Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
I'd call it a dark, dark film, with endlessly repeating scenes of smoking, drinking to excess, hopping in and out of taxis, climbing in and out of windows next to fire escapes, and losing keys. And it's the old, old fairy tale of a young girl who constantly needs to be rescued by older, and less lovely men, men of questionable intentions but mostly men wanting her sexually and willing to pay for it.
It's a story of a man and woman who in the end do fall in love, but who in the beginning are both kept by the older and wealthier as sex interests as they pursue their "dreams." Holly wants to reinvent herself from an Okie teen-age, step-mom married to an older farmer to a glamorous party-girl New Yorker on the prowl for a wealthy husband. Paul (George Peppard) is a kept man by an older, wealthy married woman (Patricia Neal who died this week). Hepburn, who looked anorexic in so many films, look healthier and heavier in this film; Neal was only about 3 years older but was swathed in heavy capes and jackets, maybe to hide a pregnancy, or just to look less attractive.
Until you see a 50 year old film where the drinking and smoking is so over the top it is distracting, and a Caucasian impersonates a cariacature of another race (Mickey Rooney plays a stereotypical buck tooth, screaming Japanese landlord) you forget how far we've come in "correctness,"--thankfully. Also, you see how the strong, capable female film characters of the 1930s and 1940s fell off the pedestal in the 1950s-1980s films where they seem to be perpetual sex toys with no brains or ambition except to meet Mr. Right or Mr. Money bags.
Capote apparently wanted Marilyn Monroe for the part--a poor girl in real life who changed her name and made good through her sexuality. It might have been a good choice, because I had trouble translating Audrey Hepburn into this character.
And I'll always be mad at her for dumping the no-name cat out in the rain; yes, I know it was just a movie and it all turns out well in the end, but can you trust a fictional air-head who does that?
Monday, August 09, 2010
Blaming Bush Doesn’t Create Jobs, Nancy
Remember in November.
Morning Bell: Blaming Bush Doesn’t Create Jobs | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.
Sunday, August 08, 2010
The toilet is closed
- Water is available from a nearby stream, uphill from the cabin. Treat all water before using. Bring your own sleeping bags, sleeping pads, cooking stove, lantern, pots, pans, plates, utensils, food, toilet paper, garbage bags, fire extinguisher and fire starter. This cabin contains a wood stove. Wood is not provided, so you must bring your own if you wish to use the stove. Cabin is heated by a propane wall furnace. Propane is supplied. Bears frequent the area.
The cabin's logs are rotting so they will build a new one--ADA accessible. How the disabled get there may be another story. From the guide book it looks like an 1800 ft. upward climb on the Dan Moller trail. It is located three and one-half miles southwest of Juneau on Douglas Island. Access by 3 mile trail on Pioneer Street off Cordova Street, and at the end of Jackson St. above Blueberry Hills subdivision in West Juneau.
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Lakeside Week 8
Speaking of sailing partners, we really enjoyed the send-off of the Lakeside Leadership Academy interns Thursday evening. Grace Kelmer who was my husband's sailing partner when she was in middle school gave us an invitation. Grace is the Cultural Arts intern and is a lifelong Lakesider. She attends college at Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, IL, is fluent in German, and an accomplished cellist. This was the third year of the program, so if you have a young person looking for summer internships next summer, check this one out. Most of this year's class had no prior knowledge of Lakeside.
I must say I got a little nostalgic and melancholy as I listened to the presentations of the 9 interns--hospitality, environment, finance, marketing, human resources, event planning, and eduction. They were all so incredibly talented and hard working, good speakers, lavish in their praise of their mentors and sponsors and fellow interns. One can feel good that young people like this will be going out into the work world soon, even if they choose grad school, but one can also feel like a "has been" and think about missed opportunities along the way.
Last night's guest performer with the symphony was Dmitri Levkovich, pianist. Born in the Ukraine and a citizen of Canada, he got a standing ovation (and provided a nice encore) for Concerto No. 25 in C Major by Mozart. I must say, that although I know little about pianos, the new Steinway is making everything sound brighter, sharper, and clearer. On the walk home we enjoyed the many homes decorated for "Light up Lakeside."
Ouch! Now that hurts!
Dog bites are serious, folks. And remember this word from a former veterinary medicine librarian who has seen the photos of torn up faces of children--ALL DOGS WILL BITE. Don't ever encourage young children to pet a dog in the park or on a walk, even if the owner assures you it's OK. Most dog bites are by young male dogs, owned by young males, and the victims are most often male children.
Friday, August 06, 2010
Made in China--guest blogger Nelson
Factories close, people are let go and the economy slumps. And the reason started with greed.
I worked for a Mattel company in Orange County, California in the early 1970s and I can recall that one Christmas there was a stevedore's strike that prevented the freighters from coming into the San Pedro docks. Mattel was going mad, realizing that if they couldn't get the ships in and unloaded in time for Christmas, their profits would slump.
And why were these ships loaded with Mattel toys? Because Mattel had found that they could have them made much cheaper in Japan than in the US. Some might call that good business for them to go overseas; I call it greed.
And later, when the Chinese came into the picture, Mattel had toys made there. . .which meant that if any other toy manufacturer wanted to compete, they would have to go to China too.
I am appalled, horrified by this but maybe, if I were in the manufacturing business, I would have done the same thing. I hope not, but making money becomes a terrible obsession sometimes.
The problem is that this going to China for the cheapies has had a reverse effect. As more companies have closed here and opened in China, the local economies have staggered and fallen. if that nut-and- bolt maker in Rockford has to close, the people he had working for him have to get other jobs or do with less. The result - and I see this every time I go to Rockford - street after street of vacant factories; which has meant a loss of the tax base, increase in crime and fewer city services.
It used to be I would refuse to buy anything made in China. I cannot do that anymore because to refuse Chinese goods would mean I wouldn't be able to buy a thing.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
BP's 20 billion--Obama was snookered by his inexperience?
- BP dupes the president
It seems a miracle that our beloved leader was able to convince BP to establish a $20 billion slush (oops, escrow) fund to compensate those hurt by the ongoing oil plume in the Gulf of Mexico. After all, he had no constitutional power to force them to do so; so had to resort to Chicago-style negotiating.
But, let us take a closer look at the effect on BP's finances:
1. BP will establish a $20 billion fund, but will pay only $7 billion into it during 2010.
2. BP is a British corporation, but has a very large operating entity in the U.S.
3. By generally accepted accounting principles, BP must book the entire $20 billion expense in the year accrued. Therefore, they will book a $20 billion expense in 2010, reducing their U.S. tax liability by $7 billion.
4. Our dear leader also convinced this massive corporation to show their concern for the "small people" by withholding dividends to their shareholders for the last three quarters of 2010. This reduces their outward cash flow by about $7.5 billion, including approximately 40 percent of that amount to U.S. citizens. Assuming the Bush tax cuts will survive through 2010, the U.S. Treasury will lose another $450 million in taxes on that amount. We won't even discuss the effect on the U.S. economy.
Let us review the results:
BP Cash Flow:
Escrow funding ($7 billion)
Dividend saving $7.5 billion
Tax savings $7 billion
Net favorable cash flow :
$7.5 billion
US Treasury Tax Receipts:
BP Corporate income tax ($7.5 billion)
BP Shareholders ($0.45 billion)
Net unfavorable tax receipts ($7.95 billion)
I guess we really should expect this. After all, our dear leader is the most inexperienced man in any room he walks into.
DICK MILLER
Savannah
Update: According to the Washington Post, hardly a right wing spoof, the U.S. taxpayer may get hit even harder by the deal between Obama and BP (one of his biggest contributors going way back to his Senator years).
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Using Spike Lee's script
'CBS Evening News' Anchor Couric Ridiculed Palin from Day One; Mocks Son’s Name | NewsBusters.org
'CBS Evening News' Anchor Couric Ridiculed Palin from Day One; Mocks Son’s Name | NewsBusters.org
Gisele Explains Mandatory Breastfeeding Comments
My grandmother breastfed all nine of her babies, and thought anyone who didn't bottle feed if she could was crazy. In her case, breastfeeding was practical and safe (she was blind), but I doubt if it was convenient.
Gisele Explains Mandatory Breastfeeding Comments | NBC Los Angeles
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
"Mission Accomplished:" President Obama's Iraq Withdrawal Speech
President Obama's Iraq Withdrawal Speech: 'Mission Accomplished 2'?
- From Bush's speech: Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.
In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment — yet it is you, the members of the United States military, who achieved it. Your courage — your willingness to face danger for your country and for each other — made this day possible. Because of you, our nation is more secure. Because of you, the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Week seven at Lakeside
The second class I'm taking at the Rhein Center is Portrait Sketching. In any art class I take, I'm usually the best on Monday, but the same on Friday and everyone else has passed me up. But today there was a woman in the class who could have been teaching. She was fantastic. Maybe that means I can be better on Friday?
We had some great music over the week-end. The American Tenors sang Friday night to a very appreciative audience, and Pointe of Departure Ballet with the Lakeside Symphony performed on Saturday. On Sunday we had the big Hotel Lakeside Ice Cream Social and enjoyed the music of the Genoa American Legion Band. My husband helped with the Kids' Sail program, and 126 children participated, which I think is a record. The weather was perfect for sailing.
The Mouse Island sail boat race was Saturday, and my husband's sailing partner of a few years back, Grace, took first place. She's now 20. Today was the Lakeside Triathalon, and I saw the runners going past our cottage. I think biking and sailing was also involved.
I took the Friday tree walk again--took it last year. I always learn a lot. I think there's a few trees we'll be saying "good-bye" to soon--like the ash trees which are slowing succumbing to the emerald ash borrer, which arrived in Michigan in 2002, and a lot of our silver maples are nearing 70 or 80 years old, and they do not enjoy a long life although they grow quickly and create shade.
Who murdered the vets?
I've never been particularly fond of Hemingway's fiction, but the non-fiction accounts of the Labor Day 1935 hurricane (category 5) that killed over 400 people in an area with a population of a thousand or so in this book are stunning. Every governor and city mayor of the gulf states should be required to read this. If Louisiana's state and local officials knew this story and how bad FDR looked for sending unemployed and mentally addled WWI veterans to their certain death in a hurricane, maybe the outcome of Katrina would have been different. Or not. Hemingway disliked FDR intensely, so Democrats probably don't read him. This is from HNN account:
- "Shortly after the natural disaster had occurred, writer Ernest Hemingway was contacted by the editors of New Masses to write an account of the storm from an insider's perspective. Hemingway's response was the article, "Who Murdered the Vets?: A First-Hand Report on the Florida Hurricane," published September 17, 1935, just weeks after the event. Although billed as a personal account, in reality it was an outraged demand for accountability for the needless death of the veterans. A hostile tone was established within the first few lines. "Whom did they annoy and to whom was their possible presences a political danger?" Hemingway asked. "Who sent them down to the Florida Keys and left them there in hurricane months?" Hemingway presented the veterans not merely as murdered but almost as though they had been assassinated for someone's personal political gain or simply that they were disposed of as an unnecessary burden to the public after courageously serving their country.
- "Unemployed WW-I veterans staged hunger marches and demonstrations in several cities, but the most famous was the Bonus Expeditionary Force in Washington, D.C., in June, 1932. A WW-I bonus law was passed in 1922, but vetoed by the President. In 1924, Congress overrode the presidential veto and gave every veteran a certificate payable in 1945. The nation entered the depression and in 1931 the vets demanded to be paid the bonus early. In June, 1932, about 15,000 veterans descended on Washington to convince the Senate to pass the bill. They were unsuccessful and finally President Hoover chased the "bonus marchers" out of Washington with bayonets and tear gas. Some say this action "put Roosevelt in the White House." Anyway, FERA was created in May, 1933 and various work programs and camps were established throughout the country. The events leading to the presence of the veterans in the Matecumbe work camps followed this scenario."
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Reminds me of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study
Now, fast forward from 1972 to 1993, to another deadly disease, and a "data set" made up this time primarily of poor black women. The WIHS, Women's Interagency HIV Study, (pronouced WISE) has resulted in 440 published research papers with a data base that can be mined for many more to determine the affects of HIV on (poor minority) women.
The population of 2625 women is 60% black and 27% Hispanic; less than 1/3 are employed; 2/3 report a history of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. These women have a high smoking rate, high crack cocaine use, high alcohol and illegal substance abuse rate; they have numerous co-morbidities not realted to HIV such as cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancers, cognitive disorders, and depression.
I've poured through the report, both as summarized in the July 21 issue of JAMA and the on-line site, and the newsletters (most very dated and containing recipes and weight tips on portion control) the participants receive. Through anti-retroviral drugs AIDS is no longer a fatal disease. This clinical study does not treat the women; it refers them for treatment. It offers them money for participation, child care for attending, transportation help, workshops, phone call reminders, and for a select few, a seat on the advisory board.
Well, whoop! Double whoop! Pardon me if I'm not impressed. If all participants were handed the pills and medical staff watched them take it (they do this in methadone clinics), and they were then in remission (there is no cure, but there is life extension), where would the studies be? Instead of being an HIV/AIDS study, and I think the women originally believed they would be treated, not just studied, it has become a data set for researchers (just like the Tuskegee study) for studying poverty, substance abuse, child rearing, and other diseases that may put these women at risk. It's also a study on why people may not follow doctor's orders or follow through on drug therapy--but at the cost of their own lives.
My question is this: How did a disease that began in a tiny demographic made up of privileged white men with higher than average education and income, become the scourge of the poor and black? Why, with 12% of the population, are blacks so affected, and black women? Ten years ago you could talk about "down low" sex, the practice of gay black men bringing the disease home to the wife/girlfriend and then to the children. But these days, that has become politically incorrect to even raise the issue. So you're left to your own devices by this study, JAMA (the American Medical Association's journal) the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, NPR, and any broadcast media, because they certainly won't tell you the truth.
Women's Interagency HIV Study
Friday, July 30, 2010
Current Cites: July 2010--20th anniversary
- ". . . unrestrained, unmuzzled, and unrepentant. Shield your inbox, throw up a filter, and otherwise gird your computer to resist our continuing assault, as we fully intend to sow the seeds of "current awareness" -- or more accurately our very much mistaken interpretation of such -- far and wide for many a decade more." Roy Tennant
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Made in the USA?
Today I paid $80.00 for three books about Ohio birds and wildlife. They are wonderful books, I like the author (who lives near me), and they are a terrific asset to my collection, but all were printed in China. We have a terrific farmer's market in Lakeside--the Association sells green canvass type shopping bags with its logo, made in China, of course. There is a big push on here to change to CFL electric bulbs--to use less electricity. However, most brands are made in China and we still have no really safe way to dispose of them.
The not so good are the required huge bright blue recyclable containers which sit in the street sometimes for 48 hours, and even when put away are an eyesore. Because many of the cottages are rented, and these containers are only picked up on Friday, someone leaving on Sunday or Monday will roll them to the street to wait several days for pick up, and then there's no one around to put them away. Sometimes on my Sunday morning walk I may roll 5 or 6 of these containers back to the house or drive-way. Because of our tiny lots, there really is no way to hide them.
HIV/AIDS JAMA special issue
The patient page clearly says, "Women with HIV infection can transmit the virus to their babies during pregnancy or delivery or through their breast milk." It says nothing "clear" about gay sex and the transmission of disease, and instead tip toes through "bodily fluids, including semen, " using condoms, and not having sexual contact with infected persons, including oral, anal or vaginal.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Call it anything you want, but it's still a tax increase
- Effective 2012, architecture firms and other small businesses may be hit with a dramatic and unnecessary increase in paperwork and tax forms. If the current law takes effect, any company that makes payments of $600 or more to purchase goods or services from any vendor will be required to file a 1099 MISC tax form to report the transaction. In short, your business will need to complete this form for virtually every service or piece of equipment it purchases. Many firms, especially small businesses, will suffer disproportionately under these rules. But now we have a chance to stop this law from taking effect. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) has offered an amendment to a small business bill, which is currently being debated in the Senate, that would repeal this requirement. The amendment could be subject to a vote as early as today, July 28. We urge you to contact your Senators and tell them to repeal the 1099 paperwork requirement.
Schedel Arboretum and Gardens, Elmore, Ohio




A tornado ripped through the gardens in 1992, but they made lemonade from lemons, and used the open spaces created by the downed trees to plant flower gardens, whereas before it had been primarily trees, shrubs and bushes. They also lost 10 acres when the state took it for the interstate, but were able to obtain certain concessions which created the lakes. Even so, the noise from the freeway is ever present.








