Pieces of My Mind Related to Everything From Gun Control, to Jarmusch to Bill W. to Movie Lists

Dear Christian Right: Please Shut Up: If you don't want to marry a gay person, don't. If you don't think gay people shouldn't marry, that's your right, you're entitled to any bigoted notion you've a mind to. But don't try to impose your Dark Ages values on the rest of us. I'm speaking to you Chick-fil-a president Dan Cathy. Please keep in mind that this is not a Christian nation anymore than it is a Muslim one, Jewish one or Hindu one or Pagan one. It is however a nation in which people are free to practice whatever religion they choose. They should remember that their religious views are their own to have and to hold and do not belong in political discourse. Hey, Cathy! Instead of pumping money into anti gay marriage initiatives, why not put it towards the kind of charitable efforts that your supposed lord and savior would applaud. Maybe something like helping poor people. Just a thought.

Anytime is the Right Time to Discuss Gun Control: In the wake of the shooting last week in Colorado, right wing commentators crawled out from under their rocks to holler about this not being the appropriate time to talk about gun control. I suppose in their minds the "right time" would be when gun deaths in the U.S. average zero a day. Given that the current average is 87, that day may be a ways off. I'd like to propose that every day is a good day to talk about how to keep guns out of the hands of the insane and automatic assault weapons out of the hands of, oh...let's say -- everybody. It used to be when their was a gun related tragedy in this country the NRA would go on the defensive. Not anymore. Now they go on the offensive. And a more paranoid group of people you never encountered. They are dead sure that President Obama is going to try to pry their guns away from their warm living hands although he hasn't showed the balls yet to even mention gun control. They're also convinced that Americans need their guns to protect themselves from the government. Seriously. This kind of dystopian fantasy is baffling. One final note: you notice that the people against gay marriage are usually the same folks who are against gun control. In other words they feel more threatened by two people of the same gender making a life commitment to one another then they are of AK-47s. These are some seriously messed up people.

My Name is Richard and I'm....: Thursday night I had the privilege of seeing a screening of a new documentary called Bill W. about Bill Wilson the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. There are a  number of famous people who have been in 12 step programs, but Bill W. is the only person I know of whose entire claim to fame was based on his getting sober. In any case he richly deserves any accolades and fame that posthumously come his way. His anonymity is shot, so what the hell. Time magazine named him one of the most influential Americans of the 20th century. As one speaker in the film said, "if Bill hadn't come along someone else would have started it, but he's the one who did it." Amen brother. AA has a simple perfection to it: finding sobriety and living a life of recovery by  sharing your story and surrounding yourself with fellow alcoholics in recovery. The secret is that getting clean is simply part one, a means to living a life without the influence of drugs or alcohol is the real heart of the program. There is no cure, this is about the journey, not a destination. It's a wonderful structure because you can take from it what you want. "The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking." And if after attending meetings for a week, a month, a year or ten years, if you go out and get drunk you can walk right back into a meeting and everyone will say "welcome!" Bill W. is an excellent documentary because it is, like the man it profiles, honest and humorous. It does not make Bill Wilson out to be a saint. He is presented as he was: a remarkable man but one with flaws just like the rest of us. While the film will have special meaning to the recovery community, it should appeal to a wide audience and I hope it comes to a theater near you soon. I attended the screening with Kevin L. a friend and model of how it works. This is a shout out to my long time pal.

To Jarmusch or not to Jarmusch: Decades ago I saw the Jim Jarmusch film, Stranger Than Paradise (1984) and frankly I can't tell you what I thought of it. But more recently I saw and loved Broken Flowers (2005) which starred Bill Murray. I finally decided to dive headlong into his work. My first stop was Dead Man (1995) starring Johnny Depp which I thought was an interesting and excellent film and so could not wait to see more. Next up was The Limits of Control (2009) which was one step above watching grass grow only because when you watch grass grow Tilda Swinton doesn't happen by. Yesterday I tried Coffee & Cigarettes (2003) and it was not so much boring as it was irritating, annoying and obnoxious. So it looks like, for me, Jarmusch is hit or miss and I'm leery of investing anymore time on him when I can always just watch a Bergman film or plays Words with Friends. I think I'll give Night on Earth (1991) a shot, but it'll be on a short lease. Usually a director, even the best of them, has an occasional clunker mixed in with their masterpieces (see Hitchcock's (The Paradine Case (1947) but two out and out bombs is unusual.

Just What We Don't Need - A List of Bad Films: Earlier this week the San Francisco Chronicle ran a list of the 100 worst film of the century so far and no I'm not going to link it. A better title, one that actually would have been accurate, would have been, One Guy Lists the Movies he's Hated so Far in this Century. The very embodiment of being pretentious is labeling art you don't like as the worst and art you do like as the best. You're always just talking about your favorites. Your own personal opinion which is never any better or worse than mine or that raving lunatic who hangs out downtown. I stupidly looked at the list only because a co-worker was and she was loudly exclaiming her disagreement with some of his choices. Most movies were ones that had been universally panned by critics, but there were some that were well thought of including one of my favorite films of all time. So this is the kind of thing that is just going to piss people off. Maybe that's the point. The critic says: let me rile up the hoi polloi and see what kind of nasty emails I get. But the worst thing about such an exercise is that its done by a nationally known critic and film historian. This is what he wants to invest his time in?  How about using your talents to celebrate some lesser known films that the masses are unaware of?  In other words, instead of ticking people off needlessly, how about enlightening them? Too hard, perhaps.

Final Thought: There's so much in the world to get blindly depressed about (see global warming, droughts, heat waves, corporate greed, haters having to hate) that its important to spend some time with flowers, grass, trees, good music, good food, family and friends and movies that you love. Remind yourself to give time to the good stuff. We all deserve it.

Happy Ingmar Bergman's Birthday

The great Dick Cavett interviewed Bermgman in 1971. Today is the 96th anniversary of Bergman's birth. Also read this letter from Stanley Kubick to Bergman, which says it all better than I could.

My Great Idea for a Money-Making Film In Which Too Much is Never Enough

I have a great idea for a film and I believe it could actually turn a profit. I am not copywriting this idea so its totally up for grabs. It's actually quite simple. Imagine this if you will: take an existing comic book hero and tell his story cinematically.  Ka-ching!

A charismatic, handsome big name male star should be in the lead. He should crack wise whenever possible. He should have no extreme character traits and be perfectly apolitical. While the gentleman should be muscular and quite masculine he should be neither overly buff nor unusually tall, leave that for the villains who I'll address later.

The hero should, of course, have an alter ego that is in stark contrast if not totally opposite to his super hero persona. No more than one or two others should now of his true identity. Our hero should have a humble assistant who is at his beck and call. Said sidekick should be witty, self effacing but every loyal. There need also be a love interest. This should be a female who is, shall we say, easy on the eyes. There need be some form of tensions between them, perhaps owing to his super heroic activities and to the woman's strong independent streak. The actress in the role should be popular, though need not either be a star not particularly skilled at acting. There should be a number of recognizable character actors sprinkled about the film, many respected older actors looking for a quick buck.

No hero is of any use without enemies. We should first introduce our hero easily besting some less competent but dastardly bad guys. Later, after we've developed some of our hero's back story (perhaps he has a dark past!!!) and the complications adherent to superheroing, we will meet a serious opponent. it might even be worthwhile to have said baddie be already known as respectable citizen, maybe even one who is acquainted with our hero. He should also be played a well known actor, maybe even one who has typically played sympathetic characters. The illusion should always be that this is actual serious film making and having beloved actors in the film fuels this fiction.

Villains are entitled to boast gargantuan proportions or even an unfair set of weapons. Of course the villain has wreaked havoc with the innocent and has more nefarious plans in the offing. His victory must be seen as catastrophic, this can be no mere bank robbery our hero is foiling.

The film must set up a final confrontation, a battle royal shall we say, between the hero (force of good) and the villain (force of evil). This battle must be a seesaw affair where our hero seems to on the verge of an easy victory before a sudden reversal puts the nogoodnik in a seemingly insurmountable advantage. However, through pluck determination and even a little bit of luck that those in the right are fully entitled to, our hero prevails.

Maybe the villain survives the defeat and we are set up for the inevitable series of sequels to come in which our hero is repeatedly tested in battles he will continually win. This is not so much a movie as a franchise with net profits as great as the number of suckers with extra ten and 20 bills.

The film should feature the latest and best in special effects, the more dazzling the better. They should help distract audiences from the true vacuity of the story. The action should be piled on hot and heavy with little room for rumination.  Fast cuts and quick editing are a must. Explosions and crashes are to be emphasized. Character development should be superficial and strictly stereotyped. Nothing truly human should be seen or felt at any time. After all this is cinema as distraction with no attempt at art. This will guarantee a tremendous payday for all investors. Remember this is a capitalist venture which means that the bottom line is the bottom and only line. Get the public hooked on the film like its a drug. They'll demand more such films with better and better special effects and more and more action. Too much will never be enough. Audience as addicts.

The rental and sale of DVDs will ensure further profits and even more can be obtained via product placement and commercial tie ins with brother industries such as fast food chains.

There it is. Yours for the taking. All I ask in return is a brief mention during the ten minute closing credits that roll on and on before a once packed theater that is nearly empty save for the spilled popcorn and Milk Duds boxes.

Three Rock Films and Two Thirties Classics and the Author Riffin'

I want to write like Kerouac and Ginsberg in my Berkeley brain and put it on paper and read it aloud in 1956 to cool people in a cool club where they  dig it and say so just before I get invited to a party by Neal Cassady and Gerry Mulligan wails on his sax. Or I turn up at a Hendrix concert and watch and listen and then go dancing with Grace Slick and more and more and fun galore. Run my mind high on Howl on Sal Paradise and Sylvia Plath poems and Joplin tearing up a song while The Who blow up the stage and we all fly to places of lovely beyond where we groove. Groovy. Movie.

What I've scene (no sic).

The Complete Monterey Pop Festival 1967 (1968). Oh man. The aforementioned Hendrix and Joplin and Who and Grace Slick with the Jefferson Airplane not to mention the unaforementioned Mamas and Papas and Simon and Garfunkel and Hugh Masekela and Otis Redding and Eric Burdon and The Animals and The Association and Ravi Shankar and Laura Nyro and the never to be aforementioned more. Wow. And wow again. Great acts at a fascinating time in American culture and history and of course just music. Just on the cusp of the Summer of Love with hippies in full hipness and such a good vibe no hint of any future bad acid trip you know. The footage of just the people there at that amazing three day concert is righteously cool and this is one of the better documentaries and music DVDs ever.

Gimme Shelter (1970). Bummer. As cinema this is a totally bodacious documentary, as a concert given by the Stones for free at the Altamont speedway here in the sticks of the outer Bay Area this was supreme downer. Crowds out of control especially with Hell's Angels providing "security" or whatever the f--- they were doing and killing a guy -- caught on tape. Three hundred thousand people at one poorly planned venue with a lot of bad acid and other drugs both good bad and c'mon is the devil's own recipe. Get the full story here. Great if disturbing stuff. (Historical and personal side note: on that day I was at a 49ers game with my dad, beat Chicago 42-21. Hah!)

Jimi Plays Berkeley (1971). This was filmed where and around where I was going to high school at the time. At the time. In addition to Hendrix performing there are scenes of the protests I attended and  watching them brought back memories of tear gas and rock chucking and police in riot gear and Vietnam and People's Park and the fear and excitement mixed together creating adrenalin doubled, tripled. Will reserve judgement on this film because a brand spanking new and improved version is coming out like next week and I've got to see that re-mastered version with all its more stuff in it.

Les Miserables (1934) Kind of deviating from a theme here but have to give this amazing discovery a shout out. Read that this is widely considered the definitive cinematic version of the Victor Hugo masterpiece. Can't say, as I've not seen them all but can say that this three-part nearly five hour film from France is truly magnificent. Raymond Bernard directed and Harry Baur stars as Jean Valjean. If you get Hulu Plus you can watch it there or just rent it from Netflix. You'll be seeing a sumptuous work with beautiful detailed sets, great cinematography, bravura action scenes and an amazing cast. I love, love, loved it.

The 39 Steps (1935). I've watched this Hitchcock thriller nearly a dozen times and like it more with each viewing. Any true Hitch fun will love it and see how it influenced so many of his later films especially North by Northwest. Criterion has a new edition out that makes it even better to look at. Also some nice new bonus features.

Have seen other stuff as well. Much of it swell. And been reading some really good poetry which is better than watching your television (hey, what isn't?). And of course reading Kerouac to no end my mind to bend and thinking about you. You who come here and read and how so many times there is nothing new because....Oh I work a lot now you know and I write "other stuff" that is like very important to me and maybe -- hopefully -- you'll see it some day. Some. Day.

Movies I've Watched Lately, All of Them I Enjoyed Greatly

I recently had a week off and of course watched a passel of movies. What else does someone like me, especially when I am me, do with some time off at home? Here's capsulized comments (you don't want tablets, I'm sure). And by the way these were all favorites that I own on DVD so you know I'm just gonna say nice stuff. 'Nuff.

Red Desert (1964). Amazingly beautiful especially with Monica Vitti and that marvelous face. Deep lush colors. The environment as the story along with the emotionally fragile and even damaged Vitti character whose actions alternate between the willful and the randomly bizarre. Antonioni directed and this is one of his three masterpieces and you should know the other two (L'Elclisse (1962) and L'Avventura (1960)). Richard Harris is a co-star and he plays a guy who goes with Vitt's flow. So.

Band of Outsiders (1964). Go Godard go. Jean Luc the director of this peripatetic story of three young rebels without the slightest cause other than perhaps the art of being cool. See them plan and sort of pull of a heist, see them take in the Louvre in record time, see them and their mannered dance, see them skip out on English class. See them smoke and drive and play at being latter day Bonnie and Clydes. See a cold overcast Paris in March looking so chill. It's a thrill.

Europa (1991). Wow. Fast becoming a favorite of all time. For me. Von Sydow's narration, meant to be hypnotic. Is. So is the whole movie. Strange and wonderful von Trier made this and Melancholia (2011), a great cinematic mind at work at times. Europa deftly from black and white to color to black and white to color to black and white to color. Not always sure what the story is about just sure that I like it. Germany right after World War II. Mysterious and strange. A movie I'd never rearrange.

Habla Con Ella (2002). Almadavor directs some weird stuff as a gay male nurse falls in love with his beautiful young catatonic female patient. Why not? He befriends a journalist whose bull fighter lover also goes into a coma. Wow. Beautiful story to watch and ponder as a contemplation of how we obsess, love, become ourselves through others. A thoughtful film. A film in thought. Glad I bought.

The Great Dictator (1940). A historical document as an entertaining comedy as a lampooning of particular dictators and forms of government and repression and hate. Chaplin takes on Hitler. Does he overdo the message at the end? How can you when your message is peace, love and understanding in the face of totalitarianism. The little tramp's last turn. After it, Europe would burn.

Run Lola Run (1998). Franka Potente is frenetic as she runs, runs, runs. We see how  a simple movement, decision, action can change the course of a life and thus many lives and thus the world. Direction by Tom Tykwer -- well done as is the editing and I like the way the movie makes a broad point in a broad way and is so damn much fun and gives such a rich vein of thinking to think on. Watch Lola run. It's fun!

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972). Meet the utterly and totally and completely self possessed fashion designer Petra who falls utterly and totally and completely in love with young Karin and then just loses it. Meanwhile she's got an utterly and totally and completely dedicated assistant who responds to Petra's every whim and says nothin.' The mad and mercurial  Rainer Werner Fassbinder directed this mad long set piece. Peace.

Manhattan (1979). Start with vistas and skylines in glorious black and white to the tune of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Perfect prelude to a perfect film. Angst never better. Woody wrote, directed and starred with Dane Keaton. But don't forget Michael Murphy so good as the philandering friend, or Mariel Hemingway the young lover. Funny, wise and poetic. Love and betrayal. Allen hit on the nail.

Ivan's Childhood (1962). Not such a great childhood for the little Russian boy. Serving the Soviet Army during WWII. Haunted by memories of the sad fates that befell his family. Soothed or tormented by happier memories of Mom and pre war days. Visually stunning film from Tarkovsky. His camera soars above, or looks up from below. The action is muted but emphasized in foretelling or aftermath by the exquisite camera work. Haunting tale. Leaves a mental trail.

A Parting Gift to My ESL Class in U.S. History & Culture, 20 American Films to Enhance Their Understanding of the U.S.

I teach English at the greatest ESL school in San Francisco – and probably the entire country. I am very lucky. In addition to two general English classes, this past term I've taught a class in U.S. History & Culture. Meeting for 80 minutes twice a week over 10 weeks, I've covered the history of the U.S. from colonial America to the 1960s (it was as far as I could get). I tried to give my students a feeling for the most formative experiences in the history of this country, covering as best as I could the stories of the American Revolution, the Constitution, Slavery, the diaspora and borderline genocide of the Native Americans, Manifest Destiny, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crowism, Civil Rights, U.S. Imperialism, Immigration, the Women's Movement, the U.S. in World Wars I and II, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, McCarthyism and the culture revolution of the 1960s. Then in the second week....

My class, which meets twice more, has had students from Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Japan, Italy, France, Belgian, Switzerland, China, Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil, most between the ages of 18 and 30. They have tolerated my quips and occasional meanderings, and contributed their questions and energy. I am leaving them with this list of 20 films that can further their understanding of this country in various ways. I was careful to select a variety of films. The principle criteria was that they all be bloody good movies. There's no use watching a movie designed to further your understanding of something if said movie stinks.

The list  easily could have been four times as long. But really, how many of these are they going to have the time or inclination to see? Plus, as the list is annotated, I barely had the time to go beyond twenty. It should be noted that none of these films are meant to be a stand-alone lesson on anything in U.S. History; instead, they are meant to give a feeling for an event, time or trend, or show how Americans view themselves.

Rather than waste a lot more paper by printing the list, I'm providing it on this forum so they can have easy access to it, and so that my army of faithful readers (both of us) may see it as well. So in no particular order, here goes:

Glory (1989) The best Civil War film yet made, which come to think of it, isn't saying a whole lot. But it's a wonderful movie about the first truly successful all Black regiment, the 54th, to see action in the war. Their heroism proved to Lincoln and many others the bravery of African American fighting men. Top notch performances by Denzel Washington (an Oscar for it), Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick.

All the President's Men (1976) The story of how two reporters for the Washington Post were central to breaking the Watergate scandal that ultimately brought down an American president. It is a celebration of the American newspaperman and freedom of the press. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman star as Woodward and Bernstein, respectively. A great supporting cast helped make this a captivating tale.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) An examination of three American servicemen who've just returned from helping the U.S. win World War II. It is a frank look at America immediately post-war and the not-so-easy transition for many veterans. A slice of Americana topped with doses of reality. William Wyler directed an all star cast featuring Dana Andrews, Frederich March, Harold Russell, and Myrna Loy.

Wild Boys of the Road (1933) A no-holds barred look at life for young people during the Great Depression. William Wellman directed this school-of-hard-knocks film which was made during the height of the depression. These are not Andy Hardy teens, but the rough tumble experience of kids on the road looking for something better–and frankly– not finding it.

The Grapes of Wrath (1940) The classic depression-era film from John Steinbeck's novel directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda. The story of the Joads who escape Oklahoma's Dust Bowl for California only to find labor strife, oppression and more dashed hopes. One of the great films of all time.

Platoon (1986) Based on director Oliver Stone's own experiences as a soldier in Vietnam, this is a frank and reportedly quite accurate look at life in an American platoon. Charlie Sheen starred with a dynamic supporting cast featuring Willem Defoe and Tom Berenger.

Meet John Doe (1941) America looks at itself during the Depression and sees much that could go wrong (fascism) and much that could go right if people's voices are heard. There are lessons here about late 1930s America, the press, populism and political bosses. The John Doe movement will remind many of the pitfalls of the current Tea Party and their ongoing service to the 1%.

My Darling Clementine (1946) A classic Western from John Ford based on the Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and O.K. Corral shootout legends. It's a typically visually beautiful Ford film, and thus is a romanticization of the Old West. Not so much to be seen for its limited historical content, but as a look at the American Western.

Goodfellas (1990) Another American classic – the Gangster film. This one from Martin Scorcese is based on actual events in the life of Henry Hill. It features the quintessential gangster performances from Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci. Goodfellas is a fascinating look both at the realities of modern gangster life and the romanticization of gangsters in American culture.

The Godfather Part 2 (1974) Another Gangster film, this one has the added plus of revealing a lot about immigration and American city life in the early 1900s. Later we see gangsters all cleaned up and facing a congressional committee. A strong commentary about the marriage of political and mob power.

Milk (2008) The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States. Sean Penn is remarkable in the title role of a film that tells an important chapter in the history not just of Gay rights in the U.S., but people's rights.

Malcolm X (1992) The true story of another genuine American hero, Malcolm X (neé Little and later El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz). Spike Lee directed this compelling biopic about the transition of one man from a small-time hood and convicted felon to an important national political figure. Reviled by whites and later by the Nation of Islam after he rejected the sect in favor of more traditional (and less corrupted) Muslim worship and teachings.

Boyz N the Hood (1991) Life in the hood circa 1990. One of the few films ever to successfully  tackle the experience of inner city life for African Americans This is director John Singleton's unflinching look at the harsh realities and violence central to the experience of growing up for Black youth in America. It is still very much relevant today.

Gangs of New York (2002) In addition to everything else this fine film from Martin Scorsese has going for it, Gangs of New York is an excellent look at, well, gangs in 19th century America. Indeed, the film captures the sights and sounds of the era about as well as one can imagine is possible. Daniel Day-Lewis's portrayal of a gang leader is a great film performance.

The Front (1976) Woody Allen stars, but does not direct (yes, that Woody Allen), in perhaps Hollywood's best look at McCarythism in general and the blacklisting of people in the entertainment in particular. Allen plays a man who fronts for several blacklisted writers and sees first hand the costs of the Red Scare to the innocent individual. Zero Mostel is excellent as a troubled comic.

Saving Private Ryan (1998) This film from director Steven Spielberg embodies the current U.S. view of the heroic American solider of World War II. It is a sentimentalization of the inferno which engulfed Europe and Asia. Still, it is a damn good film and its scenes on the beaches of Normandy are as realistic as a person could want to see. Today's American soldier – and his sacrifices on the battlefield – are being dramatized and propagandized out of any reasonable proportion, and this film is a classic example of that new ethos.

The Big Trail (1930) This little known gem is far and away the bet film on the perils of the wagon train in mid 19th century America. There are melodramatic twists added to the tale, but there is much to admire about this incredibly detailed and visually sweeping look at a bygone time in U.S. history. Raoul Walsh directed in a wide screen process that was not to become popular for another 20 years.

The Strawberry Statement (1970) The ultimate 1960s - early 1970s American protest film, and it was made at the time. There is much to dismiss about a lot of the acting and the production values, but the soundtrack is spot on and the feeling of change and protest of the time has never been done better. Watch a love-struck young man join a campus protest  get caught up in events (as many of us did).

Dances With Wolves (1990) Kevin Costner's sweeping epic about an American soldier of the late 1860s who joins a Sioux tribe. A rare film that sympathizes with Native Americans, it also gives a hint of tribal life, particularly with the coming encroachment of whites. It underscores the unique culture of the Plains Indians and their tragic fate in the face of white expansion.

The Roaring Twenties (1939) A great lesson in the terrible price of Prohibition as told through the mercurial rise and epic fall of one gangster, Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney). This is also the classic Gangster film of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Infamy Yes, Conspiracy No

Walked into the teacher's room  yesterday and someone was going on about how FDR and others knew about the coming Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor prior to December 7, 1941. It was, she claimed, a conspiracy of silence put into action so that the U.S. would have an excuse to enter the war.

I called foul saying that such a claim was contrary to the historical truth. No, I was told this is "an established fact." I countered that as a long-time student of U.S. History in general, FDR and WWII in particular, that it was no fact at all. But, I was told, the latest research revealed that such a conspiracy took place. Indeed it was in the New York Times. As a regular reader of the Times I contradicted that claim. Well, she continued, she had read it somewhere.

Say what you will about the Internet, you can at least count on it to tell you what has been in the news of late. So I did me some googling and found one story that appeared in the U.K. Telegraph that very day about how readings of recent documents in the FDR library revealed that the United States had significant intelligence indicating an attack was immanent in the days leading up to Pearl Harbor. Said information was included in a recently published book called December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World' by Craig Shirley. In the article, however the author of the book said:  "Based on all my research, I believe that neither Roosevelt nor anybody in his government, the Navy or the War Department knew that the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor. There was no conspiracy. This memo is further evidence that they believed the Japanese were contemplating a military action of some sort, but they were kind of in denial because they didn't think anybody would be as audacious to move an army thousands of miles across the Pacific, stop to refuel, then move on to Hawaii to make a strike like this."

(Not a terribly sexy story.)

Established facts that are patently untrue are bandied about regularly these days (hell, they always have been) and it behooves us to correct them whenever possible. People will confidently spread some nonsense as the gospel truth and Joe Gullible will believe it and spread it himself. Fox News has made a cottage industry of such balderdash purveying.

Neither all facts nor all opinions are equal. Truth is relative. Be wary.

(Glad I got that off my chest.)

Coming this weekend on this very blog...a post about movies (or at least a movie)!

Wherein the Author In the Course of Various Musing and Observations Selects a New Title For This Blog

Thinking of changing the name of this blog. Maybe something clever. Ironic? Specious? No, not that. I'll keep you posted, which I suppose is some sort of pun but I wasn't thinking along those lines.

I've been thinking a lot these days. Which can be dangerous for a sort like me but what with a sometimes functioning brain, an intellect of sorts and self awareness I find it unavoidable. It's just best not to dwell on the negative. Obsessing, as 12 steppers will tell you, is a bad sign. So easy to fall into.

Are you...listening?

No of course not, you can't, can you. There's no audio here. Written word and all.

Would, if they remade Ophuls' Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948), would, would it be called: Text from An Unknown Woman. Would a remake of Letter Never Sent (1960) be called: Email Never Sent?

Would this going out to all the people repping the 99%, would that have any meaning? Would the over use of "would" cause people to click off and out and on and over and under an in between and say, I'm supposedly clean, right?

Well I have been for what it's worth. And it's been worth a lot. A life, marriage, two children. Good!

You can easily wear your recovery like a badge of honor. No not the recovery, the stains, the wounds from your addiction. You can get off on that twisted thing you were and then you're just posing. So don't.

I was talking about dwelling, or obsessing. Here's how it went down. I was thinking about someone who (and I hate sounding like a modern day athlete here) showed me no respect. That's what we all want. Fundamentally. Isn't it? To be afforded basic respect as a human being equal to everyone else. On a one-on-one basis that means that neither person, certainly in a friendship, acts superior or is neglectful of the other's feelings. How ya been is answered and then reciprocated with a corresponding how you been that is in turn in listened to. That's all. My highs and lows are of equal importance to yours, my general opinions, are of equal value as yours. Simple. You don't get that from someone you've cared about it and...But that's enough. Point made. Moving on. No obsessing to see here.

(Would my life be better if I could stop playing Words With Friends?)

I've often thought that without sports in my life I could get so much more done. But then I'd be some other guy. Besides I don't attend or watch everything anymore. Pretty selective. So a break please.

I'd like to hear from you. Who are you reading my words? What do you want? More of this? Less? You just come for the film talk? Do you miss the days when I made lists? You know the best World War II movies, the best James Cagney films, the best movies with toe nail clippers, that sort of thing. IMDb used to link a lot of those. They show no interest in my ...what to call it, well this sort of thing or any kind of writing that gets all experimental with run-on sentences intentionally used. Stream. Of. Unconsciousness. Bingo! New name for the blog.  Thanks again, brain. You're pretty cool.

The ubiquitous "they"has done a whole new deal with the dashboard for these blogs. Format, I believe it's called. It's taken a while to get used to for us creatures of habit. (The Habits of Creatures, now in 3D, from National Geographic in cooperation with the Disney Corporation. 'Nuff said.) One "NICE" thing is that you can now see how many page views the blog and each post gets. Or in my case, how few. Humbling, bumbling, stumbling. I wonder. Sometimes. But then....What would I do without this. This. Life amiss? Listening to Bowie, the muse tickled and nothing to write about it. Bless, life can provide. Read your history and you'll see how many people never had a chance. Awful circumstances. Oh Lucky Man! Am. And thanks for noticing, self.

Okay so look I've been me my whole life so have no real experience being anyone else. Oh sure I've pretended. When I got back from England I used to go to bars affecting a pretty convincing British accent and....That went nowhere, I can tell you.

So I'm running out of steam. I'll have to go down to the corner store and buy some. "Packet of steam, please!" What's that you say? In Europe it comes in bottles? Well, I never!

Perfecting the Art of Mediocrity is Not A Proper Alternative to Kissing Your Craziness

"If a man wanted to wear a monocle or carry a cane, he did not hesitate to do it, and no one gave him a second glance." -- from Queer by William S. Burroughs

Friend of mine has it all. And nothing. He's created a world out of his own sanity that perplexes the madness in us all. There is confusion everywhere. And he can't see it. Because he talks and talks and talks and says nothing. Never asking, never seeking beyond numbers, he is numb to the external. The twisted membranes of his logic will never snap. And so he cries.

A member of my my beloved major league baseball club skipped out on the team because of "anxiety issues." It is utterly confounding that this sort of dropping out doesn't happen a hundred times more. A thousand. It can take courage to face the fact that you're not coping. Or a real blast of a panic attack. Stupid people can even mask those. Wow there's a lot of medication to blot out true feelings and allow the brain to passively pass the time.

Take it from someone who knows.

Spending a large portion of one's life trying to maintain a tenuous grip on reality makes one appreciate how fragile our brains are. (Here's a thought: try psychedelics at the same time you're still wrestling with acne. Oh God, then look in the mirror and watch those pimples pulsate. Trippy to the max. Consciousness in. Consciousness out. Weird wild wonderful world.) Fuel your troubled psyche with an addiction. Feed it. feed it. Come on now. More, more, more. You can handle it. You are the drugs. You don't need it. It needs you. Okay. Done. Now try to live without your fix. See ya sanity. I'm taking my neurosis for a walk, baby. Look at my rage and watch my confusion. I'm clean. Now I just get high by being a jerk. Give an honest account.

Hey then...you get blindsided by pure white lightening panic. You don't know where your brain went and you can really imagine a straight jacket being rather snug. Not so bad. Anxiety to the nth degree -- baby. That's it. You can't take much more. How about some xanax? Call me Mister Comatose if you please and note that I'm a functioning member of society. If a zombie at that.

Oh by the way. I've got a respectable job in a respectable neighborhood. Member, like of the community. Family man, even. I can make it here. Whatta trip. Maybe you'll develop a tic or a twitch or predilection to shutting yourself in the house like all the time you can so you don't have to deal with too many too often too bad. And woe be to you if something throws a wrench into your work life or family life or health because you just don't need anything else right now. Did I mention money? Oh there you go. The clean junkie lookin' for a monkey. Dollars and sense, nonsense. Let me outta here.

But you go on.

You go on because the alternative SUCKS. You go on and carry on and take care of business because there's no other way and that straight jacket doesn't look so snug after all. And the longer you carry on (and stay calm) the more convinced you become that you can really do this. Really manage. It's all just an illusion but what the heck, we all make fool ourselves one way or another. At least we aren't doing it in church.

So many people. So little sanity. But so few people able to dance with their demons. They can't even see them. It's better this way. Really. Look those monsters square in the eye. Sure you flinch, you blink, you even freak a little (a lot!), but you know you're alive. That's what its all about. All the crazy you endure is life's way of saying-- you m*therf*cker, are part of this. Lucky! And you embrace the day you were born and all the pain you've been through ever since because now you know you are indeed part of those lucky few. The living.

Congratulations to anyone who takes a powder for a day or week or month or year to deal with their crazy. You are so cool.