P.S. A Column On Things

Interstellar

4 stars out of 5
Three hours? Give me a break! Still...

In the understatement of the year, IMDB describes Nolan as "best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear story-telling."  No shit. The man did Memento and Inception. He's back, with a screenplay he wrote with his brother. There is a five-star two hour movie buried in this three-hour film. I can't say I was staring at my watch, but we could well have done with less, even the spectacular and amazing special visual effects. Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain are all amazing as the central characters. It is an apocalypse film; we get a close-up look at an Earth that is dying, and the secret project to get us the hell out of here. And then the fun begins. It is about love, wormholes, black holes, gravity and time. An interesting time travel paradox is central to the film. There are all kinds of articles about the science in the film; NPR talked to Neil DeGrasse Tyson, while Mother Jones talked to David Grinspoon, who holds the chair of astrobiology at the Library of Congress. They say about what I expected; many of the words and concepts are right, but don't hold your breath for the appearance of interstellar travel and time travel any time soon, or ever. I loved the line about love being a force which transcends time and space. There are some cool cameos, but I'll pretend I am a professional reviewer and let you discover them for yourself. Go see this film, in a theater with comfortable seats.

This and That

I just updated my Edwin Diamond tribute with some corrected information about the job Edwin was screwed out of in 1969.

I like a good dry Chenin Blanc wine. My wife V and my daughter M found one at a restaurant. L'Ecole No. 41 2013 Chenin Blanc. Its 0.5% sugar looks pretty dry to me. I learned years ago from my friend Clark Smith, who was winemaker for a dry Chenin Blanc from R.H. Phillips, and from the winery that made Chard-No-Way (I rue they day they stopped making it) that a Chenin Blanc, fermented dry, is better than a chardonnay. Dry Riesling is better than regular Riesling too, I must say.

I really enjoy Slate's podcasts, so much that I joined Slate Plus so I could get them without commercials. I recommend all of them except the sports podcast; you can find them on iTunes. Last week something unusual happened; both the Double X (feminist) and Political Gabfests (as slate calls their podcasts) dealt with Valerie Jarret, the president's closest adviser. I suggest you listen to both podcasts for the details, but here are the links from the Slate Political Gabfest show page:

• Noam Scheiber recently wrote a lengthy piece in the New Republic that detailed Valerie Jarrett’s rise to power within the Obama administration.
• A few days before the New Republic published Scheiber’s in-depth piece, Carol Felthensal opined in Politico about Jarrett’s weakness and how she is responsible for some of Obama’s worst governing decisions.
• Thomas “Mack” Mclarty played a similar role to Jarrett in the Clinton administration, serving as the president’s alter ego and sounding board.
• Matt Yglesias argues that Washington insiders don’t like Jarrett because she wields an enormous amount of influence over the president without being a part of any party establishment.

***

Now that I have restarted this blog, albeit irregularly, my old friend and contributor Dan Grobstein kicks in a few items:

*Interesting post about bloggers from Charlie Pierce in Esquire's blog.

* I just saw John McCain interviewed by Bob Schieffer at the 92nd St Y. McCain had a critical comment about bloggers. David Brooks at the same venue had a critical comment about bloggers and I've heard similar comments at other interviews that I've seen there. They're all the same: the blogger is a junior high school kid who blogs from his mother's basement before going to school. The implication is that they are influencing the news narrative in the wrong way.

There are some great bloggers out there who talk about issues with links so you can check on what they're discussing. (Kinda miss your stuff). Then there's Drudge and Breitbart and Redstate. Since you aren't allowed to criticize only one side maybe that's their way of criticizing the right wing stuff.

Schieffer said McCain has been on Face the Nation more than any other guest (previous record holder was Bob Dole). He likes McCain because he's always willing to be interviewed whether the news is good or the news is bad.

McCain hopes that the new Congress will be able to debate and vote on bills and get something done now that the Republicans will be in control. A real newsman would have asked a follow up question about what's been happening in the Senate since President Obama was elected, but oh well.

McCain has a new book with a co-author. I'm not sure he's read it. He had notes and rambled and repeated himself when talking about it.

Rhinoshield

I am quite enamored of a product called Rhioshield. It comes from Britain. It is a special kind of screen protector that will prevent your iPhone from shattering when you drop it. I know it works, I have seen it work, and not just in the company's videos. I love it so much I ordered two spares for my iPhone 4. Problem is, I just traded my iPhone 4 for an iPhone 5. So I have two $25 iPhone 4/4s screen protectors, unopened, in their original packaging. The manufacturer, for some reason, is not interested in buying them back from me, so here's my offer: you can get one for $10 or two for $20, and the postage is on me.

Hello

Well, they say no news is good news, so I must have a lot of good news gathered up. But not really. What I do have is a life that  has settled into a comfortable routine. Retirement agrees with me. Idleness has expanded to fill the available time. I expected to read more. It hasn't happened. I expected to write more.  It hasn't happemed. I expected to exercise more. It hasn't (alas) happened. I expected to clean out drawers and the garage. Some of that happened over the summer, but not much since fall. Which is odd, because I didn't start teaching again in September, as I  have for the last decade or so. In fact, I didn't even start substitute teaching, because legally I can't do that until six months after my retirement (Dec. 13). I was offered a month-long job in January, but I politely declined, because I hated working full time as a teacher in 2003-4, so I can't imagine liking it any more now. I loved working half time. I know subs don't work half time, which is why I will carefully dole out my substitute time.

I did do September and October soup kitchens for the first time ever, and spent a morning doing Loaves and Fishes with the St. Stephen's ladies.

In short, I had a busy summer and have since frittered away my time in unaccountable ways. Since I now only have one boss (if you don't count my wife), it doesn't matter, but even I, the boss of me, thinks I need to get more organized.  

In other news, my cardiologist says I am tickety boo.

As you may recall, I moved my summer LA trip to October. And this weekend, I am off to see a college buddy in Chicago. I have had a few lunches with friends and hope to have another this week.

Life's been good to me so far.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

5 stars out of 5

You would need to be living in a cave to avoid the outpouring of paid and free media supporting Birdman, which features Michael Keaton and Edward Norton. There are other actors; Zach Galifianakis, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts and Andrea Riseborough. And, although there are three women among the leads, let me point out that the film does NOT pass the Bechdel test, which requires two women with speaking parts who talk to each other and discuss something other than men. Many commentators love to point out that a film about a guy who once played a superhero and is now trying to revive his career sounds suspiciously like Keaton. Well, Keaton himself says this character is the least like him of any he's played. And while it has been six years since Keaton had the lead in a movie, it was worth the wait. And anyway, that's not what the film is about. The film is about the nature of reality, of the meanings of success and failure, the psychology of actors and about putting a show on Broadway. It is amazing on every one of these vectors. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu wrote and directed, with help in the writing room from Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo. As I understand magical realism it is the insertion of some fantastical elements in an otherwise naturalistic narrative. If that is the case, this film involves a fair amount of magical realism.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the technical trick; the film is made to look as though it was shot in a single, continuous take. If you, like me, love Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948), which did the same thing, you'll both appreciate it and be able to spot the moments when the cuts take place--although a few times, they did fool me. Try not to let the trickery distract you from the epochal performances of Keaton and Norton.

Brilliant, beautiful, thrilling, funny, dramatic and fast-paced. Also, it will easily stand up to more than one viewing, which is my definition of art. It is a little hard to see at the moment (although not, probably, for my readers, who tend to be in towns with Art House cinemas), but it is worth the effort.

Awake

4 stars out of 5
This is a biopic of Yogananda, the Hindu Yogi who brought Yoga to America in the 1920s. I had read  his Autobiography of a Yogi several years ago, but was impressed with the way this film made the words of Yogananda come alive. The usual documentary biopic stuff is used: archival film and photographs, recreated scenes, shots of the places he went and the people he knew, and readings from his works, plus recordings of his own voice. It was an enthralling 90 minutes, and I certainly came away knowing a few things about him that weren't in his book. It is a shame, for example, that he had a falling out with his childhood friend that slowed his American work. If you are at all interested in the man, or in the history of Yoga in America, or, for that matter, the true nature of Yoga, the film is worth your time.

Dear White People

4 stars out of 5<br>
A lovely little art house comedy, with a black writer, director and
cast, that deals with the travails of being a black face in a white
place, in this case at a fictional Ivy League college. Justin Simien
wrote and directed the film and did a fine job. The result is
laugh-out-loud funny while also being thought provoking. It explores
racial stereotypes on both sides of the divide and climaxes at a
"Release your Inner Negro" party at a white fraternity. Fine
performances, clever writing, a few provoked thoughts. A small film
with large ambitions.<br>
<br>

Pieces of String

If you have not seen Jim Carrey's parody of the Matthew McConaughey Lincoln Navigator commercial, go see  it. It is hysterical.

A college buddy forwarded a link to a speech by the late Ben Bradlee, the Father of Watergate, on Truth and Reporting. As my friend noted, another giant has passed.

If you, like me, believe the New York Fed has been captured by the banks it regulates, check Game of Thrones, The Wire, and the New York Fed, by James Kwak.

Transportation Authority Archivist Seeks Tollbooth
By JANE MARGOLIES
Mary Hedge, archivist at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels Special Archive, presecial Archive, preserves nearly a century of materials documenting the planning and construction of New York infrastructure.

Check out the promo for the Highest rated morning newscast that nobody f#@cking likes on WGN, Chicago.