Getting Loose

Wisconsin Death Trip

My wife and I saw Wisconsin Death Trip tonight. I did not know what to expect.

It pulls you in, is shot in somewhat of a documentary style, is based on true stories, and teaches you that some things never change—unrequited love, depression, despair, tragedy, the older generation trying to transmit values to the younger generation, and the lengths to which people will go to cope with the vagaries of life.  

I discovered that the context in which we live in the 21st century is not all that different than it was in a remote backwater area of Wisconsin some 110 years ago.

It was haunting, but nor horrific. Sad, but not pitiful. Contemplative, but not overbearing.

The 4th of July

Yesterday was the 4th of July. And we had a very pleasant time in the Villages.

We got down to the end of the parade site at about 9 a.m. Of course, it was about a half hour before we saw the first signs of the parade, but it was a lot of fun. Cop cars, fire engines, the school district’s band with honor players, elected officials—national, state, city—hamburgers, ice cream, watermelon, games for the kids, a makeshift stage, singing groups, old fashioned patriotism, etc.  It was like being in a small town of about 12,000 people right here in the middle of Houston, Texas no less! I feel so fortunate to live in one of the villages.  It really is a great place to be.

We had our Vizsla with us whom we have named Viktoria (Viki for short). Her breed is not that common. She looks somewhat like a Weimaraner, but she is reddish-brown. Thank heavens she is very mild mannered. All sorts of kids came up to her and petted her, and she seemed fine with it all.    I even know a veterinarian who saw all the traffic we were getting, and asked if we wouldn't mind passing out cards to his clinic as well!  Ha.  She growled a little at a couple of other dogs, but all in all she did very well.

Later in the day we went to eat at Goode’s Taqueria. My wife and I had their chicken salad which was excellent. I love their chocolate shakes with a hint of cinnamon in them. Then that night we watched Grizzly Man. My gosh, talk about a guy going goofball, crazy. It was a documentary of sorts, but sad.

All in all it was a great day. Seemed like a Saturday to me!

L.A. Cont.

Another thing we got to see in L.A. was Beverly Hills. I thought the homes would be bigger and more spaced apart, but I was wrong. 

Also got to see the front of the house where they filmed the front exterior to the old Brady Bunch TV series.

We got to see the Grauman Chinese Theater and went to see Redbelt in a genuine THX theater. Unfortunately, Houston has none that I know of. The sound in a THX theater is incredible, and most other chains, looking at the bottom line install a bunch of woofers to blow you out of your seat during intense parts, but THX has a lot more of the discrete sound and separation that is amazing.

We saw Hollywood & Vine, and ate at Aroma's for a tasty lunch. However, the conversation of neighboring tables sent my eyes a rolling. I suppose there was someone quasi famous sitting next to us, but I am so clueless nowadays with who is on the inside or outside of the movie business that I heard one effete snob opine, "When Obama is elected . . ." I wanted to stand up and puke at his audacity. Of course he was wearing his Foster Grant's with his mobile out taking a call about every 8 minutes or so. It was amusing and disgusting to me. Those people are so out of touch with the rest of the world.

Now, don't get me wrong. Obama might indeed be elected, that is not the issue, it was his "moral certainty" tone in which he expressed it.

Contrast that scenario with another one I had in San Diego a couple of days later. I attended a National Boy Scout meeting for the muckety mucks of the movement. I was attending a lunch at the Hyatt Regency there and in walks this guy, thinner and taller than me, and asks if a particular seat next to me was taken (I had wrestled with sitting next to a federal judge, but fought that temptation and sat at another table).  I said, "No, come join us."

Well we got into a conversation and he wanted to know what I did with the Boy Scouts, and I humbly replied that I was on the Board of Directors for the Sam Houston Area Council.

I asked where did he live, and found out it was in San Antonio.  So I posited that perhaps he was on the local council's board?

Well, as a matter of fact , no . . . he was on the National Council.

The National Council? Are you kidding me? How did you rate that?

Well, he said he was on a plane ride and happened to be seated next to the former president of the Boy Scouts. The got into a conversation, and lo and behold, much to his surprise, the President called him a couple of weeks later and invited him to come join the national board. And he mentioned AT&T a couple of times.

I said, "Wow . . . that's quite a deal. You keep saying AT&T . . . do you work for them?

Well, as a matter of fact he did.

I asked him what he did.

He said that he was the chairman of the board.

I said, "You are the chairman of the Board of AT & T?" hardly believing my ears.

And replied that he was the very man.

I found out the next day that he was heading up the national celebration of the BSA for the year of 2010. I sought him out that day as well, and congratulated him on incredible service he was giving to the Boy Scouts. Now to me there is all the difference in the world between the humility of Randall Stephenson and the sycophants that populate so much of the Burbank/Hollywood area.

Amores Perros

  We saw it the other day.  I liked it.  I cannot believe how complex it was.  Three stories, all involving dogs (as well as the overarching theme involving a dog-like concept about love) intertwined in ways that you did not see it coming.  Someone had to sit down and do some serious screenplay writing to come up with this Spanish film.  Nevertheless, I liked it.  If you want an Alzheimer's chaser, go rent it.

A Stinging Indictment

   One of the most famous films to have ever been produced in Spain is called The Spirit of the Beehive (El Espíritu de la Colmena). It is an utterly fascinating film. Deep, deep symbolism, and I will not try to summarize it here, but suffice it to say some elements involved are Frankenstein’s monster, little girls, a belief in the power of stories and spirits, a remote village in rural Spain, hope in the face of intolerable situations, and a looking at life and wondering if we are much better than the bees who work and work and produce and produce, and then drop dead. What is there to life?

   Many of the actors appearing in the film could not make sense of the script, but they needed the money and followed the director’s direction. Even the film board under Franco could not make sense of the film, allowed it to be produced believing that it would bomb at the box office. But people started making connections between Franco—Frankenstein, the role of a freedom fighter, etc. I was shocked to see that it had been filmed in color. I think it probably would have been far more powerful in black and white.