franco are great in their roles as lovers. Just perfect. I think Penn deserves an award for his performance. Emile Hirsh and Diego Luna are fantastic. Luna's vulnerability and fragility shine through in his role. Wow. And Josh Brolin proves once again his range and ability to become the person he is portraying.

Milk (Sean Penn) with his lover Scott Smith (James Franco), photo posted by Derek Bai Xiang Chen on Flickr

Gus Van Sant is the director. A great job he did with this subject matter. San Francisco's Castro Street really looked like that in the late 70s. Good set design.

I remember when all this happened. I was convinced that Dan White was homophobic and this is why he went after the mayor and Milk, who had recently been elected city supervisor. However, the film tells a different story. I did not know Dan White was disgruntled. Now I am convinced it had nothing to do with Milk being gay.

Harvey Milk, photo posted by bobster1985 on Flickr

The "twinkie" defense is when I began to believe all lawyers to be liars. The "twinkie" defense? Are you serious? I would have bought temporary insanity. In case you weren't born or don't remember, White's attorney argued that White was eating too many twinkies and the sugar made him crazy.

Remember the gay basher, Anita Bryant? Remember her orange juice ads? I think we all boycotted orange juice in support of the gay community. She's in the film. Silly woman.

I do not know why people fear homosexuality. Why do they care? I only know that I have worked with gay teens. They are at the highest risk among teenagers to commit suicide.

My first year teaching I had a student from Micronesia (The Marshall Islands). He was androgynous looking with long flowing hair.

When I first met him, he was not sure about his sexuality. However, through the course of the year he came out to me. I saw this boy tormented by other students to the point he did not want to leave my classroom to go to lunch.

So he started hanging out in my classroom at lunch with a few other students who were misfits. We'd listen to music and shoot the breeze.

I brought in some old David Bowie music. He loved David Bowie. I told the kid that Bowie was bold for his time. We both loved the song, Rebel, Rebel and put it on repeat mode. You know... the song with the line, "you're not sure if you're a boy or a girl."
This crowd scene from Milk could be from our recent protests after Prop 8 was passed banning gay marriage

This student eventually dropped out of school. He could not take the ridicule. The film Boys Don't Cry comes to mind. Except he was a boy who wanted to be a girl.

I have kept in touch with this boy and his father. He is a she now and changed her name to Lelani. She lives and works in another state. No one knows she was a he. She had a boob job and is on hormones. Lelani looks just like Cindy Crawford.

I think Keith Olbermann from MSNBC said it best when he made a commentary on Prop 8. I agree with everything he says. If interested, I am posting it below.

Slumdog Millionaire Voted Best Film

2008-12-20T15:35:00.000-08:00

Photo posted on Flickr by beast and bean

If you are a fan of Danny Boyle's directing in Trainspotting, you will love his new film, Slumdog Millionaire. This film takes you through the mean streets of Mumbai. The fast editing and handheld camera action is similar to what the filmmakers did with City of God, the film about the slums of Rio de Janeiro. I swear it is like you are walking right along side the main character as he experiences horrific conditions and loss while a young boy living in the slums of Mumbai.

Photo posted by beast and bean on Flickr

His undying love for the girl will entice the hopeful romantic in all of us. I never watched the show about being a millionaire and definitely did not know that India had their own version. But let me tell you this, the host of the show really summed it up when he said something like this to the main character, "your whole life can be changed in a matter of seconds if you answer the question correctly." No shit.

Photo posted by beast and bean on Flickr

Anyway, I read in the Los Angeles Times that Kenneth Turan has voted this the best movie of 2008. It is a good film. Don't wait for this one to come out on DVD. It is a must see on the big screen.

One last thing, I've been reading Turan's reviews for years, but never wrote to him. Anyway, I loved his review of Australia and I absolutely loved that film (see my review, posted on Nov 30th, 2008).

So I decided to email Mr. Turan. I raved about his review in one short paragraph. He wrote me back and said, "Thank you for your kind words. They go a long way."

As much as we think journalists are bombarded with reader emails, they are not and love to hear from us. Cool.

Ingrid Betancourt and Alan Johnston Swap Chilling Kidnapping Stories on BBC

2008-12-19T15:06:00.000-08:00

Alan Johnston, Photo posted on Flickr by Robin Hamman, Creative Commons license

I heard Alan Johnston interview Ingrid Betancourt on PRI's, The World today. It was such a fascinating interview I stayed in my car until it was over, even though I had arrived at my destination.

Alan Johnston is the BBC journalist who was kidnapped in Gaza in March of 2007. He was released four months later on July 4th. Johnston had reported from Gaza for some 2-3 years before he was kidnapped. Ms. Betancourt was held captive for seven years in the jungles of Colombia. She was running for president when she was captured.

I could hear their compassion for each other over the airwaves in my car. I thought Johnston was going to break down at one point. Also Ingrid had to take some time answering questions to get her composure. I am posting the link to the BBC interview below. And below that I am pasting a post I made right after Ms. Betancourt's release.

I spend a lot of time complaining about my country, but at least we do not have to worry about being kidnapped. Not yet anyway.

If you are really interested in all of this, please comment and I will explain the complex situation that led to both their kidnappings. I am more familiar with Ms. Betancourt's kidnapping as I spent 5 years researching the history of Colombia for my doc film.

I did study ME history my one semester at UC Berkeley and on my own most my adult life, particularly the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. I have been curious about Palestine since the age of 13 when the Palestinians kidnapped the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. That event caught the world's attention and mine as well.

There is a great documentary about the Munich Olympics; One Day in September, narrated by Michael Douglas. Toward the end of this doc, there is a shot of one of the surviving Palestinians at the trial. He looks directly at the camera and says to the best of my recollection:

Before this, no one knew anything about Palestine. Now they do.

Chilling, absolutely chilling.

Put that doc in your on line rental queue. It is fascinating.

The interview is about 23 minutes.

http://www.theworld.org/mp3/extras/alan_betancourt.mp3

Poster on building in Paris, Photo by Francois Lafite (Flickr)

I watched Ingrid Betancourt interviewed on Larry King Live from her hotel in Paris. She was held captive by the FARC for nearly 7 years in the jungles of Colombia. The interview was heartbreaking.

Larry King was actually very respectful to her. He did ask the question I am sure some producer forced him to about whether she was sexually abused, but I could tell he did not want to ask it. Of course she would not answer that question and said, "some things that happened in the jungle will stay in the jungle." Larry quickly said, "yes of course" and moved on. I think he was ashamed for asking it. And it goes without asking that she was of course abused.

Anyway, the vacant stare on her face I saw in so many parents of my students and friends when they talked about such horrors. It was chilling then, and it was chilling to see it again in the face of Ingrid Betancourt.

My point in bringing this up is that she said in her interview that one thing that was so unbelievable to her was how human beings could be so cruel to other human beings. The look on her face when she said this spoke volumes about the human condition.

She has plans to help the others still held in captivity (700 or so) obtain their freedom. And my point here is that she endured countless humiliations, a loss of her dignity, her freedom of movement, and on and on. Yet she plans to do something positive from her experience.

I do believe she is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and is depressed. You could see it in her face...and I heard some French rags are saying that she has admitted to this. It will be a long road to recovery for her... yet she is already making moves to make a difference in this world.

So our little problems and worries mean fuck all in comparison. So when stuck in traffic, worried about the bills and your 401k, think about Ingrid and how fragile life is and how everything can change in a second. Guess I am saying we should all be thankful for what we've got.
Peace on Earth
Mary

Hookers

2008-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Photo posted on Flickr

Save the Iraqi Shoe Thrower

2008-12-17T06:51:00.000-08:00

A Farewell for Bush in Iraq, photo posted by gravitywave on Flickr, Creative Commons

I just heard that the judge had to go to al-Zaidi's cell rather than have him appear in court. This is a strong indication the man has been beaten. Wow. How is that different than the Hussein regime? Please read below and sign the petition that United for Peace and Justice sent me this morning. And if you want to take a step further, contact Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. I sent them both an email this morning asking that they get involved in this case.

I heard yesterday that he may get up to 8 years. What? This is outrageous. Maybe he can be charged with attempted assault. Lets get this guy out of the Iraq prison. I hear he has a facebook page. Lets join his facebook page. Please click on the link below to sign the petition. Here is a passage from the email sent by UPJ:

What has not been so widely reported are the words Muntadar al-Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, shouted out. As the first shoe was thrown at Bush, he said:

"This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog." And with his second shoe, which the president also dodged, al-Zaidi said: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq."

This bold statement also has to be understood in its cultural context. Showing the soles of your shoes to someone, let alone tossing your shoes at them, is a sign of contempt in Arab culture.

After throwing his shoes, al-Zaidi was wrestled to the ground by security personnel and hauled away. According to Democracy Now! this morning, "Muntadar al-Zaidi has been held without charge for over twenty-four hours and has been reportedly beaten in jail. His brother said al-Zaidi has suffered a broken hand, broken ribs and internal bleeding, as well as an eye injury. Earlier today, al-Zaidi was handed over to the Iraqi military command in Baghdad."

Link to sign petition for his release:
IraqsNuclearMirage.com/articles/Zaydi.html

If that doesn't work here is the URL:
http://www.iraqsnuclearmirage.com/articles/Zaydi.html

Movie Review: Frost/Nixon

2008-12-15T06:47:00.000-08:00

Frost/Nixon Poster posted by paris66 on Flickr

Ron Howard shows us again that he is a master at his craft. No wonder the film has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards. This movie brings you right back to the 70s and the shameful Watergate incident. The downfall of a president is drama in itself, but Howard shows us Nixon, the man, without being sentimental. Albeit, I was crying on the last day of the Frost/Nixon interview taping scenes. Weeping like a baby.

Frost and Nixon posted by ajsundby on Flickr

Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as David Frost were these two characters, heart and soul. The close up on Langella near the end of these interviews said it all for me. Nixon knew Frost had him.

Also, the scene that killed me was when Pat Nixon went out to the car to say good bye to her husband on the first day of taping. The look on Nixon's face said it all.

Richard Nixon and Pat, posted by beast and bean on Flickr

Without giving it away, the scene where I was weeping was only made worse by the interchange Nixon had with Brennen (Kevin Bacon). Wow.

On a personal note, this was a sad time in our history. I was in high school at the time and remember seeing Nixon tell the nation he was resigning and also saw when he got on the helicopter leaving the White House.

I hate to admit this, but when Nixon became gravely ill right after he resigned, I sent a get well card. Yes he was involved in some horrible events in our history. Not just Watergate, but the bombing of Cambodia for one. But my 15-16 year heart felt sorry for this man. He left in disgrace.

The journalists in this film were great. The whole film was perfect. I hope Langella wins awards for his performance. Lastly, I saw the real David Frost on The Daily Show. The real interviews our available on DVD. I will add it to my on line rental queue for sure.
Richard Nixon leaving the White House, posted by tonyetone on Flickr

The New Huffington Post Book on Blogging

2008-12-08T16:13:00.000-08:00

Ariana Huffington and Bob Edwards, courtesy of The Bob Edwards Show (Flickr)

I bought the new complete book on blogging put out by the folks at The Huffington Post yesterday. I highly recommend this book. It has a wealth of information on how to be a successful blogger.

One chapter tells you how to get more traffic and visitors to your blog besides your mom. One of my fears of starting a blog was that no one would read it except family and friends. I see I am not alone.

It is written in a funny blog-like style. I am new to the blogosphere and having a blast. I took a couple of journalism classes at UCLA and dreamed of being a foreign correspondent reporting from war-torn regions like Joanna Cassidy and Nick Nolte in the most excellent film Underfire. I am pretending with my blog that I have my own little newspaper where I can write about whatever I feel like writing about.

As recommended by the new Huffington Post book, I posted a link of my movie review on Australia on reddit.com and had loads of hits within seconds to my blog. Very cool. The review is not a professional review. Just my thoughts on this most excellent film. Screen perfection in my humble opinion. But I digress.

I saw Ariana Huffington interviewed on The Daily Show. Her advice was to write what you feel passionate about and find your voice.

Also, the book encourages uploading images to your posts. Might I recommend Flickr to everyone. They have photos of everything you can imagine under the sun. Make sure that the rights are "common creative." If all rights are reserved, be careful about uploading the image...or at least give credit. By the way, I used tons of photos for my review of the film Australia. Think this might be another reason I had so many hits.

The book is called, The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging.

I bought it at Border's for 15 bucks, but here is a link to Amazon for those too lazy to go to the bookstore.:)
http://www.amazon.com/Huffington-Post-Complete-Guide-Blogging/dp/1439105006

One last thing, the guy in the photo above that I found on Flickr is Bob Edwards. Remember him from Morning Edition on NPR? Man do I miss that bedroom voice of his and his great reporting. I see he has a show since the photo is courtesy of his show. But where does he have this show? Anyone know? Radio? TV?

O. J. Gets 9 Years, Finally

2008-12-05T17:05:00.000-08:00

O.J. reacts to verdict
Finally. I am one of those who believes O.J. got away with murder 14 years ago. I felt that trial made a mockery of our justice system.

O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson, posted by Access Winnipeg, Flickr

When O.J. murdered his wife and Ron Goldman, I had just finished working as a volunteer in a domestic violence shelter. I knew from the first reports this man was guilty. It was a classic case. I know, I know, innocent until proven guilty. But, the proof was in the pudding. Too bad O.J.'s lawyers had a penchant for pudding and licked that bowl clean with the leather gloves causing shrinkage. Wiped out the proof.
O.J. wearing leather gloves, posted by noteboom, Flickr

Here is a link to the BBC coverage of Judge Glass reading the sentence. The shots of the Goldman family say it all. Finally, although a different case, I hope they feel a sense of justice for the murder of their son and Nicole Brown Simpson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC

One last thing, I was working at a high school in Bisbee, Arizona, population about 8000 when the verdict came down. It was a cool little artist community and old copper mining town. Houses built into the hillside. Anyway, one of my high school students was a football player. He asked what I thought of the verdict. I told him the truth. That the man got away with murder and just made a mockery of our justice system. He said, "But he is a football hero. He is my hero." Never forgot that.

Shame on O.J. for killing people and making kids with dreams of playing football question his integrity.
O.J. Simpson with young fan circa 1970s, posted by AnthonythePrivileged, Flickr

Slapstick

2008-12-03T21:18:00.000-08:00

Photo of Green Dumpster posted by Cobalt123 (Flicker)

When I returned from living in Korea, I was forced to move nine blocks from the ocean in an area I describe as the ghetto. Rents had sky-rocketed while I was gone due to gentrification. Plus, the L.A. folks discovered our cheap real estate with ocean views causing droves of them to head south to my city.

I had never lived more than three blocks from the ocean in my twenty years in this town. I mean really. What's the point of living in the greater L.A. area if you don't have an ocean view or at least can smell it from an open window?

I found a one bedroom in a beautiful chateau. The Chateau Le Grande was a registered historic landmark in Long Beach built in 1928. It looked like a tiny French castle. I loved my jungle-like courtyard and my apartment's hardwood floors and built-ins.

Even though the gentrification culprits were calling it the "arty" East Village in effort to up the property value, my hood was ghetto and that was all there was to it.

I had a back door with steps that I sat on from time to time while I drank my morning coffee. I liked the light from there, but it was a ghetto alley.

There was a green dumpster against the wall of the apartment building across from me. The tenants from this building seem to do a lot of midnight running-the-hell out of there from evictions. Leaving furniture next to the dumpster was nothing new. Once there was big T.V. and a very nice dresser.

Of course there were homeless people who passed by all the time. Sometimes they stopped to dumpster dive. There was an old Mexican woman who came by everyday. She was always smiling, had two long gray braids, and wore a dress that showed her slip. A different slip each day. One day it was bright pink.

I am not quite sure if she was homeless or just trying to supplement the family income with the bottles and cans she collected. Her shopping cart was always very organized. She carried a big bucket she turned over and stood on to reach into the dumpster. She was very short.

Photo of Old Mexican Woman taken by Miss Monson (Flicker)

This woman always talked to me in Spanish. Small talk. I usually just listened. She was from Zacatecas. If I had to guess, I would guess she was in her 70s. You could tell she was beautiful when she was young. Still was. Blue eyes that must have drove the boys crazy. Now her blue eyes had a thin wax paper-like film over them. Cataracts.

The Mexicans are big on extended families. So is Kurt Vonnegut. He has an MA in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. Anyway, I bring up Mr. Vonnegut because I always wondered where this old woman's family could be. She made me think of the Kurt Vonnegut book Slapstick.

In short, Slapstick takes place in an apocalyptic New York. One of the main characters, Wilbur, decides to run for president. His slogan on campaign buttons says, "Lonesome No More." Wilbur promises, if elected, that everyone will have huge extended families thus eliminating loneliness and homelessness for good.

Wilbur says that everyone will get new middle names with a number after it. It could be a flower, stone, or element. In other words, if your new middle name is Daffodil-11, then everyone with a middle name of Daffodil-11 will be your relative. It would mean you could have tens of thousands of relatives. Cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles.

On the campaign trail, someone in the audience asked, "but what if you don't like one of your new relatives?" To which Wilbur replies, "that's the beauty of it all. Since you have tens of thousands of relatives to rely on in times of need, you can say to this new relative, 'Why don't you take a flying f**k at a rolling doughnut. Why don't you take a flying f**k at the moooon.'"
Photo taken by Ben (Flickr)

Imagine if Wilbur was president. That old Mexican woman would not be dumpster diving. Though far from her home in Zacatecas, she could open up any phone book and look for other Daffodil-11s who might be able to open their homes.

I no longer live in the Chateau Le Grande. Luckily, rents finally went down a little. I am three blocks from the ocean in a pink Spanish-style hacienda built in 1923. And yes, I can smell the ocean from my open windows. The courtyard is beautiful with a pond and waterfall. Sometimes in the afternoon, I sit out on the veranda, have a beer and read. It is very peaceful.

In this area of Long Beach, I never see homeless people, but I know they are out there. I had to turn my heater on tonight for the first time this year. Lucky me. I have a roof over my head and heat. I thought about the old Mexican woman tonight. I really want to believe that she was just collecting bottles and cans to supplement her family's income.

Australia Takes You on a Journey

2008-11-30T07:52:00.000-08:00

Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) and Nullah (Brandon Walters)posted by John85 (Flickr)

I saw Australia the other day and absolutely love this film. It is epic filmmaking at its best. Kenneth Turan of the L.A. Times compared it to Giant, Gone With the Wind, and Lawrence of Arabia. All classics and Australia will be one as well.

The cinematography is pure perfection like what we saw in Sydney Pollack's film, Out of Africa. I was wondering if this film could top Out of Africa, one of my favorite love stories. They are tied, but in different ways. Australia is not just a love story, but encompasses racial prejudice, evil deeds, and the war.

Sarah Ashley ( Nicole Kidman) posted by beast and bean (Flickr)

Mandy Walker, the cinematographer, deserves the Academy Award. Wait until you see the scene when the cattle are on the run near a canyon. I was on the edge of my seat and do not know how she got those shots. Baz Luhrmann directed this film, but did he ever make the right choice in hiring Ms. Walker to shoot his vision.

Sarah and the Drover posted by beast and bean (Flickr). Not the first kiss, still a great shot.

Ms. Walker got the perfect angle and lighting on the first time the Drover (Hugh Jackman) kisses Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) on the cattle drive. I think that is the best I have seen Kidman look ever. You will see what I mean. Of course I am in love with Hugh Jackman now and am looking for my own Drover.
Photo of Nullah (Brandon Walters) posted by Asso Pixiel (Flickr)

The little boy in the film, Nullah, reminded me so much of the student I met my first year teaching who was from Micronesia. I was completely relating to Sarah Ashley in her scenes with Nullah.

Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) and Nullah (Brandon Walters) posted by Asso Pixiel (Flickr)

Nullah is played by Brandon Walters and I will say he nearly steals the show. I hope he wins all the awards. The film touches on the Stolen Generation, a bit of history I am sure the Australians are ashamed of, and rightfully so.

I do not know if any of you have seen Peter Noyce's film, Rabbit Proof Fence, but it is about the Stolen Generation and shows how mixed race Aboriginal children were removed from their homes and raised in mission schools. Can you imagine? This went on until the 70s when it was finally outlawed.
A young David Gulpilil in Roeg's film, Walkabout posted by Positively Puzzled (Flickr)

Nullah's grandfather, King George, is played by David Gulpilil, the same man who was the star in Nicolas Roeg's film, Walkabout. I think Walkabout was made in the early 70s. Anyone see that film? Highly recommend you put it in your on line rental queue. It is about two white kids who end up on a "walkabout" with a young Aboriginal man.

I was lucky enough to see that film shortly after it was released at my school. I went to a middle school in Northern California, near the radical bay area in the early 70s. At the time, I had no idea my teachers were such radicals. One of them had the foresight to show us the film, Walkabout. This film changed me forever.

Walkabout photo posted by Positively Puzzled (Flickr)

I hope Baz Luhrmann paid David Gulpilil a lot of money, but I am guessing money means nothing to this man. I am so glad Luhrmann found him to play the part. Gulpilil was just so perfect. You will see what I mean.

Walters, Gulpilil, Kidman, Jackman and all supporting roles give award-winning performances. The director, cinematographer, art director, and sound man better get awards as well. The film is 2:45 minutes, but the time just flies. I cried at about four or five different points, but laughed as well. At one point in the film, King George tells Sarah, "You have been on a journey." This film takes you on a journey you will not soon forget.

The Drover (Hugh Jackman) posted on Flickr by Asso Pixiel

I heard that Luhrmann changed the ending several times because of audience screening reactions. Audiences thought the ending too sad. However, I heard the man himself interviewed and Luhrmann said films go through many script changes and his ending had nothing to do with private audience screenings. I thought the ending was perfect.

Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) posted on Flickr by Asso Pixiel

Lastly, I saw this film with a friend before we went over to Gil and Shelly's fabulous Thanksgiving dinner. Gil is a cinematographer and there are some film people who come to these dinners.

The Drover (Jackman) posted by beast and bean (Flickr)

Anyway, at this 40 foot long table, I happened to sit across from a camera man who has worked with Mandy Walker. I told him that I had just seen screen perfection. I asked what Ms. Walker was like. Before he answered, I said, "I bet she is a complete perfectionist." He said, "You're right, but she is great to work with on set. A true professional." I hope we will be seeing her name in the credits of films a lot now.

Catalina's Dad

2008-11-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

Photo of Catalina Vargas courtesy of Catalina Vargas

Catalina forwarded this email that her father wrote after our recent elections. She said her dad usually does not send emails like this, but was so moved by our elections, that he wrote it. He sent it to all three of his children, all adults in their late 20s or early 30s.

I had the pleasure of meeting her dad a couple of times while I was teaching in Bogota, Colombia. I remember one conversation we had about judges in Colombia. I remember him telling me it was hard to have justice when the judges get killed all the time for trying to rule in a just way. I never forgot that.

Anyway, her dad attended Harvard University during the turbulent civil rights era. Please read below for his heartfelt reaction to our elections and what he experienced
as a young man in our country during the civil rights movement.

Hello Kids:

Last night you were witnesses of a very historic change: a black man was elected president of the USA. I did have the opportunity to live in Harvard through the difficult times of segregation, racism and all the problems that the Civil Rights Movements brought out to the public in the 60s and 70s.

I was a tutor in an all black "Upward Bound Program" in Darien, Conn, in 1967, for 150 black kids with high-school problems for being underachievers. For me, it was a summer of reflection and deep worry when I saw the profound hatred between the races. The young negroes simply reacted violently to violent laws and treatment, there was not a chance to try for peaceful talk as most meetings with students ended in bad words, violent remarks and plain threats. To be in the middle of all that was my introduction to the racial problems of the USA, something that I did not fully understand, but I sensed that it was wrong.

Fortunately I was a foreigner, a "martian", and this provided me with a shield that made me invisible to most of them and did not have any trouble with the black majority living and working day by day and night by night there.

Well, yesterday I witnessed the "end of an era". Only that will be enough to ensure a legacy for Mr. Obama. And although I am a non-political animal I am glad that I lived to see it. That is democracy at its best. Anybody should have the chance to run its country if he/she is a law abiding citizen, and that happens only in the USA. In addition to the cheers and the speeches of last night, I saw a huge technological show on TV where results and opinions were shown live and direct. As your mom said: "if you present all the numbers for everybody to see–demographics and political – then you have transparent elections"

I hope you learnt from this election. Regardless of the future, Obama is a model of politician for everybody. Respect and fairness for your contenders are the weapons of real democracy. When do we expect to see something similar in Colombia? No one knows, but certainly I will never see it. I sincerely hope that you do.

DAD

Mumbai Attacks Censored on CNN, Deepok Chopra's Comments Cut Off

2008-11-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

Photo of Taj Mahal Hotel taken by Rubaljain (Flickr)

I watched excitedly as I heard Deepok Chopra explain the attacks on Mumbai on CNN International. Then CNN abruptly cut Chopra off. It was an overt display of censorship. Chopra was merely speaking the truth.

Last I heard, we live in a democracy. I thought that freedom of the press and speech were cornerstones of our democracy. It is what differentiates us from living under a totalitarian regime.

Mumbai Street, Pan-African News Wire (Flickr)

Our press is controlled more and more by the dictates of the advertisers. The Chopra interview aired on Wednesday night, November 26th was proof enough for me. I can just picture the CNN executives wringing their hands as calls from advertisers began pouring into the studio during the interview. I imagine executives ordered some producer to yell in the journalist's ear piece, "Cut Chopra off now!"

Mumbai Carnage, Pan-African News Wire (Flickr)

It is up to us, the viewers, to demand the truth. Until we do, the advertisers will keep controlling what the press are brave enough to report. I seriously wonder if these executives ever took a journalism class. A class that perhaps discussed the evils of censorship. I bet they all have degrees in marketing. This is wrong on so many different levels.

I encourage all of you to send an email to CNN comments and ask why they cut this interview off.

Photo of Deepok Chopra taken by Yodel Anecdotal (Flickr)

Here is a transcript of the CNN interview with Deepok Chopra.

Chopra: What we have seen in Mumbai has been brewing for a long time, and the war on terrorism and the attack on Iraq compounded the situation. What we call "collateral damage" and going after the wrong people actually turns moderates into extremists, and that inflammation then gets organized and appears as this disaster in Bombay. Now the worst thing that could happen is there's a backlash on the Muslims from the fundamental Hindus in India, which then will perpetuate the problem. Inflammation will create more inflammation.

CNN: Let me jump in on that because you're presuming something very important, which is that it's Muslims who have carried out these attacks and, in some cases, with Washington in their sights.

Chopra: Ultimately the message is always toward Washington because it's also the perception that Washington, in their way, directly or indirectly funds both sides of the war on terror. They fund our side, then our petrol dollars going to Saudi Arabia through Pakistan and ultimately these terrorist groups, which are very organized. You know Jonathan, it takes a lot of money to do this. It takes a lot of organization to do this. Where's the money coming from, you know? The money is coming from the vested interests. I'm not talking about conspiracy theories, but what happens is, our policies, our foreign policies, actually perpetuate this problem. Because, you know, 25% of the world's population is Muslim and they're the fastest growing segment of the population of the world. The more we alienate the Muslim population, the more the moderates are likely to become extremists.

CNN: I hope you're - you've -

This is where the interview is cut off. No segue like, "we have to stop for a commercial break." Nothing. The journalist does say, "Indian physician and philosopher, Deepok Chopra."

Greed, Jealousy, Envy and the Bail Out

2008-11-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

Photo taken by David D. Muir "The Big Money" (Flickr)

All I've got to say is what I have said before, and I am quoting Lefebvre: "We live in a bureaucratic society of controlled consumption." However, in this instance it would seem that the controlled consumption got way out of control in a way Lefebvre could not have ever imagined.

We only have to look around us to see what he meant. He had the foresight to see what has been happening in the 80s, 90s, and up to now.

Just look at the cars, clothes, and eyewear even. Remember in the 70s when we all wore Levis and they were a reasonable ten bucks? Some of us wore Lee jeans. Now a pair of designer jeans will set you back $100 or more. And if you are not wearing them you are not cool. Your car is especially important here in So Cal. Sad, but true. Folks are still driving SUVs. Why?

I was at Big Lots the other day looking for deals and the little cashier was wearing eyeglasses with giant letters of the designer on the side. I do not remember the designer. Madness I say. She earns minimum wage.

Anwyay, I could rant on and on, but I won't. Lucky you. I feel very sorry for the folks who bought houses and were not told the whole truth about their loans due to the greed of the realtor.

If you have not read Thorstein Veblen's book The Theory of the Leisure Class, I highly recommend you do. It was recommended reading in Kurt Vonnegut's Palm Sunday. I picked up a used copy of the Veblen book while living in London. Loved it. When I was studying at UCLA, it was required reading for one of my courses. It is a book that will make you laugh at our "conspicuous consumption." Veblen hits the nail on the head.

One last thing, everyone is talking about American greed, but lets not forget jealousy and envy. Being jealous of what someone else has makes you want it. Being envious also makes you want it. Both lead to bitterness and resentment. Don't go there. Instead go to Big Lots and leave happy you found a good deal.

Better yet, go live in the Amazon for 6 months like my friend Marcela did. Or go to Zambia for a year like Chas and June. Go volunteer somewhere and help those who need it most. I guarantee you will leave feeling better than if you spent a couple hundred on a pair of sunglasses you are bound to leave in a restaurant somewhere.

Just my two cents...not that you asked for them.

Society of the Spectacle and the Bail Out

2008-11-21T09:41:00.000-08:00

Photo taken by 62Lofu (Flickr)

I am pasting 3 paragraphs from an essay written by Doug Kellner and Steve Best in their on line series Illuminations. They are very illuminating.:)

I discovered this website while on a teaching assignment in Bogota, Colombia. On my prep time, after finishing my lesson plans, I would research and print out these essays to read after school.

Kellner taught at University of Texas until a few years ago. He is now at UCLA. Kellner has a brilliant mind and is an expert on critical theory, the Frankfrut School and the Situationists which Guy Debord and Henri Levebvre were involved. They were part of the Dada and surrealist movement among other movements.

This essay fleshes out Debord's ideas presented in his book, The Society of the Spectacle. A very good book by the way. Kellner and Best discuss what is happpening in our society. If you read the whole article (I'll post the link), you will understand how we got to where we are now. We live in a society of the spectacle alongside a bureaucratic society of controlled consumption.

I hope you find this information illuminating.

http://www.uta.edu/huma/illuminations/kell17.htm

The spectacular society spreads its narcotics mainly through
the cultural mechanisms of leisure and consumption, services
and entertainment, ruled by the dictates of advertising and
a commercialized media culture. This structural shift to a
society of the spectacle involves a commodification of
previously non-colonized sectors of social life and the
extension of bureaucratic control to the realms of leisure,
desire, and everyday life. Parallel to the Frankfurt School
conception of a "totally administered" or "one dimensional"
society (Adorno and Horkheimer1972; Marcuse 1964), Debord
states that "The spectacle is the moment when the commodity
has attained the total occupation of social life" (#42). Here
exploitation is raised to a psychological level; basic physical
privation is augmented by "enriched privation" of pseudo-needs;
alienation is generalized, made comfortable, and alienated
consumption becomes "a duty supplementary to alienated
production"(#42).

The shift to a "bureaucratic society of controlled consumption"
(Lefebvre 1971 and 1991) organized around the production of
spectacles can be seen as the exploitation of use value and
needs as a means of advancing profit and gaining ideological
control over individuals. Unlike early capitalism, where the
structural exigencies lay in the forceful exploitation of labor
and nature, and in defining the worker strictly as a producer,
the society of the spectacle defines the worker as a consumer
and attempts to constitute the worker's desires and needs,
first creating then exploiting them. In this sense, Debord
claims that use value was resurrected as a referent of
production: "In the inverted reality of the spectacle, use
value (which was implicitly contained in exchange value) must
now be explicitly proclaimed precisely because its factual
reality is eroded by the overdeveloped commodity economy and
because counterfeit life requires a pseudo-justification" (#48).
It is not that exchange value no longer dominates, but that use
value is now deployed in an ideological way that exploits the
needs of the new consumer self.

The spectacle not only expands the profits and power of the
capitalist class, but also helps to resolve a legitimation
crisis of capitalism. Rather then vent anger against
exploitation and injustice, the working class is distracted
and mollified by new cultural productions, social services,
and wage increases. In consumer capitalism, the working
classes abandon the union hall for the shopping mall and
celebrate the system that fuels the desires that it
ultimately cannot satisfy. But the advanced abstraction of
the spectacle brings in its wake a new stage of deprivation.
Marx spoke of the degradation of being into having, where
creative praxis is reduced to the mere possession of an
object, rather than its imaginative transformation, and where
need for the other is reduced to greed of the self. Debord
speaks of a further reduction, the transformation of having
into appearing, where the material object gives way to its
semiotic representation and draws "its immediate prestige and
ultimate function" (#17) as image -- in which look, style, and
possession function as signs of social prestige. The production
of objects simpliciter gives way to "a growing multitude of
image-objects" (#15) whose immediate reality is their symbolic
function as image. Within this abstract system, it is the
appearance of the commodity that is more decisive than its
actual "use value" and the symbolic packaging of commodities --
be they cars or presidents -- generates an image industry and new commodity aesthetics (see Haug 1986).

Book Review: When the Kissing Had to Stop

2008-11-20T18:01:00.000-08:00

Photo of Pacific Coast Highway taken by Spoon Monkey (Flickr)

I am reading a book by John Leonard called When the Kissing Had to Stop. Leonard wrote for the New York Times Book Review and other literary publications. My hero Kurt Vonnegut said Leonard was the smartest and most well read person he had ever met.

Any friend of Kurt Vonnegut's is a friend of mine. Sadly, Leonard died recently. I am reading him for the first time and so glad to have discovered him. He writes at rapid fire speed. While reading him, I feel like I have had 20 espressos. He is brilliant. And funny as hell. I highly recommend this book of essays.

Leonard keeps referring to the Joan Didion book, Play It As It Lays. I don't know about any of you, but I have had plenty of Joan Didion "Play It As It Lays" moments.

In case you haven't read the book, in short, Joan is driving the freeways of the L.A area aimlessly to escape her mundane reality. I usually drive Pacific Coast highway down to Laguna Beach or up PCH through Malibu. A much nicer drive than the freeways. Cool ocean breeze and spectacular views. I roll down all the windows, listen to music real loud and dream.

Here is a link to an article in The Nation where Toni Morrison, et al, share their thoughts and feelings about John Leonard.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081208/john_leonard

Movie Review: Choke

2008-10-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

Photo taken by the.razzi (flickr)

I saw Choke yesterday down in the OC. Wow!!! I just loved this film. It is adapted from the Chuck Palahnuik book, the writer of the Fight Club.

Anyway, he takes you on a wild ride of sexual addiction and trying to figure out what is normal. The stripper turns out the most philosophical of all lines when she talks of Jesus and the New Testament. I just loved this scene.

Without spoling it, when the main character, Victor, is on the plane near the end what he says is so true. It is up to us to search in ourselves and decide what is normal.... not the self help books, and other societal norms. Existential in nature is the theme.

Now I am not saying you should go out and kill someone, because that might be what you feel like doing to your boss from time to time.:) I am ust saying you decide on how you want to live and then live it.

Lastly, Angelica Huston is perfect in this film. She plays Victor's mom.

Addendum to Vicky and Sexy Lawyer

2008-09-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

Sexy mayor of Tijuana from Showtime program, "Weeds" lets Nancy know who's boss (uploaded on Flickr by Luckypup)

I went out for margaritas and tacos yesterday with my friend Kristie, a fabulous videographer and writer of surf and sand stories for Foam magazine.

Anyway, she asked me about the sexy lawyer I wrote about in a previous post (August 27th) about the film Vicky Christina Barcelona. She asked why I didn't go to Mexico with him after we shared that absolute life changing night in that swanky hotel off the square in the town of Puebla in the summer of 1990.

In an effort to explain my decision making process, let me first describe what Saul looked like and his manner. The mayor of Tijuana that Nancy is sleeping with in the Showtime program, Weeds, is my Saul. One exception, Saul had wavy hair. The way Saul moved and his way in general is exactly like that mayor. Of course Saul was no drug dealer. I think?

We were both 31 at the time we met. I wanted to finish my degree at UCLA. He was already established in his career. Saul told me I could go to school at any one of the excellent universities in Mexico City or Vera Cruz. He owned houses in both cities.

It would have been too difficult for me to try to write research papers on Karl Marx, who I was studying at the time, in Spanish. No way Jose. That was one reason.

Plus to be perfectly honest, I think he was a possible player. He was just too good looking and on fire not to be one.

We did discuss that when I finished school a possible move to Mexico. However, in that two years so many things of course changed. I moved to Tucson after I graduated from UCLA for a couple of years.

The last time I called Saul was to tell him I was leaving Arizona and moving back to Los Angeles. A woman in a very sexy voice answered the phone, "Bueno." I hung up quickly and never called again.

Photo of Rafael Nadal posted on Flickr by a1y53 210

So end of story. Every decision we make in life changes are destiny. I do believe I am where I am supposed to be. Or maybe I am supposed to be in Mallorca right now, with Rafael Nadal, in a villa with an ocean view, infinity pool, drinking mojitos, naked.

Fierce People and a Book

2008-09-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

Photo by Alin Boeana (Flickr, downloaded by Baliwww.com) The Dani people are a people from the central highlands of Western New Guinea, the Indonesian province of Papua.

I saw Fierce People with Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland on cable the other night. I caught the film at about the midway point. I just loved this film. The last two lines of the film were so good, in my humble opinion, I quickly wrote it down:

"We are the sum of all the people we have met. The tribe changes you and you change the tribe."

So true, so true. Especially true to those of my friends who have lived in foreign lands. Living in a different land than your own is usually a life changing experience.

I am not saying that you can't have a "tribe change" if the farthest move you make is to Bakersfield, I am just saying living in a different country than your own is always so enlightening and a great learning experience to say the least.

If you live and die in the city where you were born this quote can still apply. Every single day our interchanges with people change the way we look at life and the world. We have an impact on every person we have an interchange. Even a glance or a smile can change the day someone is having.

The tribe changes you and you change the tribe.

I hope you get my meaning and love the two lines as much as I did. I most certainly do not mean that if you visit a faraway land that you impose our customs and way of life. Only that our presence and how we interact changes us and those we encounter.
Guernsey's South Coast, Posted by There and Back (Flickr)

I just finished the book by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows titled, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I loved this book!!! It is fiction, but written in letter form. I swear I felt like these people were real while reading it.

It takes place in London and on the Channel Island off the UK called Guernsey. Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during the war. The letters date about a year after the war ends. I guarantee you will fall in love with all of the characters. Really.

I heard about it on NPR and then saw that it is #3 on the L.A. Times bestseller list. It made me miss the art of letter writing. A good book to read on a plane, the beach, the tub, anywhere.

Movie Review: Vicky Christina Barcelona

2008-08-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

Hotel on Square in Puebla, Mexico, Photo taken by vkc (Flickr)

I saw the new Woody Allen film yesterday, Vicky Christina Barcelona. I just loved it. It is funny as hell. And man does that Javier Bardem look mighty fine. Much better than he did with that horrible haircut in No Country for Old Men.

This film made me think of the summer of 1990 I spent in Mexico when I had a wild fling with a sexy lawyer. The college friend I was traveling with met a poet and left with him for a weekend in San Miguel de Allende.

Long story short, after she took off, I met a sexy lawyer in an Armani suit in Mexico City. He helped me with directions for a bus ride to Puebla. We ended up traveling to Puebla together in his fancy black car, spent a most romantic afternoon in a cafe on the square, drinking wine, watching the afternoon rain shower, listening to the church bells echoing through the square, and ended up in a swanky hotel for the night and better part of the morning. A very good memory.

I thought that was the end of the story. A sort of a "what happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico." But this man insisted on coming up to see me. While picking him up at the airport, we had a moment of uncomfortable silence in the terminal.

I took him to my apartment in downtown Long Beach, across the street from the ocean. I opened up a bottle of champagne on my balcony, we clinked our glasses saying "salud" simultaneously. We looked out at the ocean silently. Before I had a chance to take a second sip of champagne, this man turned to face me and said, "marry me."

I told him a night in Puebla wasn't really enough to marry someone. He disagreed vehemently. He said our passion was principal. His exact words, "la cama es principal, Maria, es principal."

I said no of course to this proposal. I had to finish college. We did enjoy a week of unbridled passion together. If any of you watch the program Weeds on Showtime, this man is very much like the mayor of Tijuana Mary Louise Parker's character is sleeping with on the show.

During the next four years, this man wrote me the most romantic love letters (which I have saved), sent expensive gifts on my birthday, and called from time to time to invite me to meet him in some exotic location.

Anyway, go see this film. And if you think it strange that Javier Bardem's character approaches the two beautiful American tourists in a restaurant after an art opening and asks them both to take a small plane to a different town for the weekend, think again. Stranger things have been known to happen.

Even if you never had some wild fling (which I bet most of you have), this film takes you to the heart of Barcelona, love, lust, and passion. Made me want to get on a plane.

One last thing, when I left the movie theater, I took my car to a self serve car wash. I was so caught up in thinking about that night in Puebla, I drove off without rinsing the soap off my car. I was halfway home before I even noticed.

Addendum: I wrote an addendum to this post after many asked why I did not take Saul up on his marriage proposal. It explains in more detail why I said no, no, no. The addendum can be found on my Sept. 11th post, Addendum to Vicky and Sexy Lawyer.

Book Review: Chasing the Flame

2008-08-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

Sergio Vieiro De Mello (Posted by Prora, Flickr)

I am reading a most excellent book right now by Samantha Power. This Harvard educated radical was in the news recently when she called Hillary Clinton a monster. Power was on Obama's foreign policy staff, but was forced to resign over this. She would be great as a foreign policy adviser.

Photo of United Nations Assembly taken by Robert wkfrd (Flickr)

The book is called Chasing the Flame. It is the life story of Sergio Vieira de Mello. What an extraordinary life this man led in his career with the UN. He was killed in august of 2003 when the UN offices were bombed in Iraq. I remember the news reports showing a pretty blonde woman frantically standing outside the rubble with her cell phone in hand crying. She was talking to him I am sure. Turns out she was his lover. Vieira De Mello was trapped under the rubble and died some four hours later when rescue teams were unable to reach him.

Viera De Mello man was being groomed to be the new secretary general when Kofi Anan stepped down. And a most excellent SG he would have been. A great loss to our world. Anyway, a fascinating read. It reads like a thriller.

Photo of United Nations flag taken by Linda Jia (Flickr)

Seduction

2008-08-15T17:22:00.000-07:00

Photo of Desserts taken by Rita Crane (Flickr)

Photo of Latte taken by Yoshiko 314 (Flickr)

Thanks for the responses. Yes my days at The Rex were something. The maitre'd was a hard core Trotskyist and surfer dude. If you weren't a commie or at least surfed, you got lousy dinner shifts. I told him he was a sell out for working in such a bourgeois establishment waiting on the bourgeoisie. I did have the best shifts...Tuesday through Friday. Probably because of that first wine tasting. I won the owner's respect.

The conversations in the back house with the maitre'd were always enlightening and passionate.

One last thing about those wine tastings, it was usually between 6-8 wines we tasted each week from various wine sales people. However, one Thursday we had a very expensive wine seller from Europe come in with his wines. We tasted 21 wines that Thursday. I did not spit out my wine and was sent home due to my drunken state. Whoops.

Another great thing about our tastings, once the bottles were open, we often times got to take the wine home. Those were the days.

Anyway, my friend, Ian Ashton-Reader, in London, from "old money" sent me this link from the Waiter Rant blog. It is called Seduction and funny as hell. By the way, Ian is one classy dude who never has to prove himself to wait staff by acting demeaning or demanding.

One last thing, if you want to impress folks with your wine knowledge, check out 21 Oceanfront's wine list. This is a good way to learn about wine. Check out the menu at White House dinners to see what wine they are drinking is another good way. I amnot sure of the website for 21 Oceanfront, but am sure you can type in 21 Oceanfront, Newport Beach in google and find it. Also wine magazines will help.

Here is the link to Seduction. Enjoy.
http://WaiterRant.net/?p=212

Waiter Rant

2008-08-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

Photo of 21 Oceanfront, Newport Beach, CA taken by Eating Orange (Flickr)

I read a review about a new book called Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica. It just cracked me up. He hits the nail on the head. Dublanica has a blog and it became so popular that he got a book deal. I'll paste the links below.

As most of you know, I worked as a waitress for many years, but my time at the five star dining establishment The Rex in Newport Beach came to mind while reading his blogs. We all new when our customers were from new money (recently acquired wealth), old money (royalty or born with silver spoons in mouth), or were wannabes.

The new money customers fifty percent of the time had chips on their shoulders and had to prove how "important" they were to us. For example, if they did not have a jacket, and we offered a jacket, they'd make a scene as if our dress policy didn't apply to them anymore now that they had money.

Old money knew to wear a jacket. And if old money had just disembarked from their yachts, they would not question our policy and just put the damn jacket on that we had in our coat closet for customers... and very nice Armani jackets they were.

Anyway, at The Rex, we did not spit in the food. However, if a customer spent too long at a table on a busy Saturday night, our matre'd would pass gas (fart) at their table while asking if they needed anything else.

One thing about wait staff at fine dining establishments, they take their work seriously and know their stuff. So when dining out, listen to their recommendation on specials and the wine.

Speaking of wine, at The Rex, where I worked for three years while living a life of glamorous debauchery, had a very professional wine tasting every Thursday. When I first came on board I was considered the peasant of the wait staff because my previous job had been at the Rusty Pelican whose wine list had a white zinfandel on it. A major faux paus.

During our first pretentious blind wine tasting, I filled out my wine rating sheet. The owner called on me to report what I had written. I read my ratings outloud to a room so silent you could hear a cork drop on the carpet. When he took the brown paper bag off the wine bottles, I had rated all the most expensive wines with the highest marks. The English girl, our wine steward, and our maitre'd made many errors on what was what. Moreover, they rated inferior wines with high marks. The staff quit calling me the peasant after that.

This was over twenty years ago, but man do I remember those days. Most of the customers were nice, but the owner a nut job. Why are all owners nut jobs?

We had the rich and famous in all the time. My favorite famous person I waited on was Neil Diamond. I just love that guy. He was so humble and kind. We all fell in love with him.

The Rex is no more and now called 21 Oceanfront. It was only 21 tables when I worked there, but they bought the space next door and it is huge now. The staff was the same for the 3 years I was there. No one left because the money was good and hours short. We became like family. We were right below the Doryman's Inn by the pier. We had the best wine list in Orange County and won several restaurant awards. Good times.

Here is the link for anyone, but especially for those who have ever waited tables in
their lives.

wwww.waiterrant.net
www.waiterrant.blogspot.com

Ingrid and Larry

2008-07-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Poster on building in Paris, Photo by Francois Lafite (Flickr)

I watched Ingrid Betancourt interviewed on Larry King Live from her hotel in Paris. She was held captive by the FARC for nearly 7 years in the jungles of Colombia. The interview was heartbreaking.

Larry King was actually very respectful to her. He did ask the question I am sure some producer forced him to about whether she was sexually abused, but I could tell he did not want to ask it. Of course she would not answer that question and said, "some things that happened in the jungle will stay in the jungle." Larry quickly said, "yes of course" and moved on. I think he was ashamed for asking it. And it goes without asking that she was of course abused.

Anyway, the vacant stare on her face I saw in so many parents of my students and friends when they talked about such horrors. It was chilling then, and it was chilling to see it again in the face of Ingrid Betancourt.

My point in bringing this up is that she said in her interview that one thing that was so unbelievable to her was how human beings could be so cruel to other human beings. The look on her face when she said this spoke volumes about the human condition.

She has plans to help the others still held in captivity (700 or so) obtain their freedom. And my point here is that she endured countless humiliations, a loss of her dignity, her freedom of movement, and on and on. Yet she plans to do something positive from her experience.

I do believe she is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and is depressed. You could see it in her face...and I heard some French rags are saying that she has admitted to this. It will be a long road to recovery for her... yet she is already making moves to make a difference in this world.

So our little problems and worries mean fuck all in comparison. So when stuck in traffic, worried about the bills and your 401k, think about Ingrid and how fragile life is and how everything can change in a second. Guess I am saying we should all be thankful for what we've got.
Peace on Earth
Mary

Immortal Technique - A Revolutionary Life

2008-06-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

Immortal Technique, UCLA, May 2008, all photo by Angi Brzycki

A revolutionary who has started an underground movement, Immortal Technique is not your usual rapper. Tech tackles political issues rather than rapping about guns and ‘hos. Cause of Death, Tech’s searing indictment of 9/11 and political corruption became an instant hit on college radio stations. Lyrics such as the following outrage the political right and fascinate his left-leaning audience:

“I don’t think Bush did it ‘cause he isn’t that smart
He’s just a stupid puppet taking orders on his cell phone
From the same people that sabotaged Senator Wellstone"
(Cause of Death, Immortal Technique, Revolutionary Volume 2)

Tech hopes his music will inspire young people, particularly college students, to learn more about the world so they can make a positive impact. In January, Tech performed for free at the Bronx Museum to raise money to buy coats for the homeless. After his performance in a room packed with fans and activists, Tech gave a captivating speech. “Revolution to a college kid who puts a poster of Che Guevara or Bob Marley on his wall is something very different for a person who lives in West Africa or Central America.

“Because revolution has consequences. In the most glorious attempts to fight corruption, innocent people will be killed and innocent women will be raped. But people are willing to suffer through that chaos, pain, and suffering because their government has become so non-compliant and disrespectful to their civil liberties.”
Tech encourages his listeners to see through the propaganda and fight for truth and justice rather than what is popular. Before anyone champions a cause, he says, “they should understand the history of it.

“Why wouldn’t they want to know the history of their nation? Why wouldn’t they want to understand their nation’s history and relate what happened then to what is happening right now, because history repeats itself.”

Tech, whose real name is Felipe Coronel, was born in Peru in 1979. His family, tired of political instability and civil unrest in Peru, moved to Harlem when Tech was two. The family struggled financially while Tech’s father, now a physics teacher, attended university. Tech spent his teen years rhyming, writing graffiti and getting into fights.

Tech managed to finish high school and was accepted at Pennsylvania State University. Leaving Harlem for Pennsylvania was a difficult transition. Tech says there was a lot of racism on the campus and in the community. Physical violence is how Tech chose to address his rage. “I was no choir boy who just punched some kid in the face,” he admits.

During his second year of studies, Tech was facing multiple charges for aggravated assault in the tri-state area. He was convicted and sentenced to 1 to 2 years at a prison in Pennsylvania.

Shortly before his release date, prison guards caught him confiscating contraband. He was caught with an extra prison shirt. Consequently, Tech spent his last two months in solitary confinement.

While serving time, Tech read extensively, mostly history, philosophy, and the classics. One book in particular, Marx’s “Philosophy of Poverty,” impacted his social development. He wrote a song with the same title that addresses class struggle and the roots of poverty.

Tech was 20 when he was released from prison in 1999. He returned to Harlem, worked in construction, and held various office jobs. On his time off, Tech wrote lyrics to songs. Soon he was entering hip hop battles held in the local clubs. Battling is one way to establish yourself in the hip hop community. It was not long before Tech was winning the battles and gaining fans with his politically-inspired raps.

Today, Tech’s MySpace page has more than five million hits and 200,000 friends on his list, which grows daily. Many want to know what books Tech has read, a strong indication that he is challenging his audience to read about the issues he addresses in his lyrics. The comments posted praise his revolutionary politics and songs as well as his vision and voice. There are even marriage proposals.

Some comments question Tech’s radical politics and beliefs. Tech’s lyrics are a vituperation against the people he deems corrupt, and that includes nearly everyone in the Bush administration. He takes on sensitive topics such as the plight of the Palestinians.

But he thrives on the questions. “I have been challenged everyday by the people around me,” he says. “I don’t surround myself with yes men. I surround myself with people who are eager to see this message grow, and see everything I do come to fruition in a way that will be more effective in addressing the problems we have.

“So I don’t have a fear of having everything I do scrutinized, as long as it is done respectfully.” Engaging in these discussions will only help him grow, he says.

Tech’s MySpace blogs are well-written essays revealing his philosophical and historical grasp on everything from globalization and racism to third world poverty.

Rapping is only a small part of Tech’s life. On June 24th, Tech announced on his MySpace blog his plans to work with the non-profit human rights organization, Omeid International. As part of the first stage of Project Green Light, a partnership effort with Omeid International to build an orphanage and clinic in Afghanistan, Tech has donated $10,000. In addition to this generous donation, Tech plans to hold fundraising concerts across the nation.
The orphanage will house 20 children and the clinic will service the impoverished community in Kabul. There will be a K-5 school where the children will be educated in small group settings by certified teachers from the U.S. and Afghanistan. Future plans include therapists to help the children who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Tech plans to travel to Afghanistan to see how The Amin Institute (the name of the orphanage and clinic), is making progress. Tech writes, “the money I made off this music will give them a place to live and a chance to learn… and rebuild their own nation instead of paying some U.S. corporation trillions of tax dollars to do so after we destroyed it.”

Tech continues to speak at juvenile detention centers and participates in gang workshops which he says helps keep him connected to the streets. In Palestine, Tech helped fund children’s hospitals. When plans were announced to build on the land used by the South Central Farm, a garden that helped feed the poor in this inner-city area of Los Angeles, Tech flew out from New York with his own money. He gave a free performance and participated on the panel speaking out to try to save the farm.

Tech’s blog on police brutality had so many hits it nearly brought down his page. He wrote about the not guilty verdict reached in April against New York police officers involved in the shooting death of Sean Bell outside a New York nightclub. Bell, who was to be married the next day, was shot 50 times while leaving his bachelor’s party.

On his blog, Tech invited people to share their experiences with police brutality. Hundreds responded. Tech plans to submit the responses which he is calling The Police State Chronicles to organizations who promote policy change regarding the use of excessive force by police officers.

Hundreds of Tech’s songs, live performance videos and interviews can be found on YouTube. A charismatic speaker with a velvety voice, Tech’s passion for exposing political corruption and failed foreign policy shine through in these interviews. His Afro-Peruvian and indigenous roots endow him with sultry good looks and flawless skin any woman would envy. Tech’s electrifying live performance videos streaming on YouTube show crowds on their feet pumping their fists and singing along. Here is a video found on YouTube of Tech's song Cause of Death made by Bradley Smith who lives in London.

Music videos made of Tech’s song Peruvian Cocaine which addresses corruption in the war on drugs has been viewed more than 100,000 times on YouTube. It opens with a voice clip from the film Scarface. The short clip is an interview between an American journalist and government official in a South American country. The official says that the United States is the major purchaser of their national product, which is cocaine.

Tech tells a disturbing tale in this song of corruption and exploitation beginning in Peru and ending up on the streets of America. The song ends with a voice clip featuring Wesley Snipes from the film New Jack City. The Snipes clip clearly states how far-reaching and corrupt the war on drugs has become. Snipes points out that there are no Uzis made or poppy fields growing in Harlem.

Music videos of the song Cause of Death garner the most hits. In this song he points out how news of the bombs planted on the George Washington Bridge on 9/11 by four non-Arabs was buried by the press. This is a question asked frequently on his MySpace page. His friends want to know more about this seemingly forgotten incident.

Tom Fenton, a former foreign correspondent for CBS News writes in his book, Bad News that four Israelis driving a white van were arrested in the incident and then released. Initial reports indicate that when the white van was stopped, bomb sniffing dogs smelled explosives. Fenton believes the story was buried to save embarrassment for the Bush administration. The media feared covering the story, he says, “because it doesn’t take much to be accused of anti-Semitism in any negative reporting on Israel.”

Although Tech was offered contracts by major record labels, he has chosen to stay independent. The labels wanted him to tone down his politics. Independent label, Viper Records, is where he found a home and is now president.

Revolutionary Volume I was released in 2001 followed by Revolutionary Volume II in 2004. His much anticipated third album, The Third World was released June 24th. Fans will find a new soul-like beat and lyrics that will inspire, infuriate, and bring a message of change. Tour dates are listed on his MySpace page. His album is available in stores and on his Viper Records website.
Tech ended our interview with something his father told him long ago. “My father said, ‘99.9% of people hate what they do for a living. Find something you love to do, Felipe. Because if you are one of those people who loves what they do, consider yourself blessed.’ And I definitely do sister. Everyday.”
-30-

Bad News and Oscars

2008-02-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

Walter Cronkite (Flickr, E-dubya)

I just finished reading a book called Bad News by Tom Fenton. I heard him interviewed on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. Fenton was a foreign correspndent for CBS News. His book is about how we have become brainwashed, how the news is supposed to be a public service, but has become nothing more than 22 minutes of fluff and sound bites to sell commercial ads.

Fenton also says we have to fight back. It is a great book and easy to read. Check it out. It is at the library. I loved it so much I did buy a copy from a gift certificate I got for Christmas.

I read something interesting in the book about Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man in America. Long ago, Cronkite was told by fellow journalists that he should run for president. He responded with, "they think they would want me for president until they found out if I was president I would take all guns out of Americans hands." I would have voted for him.

Hal Holbrook and Dixie Carter at Academy Awards, 2008, photo taken by Alan Light (Flickr)

I was pleased with the winners at the Academy Awards. I wanted Hal Holbrook to win, but Javier Bardum nailed the character, Anton Chigurgh. I noticed that Hal Holbrook and his wife, Dixie Carter were sitting about five or six rows back in the audience. However, they were moved up to the front row a little later and were sitting next to Daniel Day Lewis and his wife. That was cool. Holbrook deserves our respect and a front row seat. I wonder if Daniel Day Lewis arranged that.

SAG Awards and Heath Ledger

2008-01-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

Heath Ledger (Posted on Flickr by Elywt)

I watched the SAG Awards last night. For my friends in foreign lands, that is the Screen Actors Guild Awards (the actors unions). It was great how they had many actors discuss the importance of unions. Karl Marx of course also discussed the importance of unions. Old Karl didn't want folks to be exploited in the work place and wanted their rights protected. Imagine that?

Anyway, I really wanted Hal Holbrook to win for his performance in into the wild. but Javier Bardem was also great in No Country for Old Men. Javi won. I was pleased to see that Ruby Dee won for american gangster. The scene they showed last night is the scene that was worthy of that award. Great film.

Hal Holbrook and Emile Hirsh, posted on Flickr by Nicolas Frederic

Lastly, I loved that Daniel Day Lewis won. He was great in the film There Will Be Blood. The last scene in the bowling alley I am sure got the religious folks wound up. I, of course, loved what Daniel Day Lewis made the preacher say. I could have lived without what Dan Day Lewis did in that scene.

Dan Day Lewis dedicated his award to Heath Ledger. I loved what he said about Ledger. I have got to tell you that news of Heath's death last week made me so very sad. Such a great young actor.

I love him for accepting the role in brokeback mountain. Such an important movie. Daniel Day Lewis commented on the scene at the end in the mobile home in front of the closet. I also thought that was one of the most powerful scenes you could see from an actor. I am sure most of you thought the same.. That scene gave me the shivers.

Day Lewis commented on Ledger's performance in Monster's Ball as well. Ledger was Billy Bob Thornton's son. He was the one who had a hooker come to his hotel room. That scene with the hooker was just so powerful. And I am not talking about the actual sex.

Another movie worthy of look is called Candy. I rented it after saw Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. It is a great film and an amazing performance.

I read in some obits that he is being compared to James Dean. Also read that his parents named him after Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. His sister was named after Catherine. I loved that book.

My Muy Caliente Rafael Nadal Fantasy

2008-01-27T09:26:00.000-08:00

Photo of Rafael Nadal taken by Blurette

So let me share my fantasy of Rafa. I am a journalist and am trying to get the first interview after the match. I sneak into his locker room waiting for him to emerge from the shower. I am sitting next to his towel on a bench. When he walks out all wet and glisteny, I stand up and say, "is this what you are looking for?" I snap the towel open and hold it next to my side in a bullfighter like stance. I smile and say, "ole."

Open Letter to Doris Lessing

2007-10-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

Photo of Doris Lessing taken by Chris Saunders

Dear Ms. Lessing,
Congratulations on a much deserved Nobel Prize. I would like to share what your book, The Golden Notebook, means to me.

I will begin with London. I am from the United States, however, I moved to London with my New Zealander boyfriend in 1987. We met while living in the greater Los Angeles area, Newport Beach to be exact.

Before we moved to London, I worked as a waitress at an elite restaurant, wore the latest fashions, drank expensive wines, drove a trendy car. However, even through my debauchery and shallow life, I continued to read literature.

While living in London, I read and loved The Guardian newspaper. The Guardian was so very different from the major newspapers in my country. I was also reading Dosteovsky, Gunter Grass, Isak Dineson, Vonnegut, et al. I would think about these books after I read them. One day, while wondering through Covent Garden, I stopped in the General Store and bought a little journal. I began to write little notes about the books in this journal. You see Ms. Lessing, I was pretending I was a literature major at university.

I worked at a cafe on High Holburn called, My Old Dutch, near the West End. At the cafe, I met the most amazing women I have ever encountered in my life to this day. One from Italy, one from Sardinia, and one had an English father and Spanish mother.

Agostina from Sardinia had just returned from a six month journey through South America. Carmen from Italy had many lovers a dozen years younger banging on her door at all hours of the night begging to be let in. The brilliant English/Spanish girl, Glamorous Janice, was working on her law degree and sleeping with a black man who read the tabloid called The Sun...or was it The Standard. It was the tabloid with the half naked woman on page three. Anyway...

All of these women were so strong and adventurous. We spent nearly every afternoon together when our lunch shift ended at 2pm until 6pm when we had to return for the dinner shift.

We walked to Convent Garden/Neal's Yard to have lunch at Food for Thought, a cheap, but good vegetarian cafe.. We shared stories, discussed the cultural differences between our countries, and of course discussed our men.

These women had such amazing stories and lives. So well-traveled. They opened up a whole new world to me. I felt that my life thus far in the culturally vacuous wasteland of Los Angeles was meaningless.

Carmen had coincidentally moved to New Zealand with a boyfriend she met in London who was filthy rich, but tight with his money. She lasted less than a year in Wellington before running back to London. She shared with me countless horror stories of her time there.

My boyfriend also came from a wealthy family and was tight with his money. Carmen kept telling me how New Zealand was like stepping back in time in terms of how they viewed a woman's role. Carmen was a devout feminist and could not tolerate this sort of view.

As a matter of fact, when I began having trouble with my boyfriend, Carmen kept warning me not to go to New Zealand with him. We were planning to move to his home in New Zealand sometime in the fall.

I spent a four hour lunch with Carmen on the day I was to purchase the one way tickets to New Zealand. We consumed two bottles of Pinot Grigio while I listened to Carmen's list of reasons not to go to New Zealand.

At the end of this marathon lunch, I told Carmen that if I did not go, I may wonder the rest of my life if I made the right decision. I told her London may be why we were having problems since my boyfriend and I got along so well in California. Carmen and I walked... more like stumbled and staggered across the street to the travel agent's where I purchased non-refundable one way tickets to New Zealand.

We left London on yet another bone chilling cold and rainy November morning. I was happy to leave the weather behind, but so sad to leave my new friends who had become like sisters to me.

While in New Zealand I was feeling very much like I wanted more from my life than being a wife, country club memberships, tennis with the other wives, etc. I told my boyfriend that I wanted to go back to university. I was 29 at the time. He said I was too old.

To make a long story short, shortly after my boyfriend crushed my dream of a university education, I was home one afternoon escaping my mundane reality with the Gabriel Garcia Marquez book, One Hundred Years of Solitude. This book lifted me out of my house and flew me across oceans to the far away and exotic country of Colombia into the lives of the characters in the story.

I had all the french doors and windows open in our country house outside Wellington on this warm fall day.

I put a pot of potatoes on to boil for dinner in between chapters. I did not notice or smell that the water had burned down. The potatoes were on the verge of burning when my boyfriend came home. The cross breeze from the open windows and doors kept the smell from reaching me in the living room. He picked up the pot and threw it across the kitchen. He then stomped into the living room and yelled that he was tired of my reading books all the time.

I quickly ran out of the living room for the bedroom and locked the door. My hands were shaking while I called the wife of one of our friends. I asked her to come and get me. He continued banging on the bedroom door and berating me with his verbal insults.

I left New Zealand shortly after that, returned to the greater Los Angeles area, and enrolled in a community college. I had the summer to kill before classes began in the fall. I found a job as a waitress in a cheap diner, shopped at thrift stores, and rode a bicycle for transportation.

I ran across your book, The Golden Notebook, in a bookstore that summer. It was the most perfect book for me to read at this turning point in my life. I could not put it down. I read it every waking moment when I wasn't working until I finished it. Such powerful women characters and stories. I can't tell you how much I loved this book. It had the most profound impact on me.

There were moments, mostly in the evening when I was alone, that I questioned whether I had made a mistake by leaving my boyfriend. After reading your book, I knew I made the right decision. Your book helped me realize that there was more to life than country clubs and tolerating your husband's mistresses.

I graduated from UCLA with a degree in history in 1993. I have worked primarily as an educator in Arizona and California. Internationally, I have taught in Bogota, Colombia and Gumi, S. Korea.

There were many times while I was in Colombia that I thought of my little Sardinian friend Agostina who traveled on her own through South America for six months. Meeting Agostina and listening to her stories on rainy afternoons in London helped give me the courage to move to Colombia.

I have also dabbled in documentary filmmaking and made a film on human rights abuses in Colombia. It made some festival circuits, was nominated for an award, and is still shown nationwide at colleges through Amnesty International groups on campuses.

I want to thank you for writing The Golden Notebook. Your book gave me the strength to forge on through some difficult times and countless obstacles while I was at university.

On an end note, it will be twenty years in November that I left London. I am still in contact with Agostina and Janice. We lost track of Carmen a few years after she returned to Milan. The last time I saw Carmen was in Milan in 1989. She had an Italian boyfriend who was at least a dozen years younger.

Agostina has traveled every continent as a translator on cruise ships. She speaks five languages. Agostina is now building a small hotel on Sardinia. She lives with her boyfriend in London. Janice is a lawyer/solicitor. She works in what we call the DA's office here in the USA. Janice worked in sex crimes for a few years, but the child pornography got to her. She asked and was granted a transfer to homicide. She lives with her boyfriend, also a lawyer/solicitor in her office.

I have heard through the grapevine that my ex-boyfriend owns loads of commercial real estate, boats, jet skis, married a nurse/aerobic instructor, had two kids, and a very public affair with an Argentinian ex-beauty queen which ultimately caused his wife to ask for a divorce. She got a huge house out of the deal.

Again, congratulations on your much deserved Nobel Prize. I still have the copy of The Golden Notebook I bought 20 years ago on my shelf and plan to pull it down tonight to read again.

Respectfully,
Mary Cuevas
Los Angeles, California
USA

Abe and Twain

2007-07-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Lincoln Memorial (Posted by Stuck in Customs, Flickr)

Mark Twain (Posted by Kleopatrjones, Flickr)

These quotes were posted on a friend's myspace page and I just love them. I'm with abe and twain.

One last thing, I recently read that animals do not know of their own mortality. We are the only animal that does. Never thought about that before. Explains a lot don't you think?

"The scientist who yields anything to theology, however slight, is yielding to ignorance and false pretenses, and as certainly as if he granted that a horse-hair put into a bottle of water will turn into a snake. - H.L. Mencken

"Man is the religious animal. He is the only religious animal. He is the only
animal that has the True Religion –- several of them. He is the only animal that
loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat, if his theology isn't straight.
He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven." - Mark Twain

"I have as much authority as the Pope. I just don't have as many people
who believe it." - George Carlin

"When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion."
- Abraham Lincoln