the indomitable human spirit

It's been a while since I've blogged about either books or movies. Usually, I'm comparing the book version of something to the film version. This edition will not follow that modus operandi. This one will be a little more like those silly essays we used to write in high school and college, comparing seemingly disparate works to one another. In college, I compared a Nathaniel Hawthorne short story to one by Edgar Allan Poe and then tied that symbolism to Biblical representations of water. It was deep, but quite a stretch. Maybe I'll hunt that down and share it with you this weekend.

Anyhow. On to the analysis. In this corner, wearing Crip blue and throwing up gang signs, we have Stanley Tookie Williams' Blue Rage, Black Redemption. And in the other corner, we have the brilliant Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman.

The mere comparison of these two works must start with a description of the characters. The former, Tookie, is best-known for being a co-founder of the Crips. In his two-part memoir, he rails against his past and what eventually led him to death row. The missteps that led him to prison are many, though until he landed at San Quentin, he had never before been incarcerated. He was a larger than life figure in South Central LA during his lifetime, and that spirit carried over into his life in prison. He refused to submit to the prison culture, maintained his ethics, and turned over a new leaf. He wrote an 8-part children's book series to prevent youth from going down his same stretch of road. His turnaround was so drastic, there was a film made about his prison redemption, and he was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize.

The latter was Luke, a fictitious character, but one with an antiestablishment persona just the same. His refusal to submit to the rules laid out by the sadistic warden at the work camp led to beatings, harder labor, nights spent "in the box"...and earning the respect of all his fellow inmates. He fought the system up until the very end, playing his part with that trademark Newman grin. He wasn't locked up for murder, but his long trial at the work camp tested his mettle just the same.

Tookie & Luke both refused to let their spirits be broken by an inhospitable imprisonment. Tookie stepped into the realm of peacemaker while in prison, refusing to participate as the gang hooligan that took him there. He brokered truces between Bloods & Crips, which few on the streets have even tried, much less succeeded with. All the while, he faced a prison bureaucracy that was out to get him, much like the sadistic warden in Cool Hand Luke. Both spirits of these men were indomitable, unable to be broken. Despite crueler than cruel circumstances, they managed to hold their heads high until the very end.

Queue this movie, check out this book. I don't think you'll be disappointed by either.

the brotherhood of justice

'80s movie rewind time. this week, what started as no one responding, regrets or otherwise, turned into four lovelies showing up simultaneously and robert joining us shortly. netflix had already delivered, so i was watching it regardless. i was glad to have company because man, this movie was worse than i thought!

if you've not been blessed to have seen this movie, let me give you the brief synopsis. rich boy keanu reeves leads a band of vigilante other rich kids in their school's quest to get rid of vandals and potheads...presumably because marijuana is the worst drug every cultivated, and it actually causes insanity. kind of like a g-rated version of lean on me, without the bad ass principal with a baseball bat. predictably, they get out of hand, his girlfriend catches wind of it, half the school cheers them, half the school fears them, and there's a gut check.

first off, don't expect an oscar-caliber performance. this is keanu "whoa, my name means rainbow" reeves. his girlfriend is played by lori "i made out with uncle jesse on full house, who also said whoa" loughlin. finally, kiefer "my dad smoked pot in a movie once before i became jack bauer and rid the world of all drugs and terrorism, picking up a nasty heroin habit along the way" sutherland makes a stellar appearance as the dude trying to squirrel in on keanu's girl. it's predictable, '80s after school special in every sense of the genre. the lighting is worse than in most home movies, and the acting is only slightly better.

oh, so at the end of the movie, there was a "based on true events" tagline. oh, really? yup. even made time magazine!
June 10, 1985: Fort Worth, Texas

Several prominent senior-class members were excluded from graduation ceremonies at Paschal High in Fort Worth last week. Earlier that day, seven seniors and one junior from Paschal were indicted on a total of 33 felony and misdemeanor charges in a bizarre vigilante scheme that involved arson, bombings and threatening another student with a gun.

The indicted teenagers, among them honor students, athletes and a cheerleader, belonged to the Legion of Doom, a society supposedly dedicated to purifying the campus of drug users and petty thieves. The Legion may have grown out of the school's efforts to improve discipline. At least four members also belonged to a Paschal organization called the Ambassadors, a now disbanded group of 29 top seniors assigned to patrolling the campus and encouraging others to attend classes. Legion members, mostly wealthy youngsters from prominent families, prowled less well-to-do neighborhoods at night, firing shots at one student's home, exploding a pipe bomb on another's car. A fire bomb tossed at a black student's house failed to hurt anyone only because it fell short and ignited in the front yard. Said a classmate: "These pillars of our community (were) doing worse things than we will ever do in our lives."

invite some friends over, pop some beers, and drink every time someone makes a bill & ted or speed joke as it relates to the movie. if their comment is misplaced, they drink. great fun will be had by all!

under the influence

how appropriate a title for a snowsports movie! she and i have determined that the rough around the edges trinity of rock climbing, snowboarding, and surfing seem to have a pretty similar following. how so? watch any video highlighting these sports.

she and i went to a viewing of an backcountry skiing movie called under the influence on thursday. people watching galore. there was a distinct dichotomy among the ski bunnies and board bums. with the guys, it was easier to pick out the differences because womenfolk tend to dress better in d.c. regardless. skiers were preppier, on average. aside from a top-dollar jacket/fleece, the snowboarders were decidedly more like surfers and climbers. facial hair, unkempt hair, dirty jeans, beanies, ball caps. she commented to me, "that girl doesn't look like she's ever been on a mountain," as one tottered by in high heels and a cashmere sweater. "skier," i replied. ah ha!

"i've met snowboarders who used to be skiers, but never a skier who used to be a snowboarder," the emcee opens with. chuckles all around. then the video begins.

oddly, the movie focused on extreme skiers. i find the adjective extreme to be rather cliche these days, with everything from backyard wrestling to ironing getting that tag. i don't consider any of the trinity to be extreme, unless the participant makes it so. going to the top of 12,000 ft. peaks to ski down faces that are about 80 degrees vertical with a strong risk of causing an avalanche? yeah, i'd say that's extreme. that said, these guys were more like the trinity than the preppier ski lodge crew splitting the room. dreadlocks, loud colors, working only enough to support their skiing/snowboarding/climbing/surfing addiction...

under the influence indeed! if you're a disciple of one of the trinity, check out a video from one of the other three. myself, i've seen a few of each. climbing videos clearly resonate most with me because it's my passion. snowboarding would quickly become an obsession if i lived with real mountains and real snow. surfing, same deal if i were two blocks from the beach. what do you think?

dr. hell yeah!

the backdrop, the national mall. [no, lee, there's no national food court or national gap or national fish emporium. that wasn't an original thought, nor was it funny.] behind me, the sunset skies backlighting the washington monument. to my right, the rising moon. in front of me, the lights illuminating the capitol dome. above me, crystal clear night skies. around me, thousands of movie lovers waiting patiently for this year's screen on the green opening night.

the opening music for hbo, who sponsors this yearly summer cinematic spectacle, compels the regulars to dance wildly. by dance, i mean jump maniacally and swing your arms skyward, like those demented ten foot tall inflatable people more often seen at car dealerships that take after edvard munsch's the scream more than actual people. the cheers fade, and tweety and sylvester battle in a quick merrie melodies short. i think this is regular, for last year when i saw casablanca at the end of the summer, that putty tat and tweety were featured also. we'll see as the season progresses. then finally, our feature presentation.

bond, james bond in the first of the series, dr. no.

"hi, my name is ben, and i am (mostly) a james bond virgin." that's right, ladies and gents, bond week on tnt was always during finals week, so i never got to enjoy the flicks in their entirety. this time around, i now know where the spy movie franchise started. i finally saw all the inspiration for the austin powers jokes. sure, i knew that was the origin intuitively, but it's different to see the scenes firsthand, finally! loved the movie. the rest of the bond franchise (at least the connery years) are going on the netflix queue as soon as i post this.

a late night dash to catch the last orange line train out of the city, and a good nights' sleep later, i'm off to plot my next screen on the green outing. will it be arsenic and old lace on july 28th, the apartment on august 4th, or superman on august 11th? one thing's certain: i sure hope i get to see all three!

random cultured

netflix has brought me some dizzyingly odd and wonderful movies. way back when, i refused to watch foreign films because i had to read the subtitles. i'd lose the visual nature of the film because i'd be reading so slowly. i still have trouble reading the subtitles without losing some meaning, but it's improving. i feel like it started with chinese action movies. a lot easier for me to follow, even with the romantic subplots in crouching tiger or house of flying daggers.

recently, i watched volver. kind of a chick flick, with a dark twist. if penelope cruz weren't in it, i may have liked it less. she was phenomenal. any lesser actress in beauty or joie de vivre couldn't have carried the film, especially in light of some of the darker aspects of her character's life.

last night, i finished watching the lives of others. a german movie about the stasi in 1984 in east germany. the first half or so was pretty tough to watch. the setup for the second, far more satisfying half took a while. the plot wound up being fairly predictable. i'd probably watch it again if given the chance, but alas, netflix wants it back.

i've also been reading sporadically as i have time. just finished the kite runner. yes, i know i'm about a year or two late on that one. presuming the characterizations of afghanis true, i learned an awful lot about their culture, and in turn one of my students. for the same reason i didn't particularly enjoy deliverance the movie after reading deliverance the book, i'm not so sure i'm going to see the film adaptation of hosseini's acclaimed novel. i will however keep a look out for a thousand splendid suns, which i hear is also excellent.

ok, cultured friends. hit me up with some more foreign or random indie flicks i can put in the queue, or books i should pull off my shelf. think classics in the latter regard. i have quite a few that i've never opened up. i think into the wild will be the next one i crack, but it's a short read i'm told. it's getting to be the time to read in the sunshine...

david vs. goliath

hi, my name is david. i'm fighting a battle with a goliath of corporate america. unfortunately, my sling and rocks will not take down this giant. it will not even make a dent in their defenses.

i just watched "who killed the electric car?". if you haven't heard of it, it's a documentary on the birth and inexplicable death of the EV1, general motors' foray into the now-dead electric car market. it attempts to explain why all the major car manufacturers invested a hell of a lot of money in developing the new technologies to meet a california zero emissions mandate only to abandon that effort secretly and rapidly less than 10 years later. it implicates big oil, the big three, and the federal government as co-conspirators against the california air regulatory board that initially set the zero emissions standard. gm came up with an amazing small car with a devoted set of loyal lessees. those davids couldn't do a thing to save their beloved little car. great documentary. if you're a granola munching tree hugger like me, i highly recommend this film. i am smart enough to realize that as a documentary, there is an agenda behind it, and there are multiple viewpoints. i'd be interested to hear them, but they'd be hard-pressed to break my first impressions.

how appropriate that i watched this today, and my horns are locked in battle with sprint over my now-canceled contract and their contention that i owe them a $200 early termination fee for poor service after 4+ years as a sprint customer. i'm going to use any government means i can short of taking them to court, but as of right now, i'm conceding defeat in the first battle. their rebuttal of sending my account to a collections agency has me reeling. any advice on how to reload my sling for this ensuing war?

kid quotes

thus far today, i've laughed out loud twice at things girls have said.

girl one walks in wearing a brand new ferrari shirt. i comment on how nice it looks. response, "yeah, last night we got our new ferrari, so they gave me this shirt." that's right, her dad bought a ferrari and all she got was a t-shirt. this is the same child whose father has been rolling in a maserati for most of the school year.

FERRARI ADDENDUM: she walks in after school with her dad and asks if i want to see it. um, yes! turns out it's not brand new, but it's close enough. 1987 ferrari mondial convertible. 24,000 miles. arrest me red, black leather interior. cherry! best part, he bought it on a whim more or less. because the transmission on the maserati went out.

girl two, giving an example of a dangerous thing that you should not taste or smell, "iocane powder because it is odorless and tasteless. you shouldn't touch it because it's poison." she obviously is a princess bride fan!

buying the cow

There is no such thing as the one. It's more of a mind boggling whole hell of a lot of potential ones. That should be comforting, it's actually pretty terrifying. We would all like to kick back and wait for some magical force to show us who we should spend the rest of our lives with. But the truth is, there isn't a lightning bolt that slaps you on the ass and tells you to pick this person over all others. It's like the rain, rain falls all the time. Sometimes we are prepared for it, sometimes we're not. And depending where you are when it hits, you either get caught in it, or you don't. In fact, most of us try like hell to avoid it.

more than any other movie, buying the cow changed my outlook on life. smart, hokey, and hilarious all wrapped up in a chick-friendly (but not quite a chick flick) package. think swingers meets failure to launch. okay, that combination isn't quite right, but you get the point. maybe.

revelations

nothing like waking up after a stormy night, rays of sunshine streaming in through the window. fall leaves finally starting to pop. doesn't seem real.

here i sit on the couch, watching the grapes of wrath. seems like a normal saturday from high school. cut the grass, come in, cool off, and watch some old movie with pop on amc that he's seen a hundred times.

i am my father's son...