Stand Up Guys (2013)

This is a diversionary movie populated by three actor who I have enjoyed for many years--it is not great art, but it is pretty funny.
Al Pacino plays a life long criminal who has just gotten out of prison after a very long stretch.  The job that he was doing when he got arrested and eventually sentenced for went very wrong.  Not only did he get caught, but worse yet, the son of the crime boss was killed.  His story is that the kid panicked and there was nothing to be done, but that is not the message that the boss wants to hear.  Now that he has done every single day of his time, he wants his long time buddy, played by Christopher Walken, to kill him.

So it is a bad situation.  Walken could refuse, but then his granddaughter stands to pay the price as well as he.  So instead he decides that he will give him the very best day that money can buy and then he will kill him.  Part of a great day is springing their long time wheel man, Alan Arkin, from the nursing home he now resides in.  The movie is well paced, the lines are well delivered, and while it is not high art, it is enjoyable.  Especially if you like these old guys.



DOMA Unconstitutional: A More Perfect Union

With the bad there comes some good.  Just one day after the cornerstone of protecting the rights of under-represented American citizens is gutted by 5 old white men, we get a decision that is so right you would have to believe that it would have happened but for the fact that we have a Supreme Court that is more about protecting the wealthiest and most powerful amongst us than it is about protecting the Constitution and the rights of all Americans.  Sometimes the right thing happens.

The 'Defense of Marriage Act' is unconstitutional.  From the name it sounds like it might be a good thing. After all, 40-50% marriages in the U.S. today are predicted to end in divorce.  The rate of divorce in American is fifth in the world, and three of the four countries ahead of us are part of the former Soviet Union, a government that is not associated with celebrating the sanctity of marrage.  This law was not about defending marriage--it didn't seek to right the wrongs that have happened in the institution of marriage in the United States.  It sought to limit the civil liberties of gay Americans by denying them the benefits of marriage that our country confers on those who manage to stay married, against all odds.  That ended this week.  Now all marriages that are sanctioned by the state will be recognized by the Federal Government.  We are not done, by any means, with marriage equality.  There are still far more states that do not allow it than there are where you can get married--but there has been a flurry of change this past year, and there are several more states that are likely to come next: Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Hawaii, New Jersey and Nevada, to name a few.  The train has left the station, and yesterday, the SCOTUS made it clear it is not coming back.

Voter's Right's Act Gutted by SCOTUS

Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King, Jr. are appalled today.  The first is that the Voter's Rights Act was just gutted by the Supreme Court.  The second is that the majority who voted for the gutting of the most important piece of Civil Rights legislation are the same ones who were in the minority on the court decision related to marriage equality (Justices Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and Thomas).  They had the gall to publicly denounce the other justices as lacking judicial restraint.  Look in the mirror men (because no woman on the court voted for this outrage), you are hypocrites.  Your abuse of judicial power is rampant, this year included, this decision included.  You just get apoplectic when you don't get your way.

The court struck down the clause in the Voter's Rights Act that required states that have historically suppressed voting for minority voters to have to get federal permission to change voting.  The first question to ask is has voter suppression been an issue in the past decade?  More so now than ever, if the Republican activity in the 2012 election is an indication of what the future holds.  I find it both frightening and pathetic that an outnumber majority attempts to maintain it's hold on elected power by keeping citizens from voting and by gerrymandering voting districts.  These are short term solutions to their problems, but they will be effective for that short term.  The presidency of George W. Bush demonstrated how much damage can be done in a short period of time.  already, less than a week after the decision, states are queuing up to makes changes that are very unlikely to benefit under-represented minorities.

So how to respond?  The first is to ignore Scalia completely.  The man has gotten his way more times than not and he is an inveterate meddler with the will of Congress.   The second is to mitigate the changes that are inevitable coming--we are well on our way to the mid-term elections and it makes sense to try to get out the vote starting now.

Alebrijes or Carved Wooden Animals, Oaxaca

I really love these carved animals, or alebrijes, that are everywhere to be seen in the Oaxaca region of Mexico.  I brought back two lizards, just like the one pictured her--I planned to attach them with fishing line to a tree outside, but so far I haven't been able to part with them long enough to get them outside.  I also brought back an absolutely gorgeous rooster.  When I am traveling and I see something everywhere, sometimes I lose sight of the fact that no one will have even one of them, and if I don't get one that I will be so sorry later on.  That philosophy means that the art in my house lacks focus and a clear theme, but it also means that I love every piece.  The additional silver lining is that it reminds me of the trip that it was acquired on, and Oaxaca is a very special place indeed.

The tradition had been around for hundreds of years, and is likely to stem back to the time of colonialism, when the Dominican monks taught local people to carve a local tree.  The local churches have clearly benefited from the skills they learned--both originally, and in the attempts to restore Oaxaca's many local churches.  The alebrijes are usually made by a family--the man carves, using very simple tools, and the woman paints--that was true of the ones that I bought, and I was able to meet both artists when I purchased them.  I did not get to visit a village that specializes in these carvings--so I have something that I need to do on my return to the region!

A Discourse on Inequality by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1754)

I have spent the last two weeks being deeply immersed in Western Civilization from the Age of Enlightenment up to the present.  I am reading a textbook to my youngest son, and he has been listening to audiobooks of the other readings for the course.  One of his very generous history teachers in high school listened to these books with him, and helped him to understand what they were talking about.  She provided the historical context for him, which was a tremendous amount of work.   So I wouldn't necessarily have had to read this book, but I never read some of the classic works that made up the political theories of the time, and it seemed like a good opportunity to play some catch up ball.

I have been making a small but concerted effort to read some non-fiction as an over-50 year old, for whom college was a very long time ago.  My husband noted to me over the weekend that it was probably okay to take a hiatus from that, because as Ethan progresses through college with us acting as his main tutors, I am very likely to read a lot of non-fiction.  I got a glimpse of that as I read his American Studies class reading to him last fall, but we are going through the work for this course in a much more compressed time frame, and in the course of helping him learn, I am learning too.

Rousseau was living in France when he wrote this essay (he later returns to Geneva where he is from), and he saw massive inequality all around him.  The drawing on the book pretty much sums up what he saw--the peasants were literally carrying the clergy and the noblemen.  They did most of the work and they paid all the taxes, and they lived lives of quiet desperation.  Where did this inequity come from and how did it begin?

This is the interesting part--Rousseau thinks that if you go back to man at the beginning of time that he was a loner--he didn't live with other people.  I have some trouble with this, because when man is born he is a baby, and he needs care, and so at the very least somebody is going to have to take care of him, so there are at least two people together, but as far as I can tell, he never really talks about child rearing at the beginning of time.  The part I liked best is that Rousseau thought that man was basically good then.  He disagreed with Hobbes that man needed government and religion because he was basically bad--Rousseau felt that there were other roots of society, and that those were the things that led to inequality, but that man left to his own devices was a good guy.

Amour (2012)

First and foremost, do not think about this as a light romantic comedy.  It is super serious, sobering, and disturbing.  The director is in no mood to spare you any of the pain and suffering that this elderly couple go through as she slowly slips from life with a series of strokes.  You are meant to squirm and be uncomfortable and to think about your grandparents, your parents, your friends, your neighbors and ultimately yourself facing the unbearable choices that lay before all of at the end of life.  If you want to postpone that inward reflection, do not see this movie. 

This movie won the Best Foreign Language Film this year, and it was nominated for Best Film. So why the dire warnings up front?  you really need to be in the mood to really enjoy what this movie has to offer--which is rich and deep and absolutely worth devoting your time and energy to.  The couple are close, they have had a cultured and full life together, but when she learns that she is going to gradually slip away and there is nothing that can be done about it, she makes her husband promise he will let her die at home.   Well, that turns out to be a very tall order indeed, and it is well worth thinking about the price that one's family pays when that is the promise you extract from them.  Think twice before those words pass your lips.
You will not walk away from the movie and leave it in the theatre--you will take it home with you.

El Catedral Restarante, Oaxaca

The best meal for the price that I had on my recent trip to Oaxaca was at this restaurant.  I was with a group that had many different priorities.  Some wanted to eat for a modest price.  Others wanted a memorable meal.

While it was my first trip to Oaxaca, I had done my usual due diligence of trying to find restaurants that I would enjoy on the trip--including an estimation of the cost--now it is very hard to know what a modest price is for a crowd--what might seem very reasonable to one person seems like a fortune to another.  Then there are the people who want an appetizer, a dessert, a few drinks and something for the main meal, and don't understand how it all added up to so much.  But I boldly made this choice--even though one person groaned when they saw just how close it was to the central plaza.

I had a sinking feeling when I went into the restaurant--the tables were set with elegant place settings and there were multiple waiters attentively standing in wait for a very few tables.  The building was just gorgeous, with high ceilings and the arches that you see on the exterior are echoed inside as well.  I was amongst the first to open my menu--and was very pleasantly surprised that there were an abundance of dishes to be had at very reasonable prices.  The house wine was excellent, and the meal came with an amuse-bouche, no less.  The food was outstanding (lots of updated versions of regional dishes that were flavorful, inventive and satisfying (for both the palate and the pocket book).  We were dining in the court yard, and when there were the first signs of rain, a canopy high above us rolled out and we remained dry.  A success!

Humberto Batista, Oaxaca

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Oaxaca was a visit to the studio of Humberto Batista. He is an internationally known artist whose art is a combination of assembling figures from other objects, and then more traditional art forms, including painting and collage.  The first and foremost thing about this visit was just how incredibly warm and welcoming the artist himself is--he is someone who has a playful look in his eye that you can discern from the moment you meet him. He welcomed a group of American strangers into his studio--which is also his home--with the aplomb of an expereinced host.  The second thing that was wonderful about the visit was the pieces themselves.  They range from what I would consider table top size--about a foot high, something that you could imagine having on your desk or on a side table in your living room.  These figures are more playful than serious.  You will find yourself chuckling the longer you look at them.  Then his larger pieces, which are 2-3 feet high, are very very powerful. 

 They are beautifully put together, and they really made me think in a very good way.  I really loved them--but when I was thinking about whether I should try to bring one home, I realized that it would be the sort of thing that I would put in the lobby of an office building rather than in my living room.  I like them so much, but it is not art that I would want to live with, which is an interesting phenomenon.  I so rarely find such moving art available at a price point that I can afford--but this work made me wish that I had an office space that could accomodate one such sculpture.

The artist also has a really interesting collection of wooden carved masks that are not made him, and then there are some really large pieces that are even more evocative.
If you get a chance to see Humberto Batista's work, take it--he is a powerful, thoughtful, and unique artist.

Oz The Great and Powerful (2013)

This is a diversionary movie, nothing more, but I enjoyed it. 
I am old enough to have grown up in a time when as a child there was an annual airing of 'The Wizard of Oz', so I saw the original movie at least a dozen times.  I saw dozens of characters from the movies at countless Halloween parties throughout my youth.  The movie, with it's charming actress who came to a tragic end, was a part of the national pop culture.  So this film steps into some pretty big shoes.

The movie is a prequel to it's 1939 brethren, and it is a darker and more complex presentations of the forces of good and evil--there are some heavy hitting actors in this who can carry that off.  James Franco plays Oscar, a two bit con man who leaves the circus and ends up in Oz.  He is way out of his depths in terms of magical powers, but what he lacks in talent he makes up for with resourcefulness, and with the help of the good witch (Michelle Williams) he manages to pull off a major con on the bad witch (Rachel Weizl) and the good people of Oz. This could be enjoyed by adults and children alike (although beware--it is dark in spots and violent in others--not for the very young).

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

This is a classic teen love triangle moving into young adulthood--but with a significant sci-fi twist that gradually gets revealed.  The author doesn't have a reputation as a fantasy writer (he is robably best known for "Remains of the Day') and so if you are trepidatious of that genre, this would be a good way to put your tow in the water.

The book is not, however, a good fit for someone who requires an upbeat story or a happy ending, because both are sorely lacking here.  The story of what is really going on unfolds for the reader as well as the three main characters in a gradual manner.  The more we know, the less we like about what is going on, but it is done in such a way that we do not catch the full brunt of what the author is saying to us until the last third of the book, and by then we are so involved with the characters that we keep reading, even though their situation is terrifying.

Here are the basics:  Kathy is the narrator.  She goes to a boarding school with Tommy and Ruth.  There is something special about the school, and the characters lives revolve around the school--there is no mention of family.  Ruth sees that Tommy loves Kathy and that Kathy loves Tommy, and she goes about making sure that they don't figure that out about each other, and eventually that a relationship between them would be a betrayal of her.  Typical high school girl drama, where Kathy doesn't see the manipulation until it is much too late.  What makes this different is that these people do not have their whole lives ahead of them--their time is short.  So it changes the emotional dynamics quite a bit and not at all, both at the same time.  Layered into this is what society has become, the lack of morals that exist, and how these kids came to be.  What we can do medically and what we should do medically are two separate things, and the book does a nice job of getting the reader to think about that.