Baaaaooooooooo

It's seldom that the weather really surprises me. This evening didn't quite match the Thunder Freezing-Rain storm of last month, but it was close for surprise-value. Heavy fog, double-digit temperature at 11:30pm, and ice-sculptures everywhere, courtesy the rain melting all the snowpiles down to condensed iceburgy shapes of all sizes.

d. has heard enough of me on the subject, but I really like the smell of the world in the spring. Warm mist + trees + dirt makes me olfactorily happy.

Rover enjoyed her walk, as well. So many great things: water, snow, and ice-cubes to eat! ...Which reminds me, I should get her to write about Tuesday night. Maybe tomorrow; she's asleep now. ...and smelling very strongly of wet dog, too, less of an olifactory treat, but I'll take it.

Much Library DVD Goodness

The Triplets of Bellville: Less compelling a story than I expected. But I loved, loved, the music video at the end of the special features. It had some of the best scenes, with the dancing under the bridge plus weird instruments, great city shots, and the night-club performance. I suppose I just didn't like the drawing styles for the characters- all were either round, pencil-thin, or shaped like an anvil. Oh, but I liked Fred Astaire's shoes. Rawr.

Dr. Strangelove, or how I stopped blah blah blah. I can see how it's one of the best films ever made. But I felt this disconnect- it's so different than anything else I've seen from that time-frame, it seemed so experimental, even off-the-cuff in places (the deleted pie fight scene at the end). How did they get that budget, and that much leeway? It just breaks the pattern for what I expect from a big-budget film.

I can barely imagine what the pitch meetings must've looked like. "OK, we've got this idea, but you'll need to get totally stoned with us before we can explain it properly..."

Last night I went a bit overboard and watched a batch of three more from the library. It turns out they all have a theme: the stubborn, hard-working American who won't or can't change; and what that resistance gets them. (I wonder if I was in a particular mood when I chose them? It wasn't concious, but it seems suspicious to me otherwise).

I watched: Desk Set, Roger and Me, and a PBS feature film called The Shakers. To my surprise, I liked the Michael Moore the most. It had pathos and piles of sarcasm, but it seemed more respectful than his follow-up films, and more empathy with the subject (Flint, Michigan. I don't think the CEO of GM was actually the subject, he was merely a plot-device). If only chunks weren't fictionalized. I do wish somebody had set Moore down and lectured him about film-making and professionalism; it might have led to better work later on.

Desk Set was... mostly propaganda for IBM. (Perhaps the computer "brain" which was supposed to end up working along side the humans, ends up being an ancestor to the robots that take over the Flint, Michigan workers' jobs?...) I did like Katherine Hepburn's character (especially, drunk); and I liked the tension between being "sensible modern adults" and the traditional 50s ideas of how women and men should each behave. Modern sensibilities win in the end; Kate and Spencer Tracy's engineer character over her old-fashioned suspicious boyfriend/boss. (Though, um, the tag line could've used some rethinking: "Make the office such a wonderful place to love in." Barf!)

The Shakers was a well done PBS documentary. It was neat to see the little old Shaker Ladies telling their stories and showing off examples of their dancing, which I'd never seen before (it reminded me of nothing so much as Tai Chi, the bit they showed). Considering the overall theme of their decline since the 1800s, I think they should've given more weight to the scene where one woman proclaimed, of course Shakers will never die out- they're the chosen people, aren't they? ...so now what? What do the 5 remaining Shakers do with their time? Be tourist guides? Interview new applicants?

Tom Fox

There are reports that Tom Fox's body was found in Baghdad Friday.

He is the American member of the Christian Peacemakers Team who was abducted with three other CPTers in Iraq 100 days ago. Although I didn't know Tom, he was a Quaker and I know folks who did know him, and my thoughts are with them right now. My thoughts are also with the family and friends of the three other CPT members, two Canadian (one who is known to friends of mine) and one Briton.

http://www.cpt.org/ has an eloquent statement about Tom and his colleagues.

If any Locals reading this are interested, I understand that there will be an interfaith prayer vigil tomorrow at 5:30 at downtown City Hall.