It's time for Walter's kiss of death television review. Year after year I find a TV series which I really like and it disappears as if weighted with concrete and thrown into the ocean. My taste clearly runs counter to the vast TV audience which, come to think of it, is the story of my life. Past doomed favs include Hack, The Others, Moonlight and about one series per year which no one will remember.
This years "winner" is The Glades. As far as I am concerned A&E has captured lightening in a bottle. It is, I guess, a police procedural set in south Florida. But, all comparisons to CSI Miami or any other cop shows set in beautiful places end there. First, the cast in excellent and perfect for the tone and flavor of the show. Matt Passmore is a natural as a laid back displaced detective with hidden depths. Kiele Sanchez is his love interest and both the woman and the complex relationship are perfect. Passmore and Sanchez are two of the most attractive people in acting playing two of the most attractive characters to surface in a long time. By attractive I don't mean pretty in a movie or TV sense, I mean people you like, would like to know and can't help but care about.
The scripts are consistently intelligent and funny. The humor is not "jokes" or "sitcom situations." The humor grows naturally out of the characters and the action. The location is wonderful. It is not a beautiful vacation spot inhabited by privileged people. It is a regular place inhabited by real seeming people; more blue collar than classy. Still, you can accept and believe that Jim and Callie can find a spanish treasure buried in a mangrove swamp. And the best thing about the treasure is not the riches or beauty, but Callie's epiphany about her relationship with Jim.
The characters seem like real people showing up for real jobs. But if your loved one was murdered you'd want Jim Longworth on the case and if your loved one was only injured you'd want nurse Callie Cargill taking care of her. Even the kid is real and someone you'd like to know.
So, big cheers for The Glades. Sorry guys.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Weather Inflation
Weather inflation has reached tornadoes. Not long ago a TORNADO WARNING meant that an actual tornado had been sighted, run for the basement. Now it only means that conditions are right for a tornado to develop, which is most of the time in the summer in the Great Lakes region. What this means is that everyone is going to learn that a Tornado Warning doesn't mean squat and will start ignoring them. I've been in two tornadoes in my life and they are about as serious as weather gets, they will kill you. This chicken little school of weather forecasting desensitizes people which is a real shame.
We also now have something called a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. The TV and radio will tell you that a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect from 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday until... You would expect a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY to remain in effect until Spring. But no... The WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY expires on Wednesday. Does this mean that we won't have winter weather any more after one day? I've taken to issuing my own advisories. WALTER'S WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY will go into effect on Noon of December 1 and remain in effect until Spring. Be advised. Listeners are advised to man up or move to a warmer climate.
I've been driving in winter for 50 years now and the same thing happens every year. All the people who got used to driving in snow and ice last year moved out and everyone out there during the first showfall every year is seeing snow for the first time. Come on folks, it happens every year (so far, at least). Scrape your windows and proceed to your destinations.
Why tornadoes are better than hurricanes
No evacuations (not enough notice and too unpredictable)
Damage is localized. Can usually walk out of the affected zone in ½ hour
No point in boarding up house
No such thing as a tornado preparedness kit
Covered by homeowner's insurance
Time from warning to it's over is so short it can usually be covered between commercials
You don't get really scared until you hear it and by then its too late.
Suggestions welcome.
We also now have something called a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. The TV and radio will tell you that a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect from 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday until... You would expect a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY to remain in effect until Spring. But no... The WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY expires on Wednesday. Does this mean that we won't have winter weather any more after one day? I've taken to issuing my own advisories. WALTER'S WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY will go into effect on Noon of December 1 and remain in effect until Spring. Be advised. Listeners are advised to man up or move to a warmer climate.
I've been driving in winter for 50 years now and the same thing happens every year. All the people who got used to driving in snow and ice last year moved out and everyone out there during the first showfall every year is seeing snow for the first time. Come on folks, it happens every year (so far, at least). Scrape your windows and proceed to your destinations.
Why tornadoes are better than hurricanes
No evacuations (not enough notice and too unpredictable)
Damage is localized. Can usually walk out of the affected zone in ½ hour
No point in boarding up house
No such thing as a tornado preparedness kit
Covered by homeowner's insurance
Time from warning to it's over is so short it can usually be covered between commercials
You don't get really scared until you hear it and by then its too late.
Suggestions welcome.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Opera Review
Dialogues of the Carmelites
an opera in three very long acts by Francis Poulenc
Reviewed by Walter
This opera is in the french language but the basic plot is easily understood even by those of us who do not speak French. There is a group of nuns, the Carmelites, who have taken up the practice of recitativ which is a largely successful undertaking by the human voice to blend the sound of fingernails scraping across a chalkboard with that of pigs being slaughtered.
In the first act their friends and the general populace plead with them to stop, but to no avail. Pleas are made to the government to put a stop to the recitativ. The government does not respond, so the populace rises up and overthrows the government. This is the cause of the French Revolution.
The second act consists of various well meaning attempts by several officials of the revolutionary government to abate the nuisance, without effect. This leads to the third act where the Carmelites are taken one by one to the guillotine and beheaded. When the last nun is beheaded the racket stops and the audience bursts into applause.
This is a production of historical significance as a demonstration of opera as it existed before composers of opera began using music. Poulenc makes an impressive argument for participatory democracy and the death penalty - both important themes of his era. The old regime is tolerant of the oppression of the people, but a revolutionary government deals with the worst abuses by direct action.
The opera is seldom performed since the adoption of the Geneva Conventions.
an opera in three very long acts by Francis Poulenc
Reviewed by Walter
This opera is in the french language but the basic plot is easily understood even by those of us who do not speak French. There is a group of nuns, the Carmelites, who have taken up the practice of recitativ which is a largely successful undertaking by the human voice to blend the sound of fingernails scraping across a chalkboard with that of pigs being slaughtered.
In the first act their friends and the general populace plead with them to stop, but to no avail. Pleas are made to the government to put a stop to the recitativ. The government does not respond, so the populace rises up and overthrows the government. This is the cause of the French Revolution.
The second act consists of various well meaning attempts by several officials of the revolutionary government to abate the nuisance, without effect. This leads to the third act where the Carmelites are taken one by one to the guillotine and beheaded. When the last nun is beheaded the racket stops and the audience bursts into applause.
This is a production of historical significance as a demonstration of opera as it existed before composers of opera began using music. Poulenc makes an impressive argument for participatory democracy and the death penalty - both important themes of his era. The old regime is tolerant of the oppression of the people, but a revolutionary government deals with the worst abuses by direct action.
The opera is seldom performed since the adoption of the Geneva Conventions.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Race
I wish I could somehow communicate what I know about racism. The discussion in public forums seems to fall so far short of reality that I really fear that Americans are blind to something they really need so see.
I grew up in a very racist home with a very racist family and a racist culture. No one who has not seen it close up, actually from the inside, can really appreciate how toxic it can be.
My mother was a virulent racist. She hated black people with an amazing intensity, just because they were black. Mom was an intense and angry person generally and capable of holding frightening prejudices about just about anyone, but people of color held a special place in her pantheon of evils. She knew to an absolute certainty that every black person was completely worthless and wanted only to bring down their superiors, white people. She would not trust or accept a person who was not white in any role. She would rather die than consult a black doctor and would keep an agonizing toothache in preference to treatment by a black dentist or dental assistant. I grew up with a person who would and did cheerfully contemplate genocide and would have been happy to participate in it.
My father was also firmly convinced that white people were superior to any other race and that black people were stupid, lazy and untrustworthy. He was in most respects very much a left wing socialist, but the benefits of his world would never be extended to black people. In his case he was actually in a position to do something about it and he did. He was a labor organizer and a union official and considered it an important part of his job in labor to keep "the trades" all white. All of his comrades seemed to agree wholeheartedly.
Everyone in the extended family seemed to hate black people and all of the people in my parents' social circle. It was an article of faith and part of what made them a community.
It was pretty obvious that all of the intense emotion was rooted in fear. These were people who profoundly believed that their place in the world and their security was dependent on racial privilege. Their community, economic status, personal safety and everything of value to them was at stake. Racial cohesion and the oppression of other races were the support structure of their entire lives.
I'm not speaking of these people with hatred or contempt, they were my family and loved ones. I am just realistic about what I saw and heard. I'm 65 years old and that stuff is far from my most important memory, though it may be the most tragic part of my heritage.
When a black man was elected President I could see what was going to happen as clearly as if it was written out for me. For me the Tea Party movement was like coming home. (Not something I would ever want to do.) I know exactly who these people are and what they mean by their code words and frantic fears. I know why they are eager to "believe" all manner of ridiculous things about the black President - a muslim, a socialist, a terrorist sympathizer, foreign born, trying to destroy America and take revenge on whites for all that hatred and oppression. They don't really believe this nonsense. It is a code for what they really do believe, that he is black and world is upside down.
Sane people don't seem really to believe how poisonous and compelling racial hatred and fears are for a certain subset of the population. People raised in a sane world where their family and loved ones talked and behaved in a half way sane fashion are just not able to see this terrible reality. By the way it is terrible for all of us. For the people who face this insane hatred because of their race. For anyone who is trying to make reasonably sane public policy. For people who are trying to live decent lives in a decent world and most of all for the poor deluded fools who feel that their lives and everything they care about are going to be crushed by a tide of racial inferiors moving into greater and greater positions of power. This crap is a real test of democracy and I am very unhappy about the tepid response to the challenge. These people are more than ready to destroy everything which makes America a place of hope and decency out of insane panic. Their whole approach to public life is infantile. Where are the adults?
I grew up in a very racist home with a very racist family and a racist culture. No one who has not seen it close up, actually from the inside, can really appreciate how toxic it can be.
My mother was a virulent racist. She hated black people with an amazing intensity, just because they were black. Mom was an intense and angry person generally and capable of holding frightening prejudices about just about anyone, but people of color held a special place in her pantheon of evils. She knew to an absolute certainty that every black person was completely worthless and wanted only to bring down their superiors, white people. She would not trust or accept a person who was not white in any role. She would rather die than consult a black doctor and would keep an agonizing toothache in preference to treatment by a black dentist or dental assistant. I grew up with a person who would and did cheerfully contemplate genocide and would have been happy to participate in it.
My father was also firmly convinced that white people were superior to any other race and that black people were stupid, lazy and untrustworthy. He was in most respects very much a left wing socialist, but the benefits of his world would never be extended to black people. In his case he was actually in a position to do something about it and he did. He was a labor organizer and a union official and considered it an important part of his job in labor to keep "the trades" all white. All of his comrades seemed to agree wholeheartedly.
Everyone in the extended family seemed to hate black people and all of the people in my parents' social circle. It was an article of faith and part of what made them a community.
It was pretty obvious that all of the intense emotion was rooted in fear. These were people who profoundly believed that their place in the world and their security was dependent on racial privilege. Their community, economic status, personal safety and everything of value to them was at stake. Racial cohesion and the oppression of other races were the support structure of their entire lives.
I'm not speaking of these people with hatred or contempt, they were my family and loved ones. I am just realistic about what I saw and heard. I'm 65 years old and that stuff is far from my most important memory, though it may be the most tragic part of my heritage.
When a black man was elected President I could see what was going to happen as clearly as if it was written out for me. For me the Tea Party movement was like coming home. (Not something I would ever want to do.) I know exactly who these people are and what they mean by their code words and frantic fears. I know why they are eager to "believe" all manner of ridiculous things about the black President - a muslim, a socialist, a terrorist sympathizer, foreign born, trying to destroy America and take revenge on whites for all that hatred and oppression. They don't really believe this nonsense. It is a code for what they really do believe, that he is black and world is upside down.
Sane people don't seem really to believe how poisonous and compelling racial hatred and fears are for a certain subset of the population. People raised in a sane world where their family and loved ones talked and behaved in a half way sane fashion are just not able to see this terrible reality. By the way it is terrible for all of us. For the people who face this insane hatred because of their race. For anyone who is trying to make reasonably sane public policy. For people who are trying to live decent lives in a decent world and most of all for the poor deluded fools who feel that their lives and everything they care about are going to be crushed by a tide of racial inferiors moving into greater and greater positions of power. This crap is a real test of democracy and I am very unhappy about the tepid response to the challenge. These people are more than ready to destroy everything which makes America a place of hope and decency out of insane panic. Their whole approach to public life is infantile. Where are the adults?
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Toyota's Problems
Here's an old observation which is probably pretty typical:
In at least one sense Toyota is hoist on its own petard. In the 1950s and 60s, at least in Flint among the people who drove crappy cars, unintended acceleration was literally not considered worth mentioning. Toyota was a big player in the development of a motoring public who expect automobiles to be reliable and perform predictably and then became dependant on them.
I am not exaggerating about the lack of concern for unintended acceleration. The car my parents referred to as "the old Dodge" would start racing its engine and surging forward several times a week. My mother would throw the car in neutral and fiddle with the gas pedel until it settled down. Not only would she not pull over, she wouldn't even interrupt the flow of conversation. I never heard her mention it to anyone. The thing that people would complained about was unintended lack of acceleration. Eagerness in a car was considered a virtue. It happened once when my father was driving and lighting a cigarette from a match. He dealt with it without putting out the match and then finished lighting his cigarette.
Of course, I was a little kid riding in the front seat without a seat belt behind the steel dashoard breathing sidestream smoke. It is possible that one or more of the cheap cars I owned when I was young would accelerate unpredictably. I wouldn't have considered it memorable, so I don't remember.
There is a controversy whether accidents are caused by unintended acceleration or driver error. In Michigan in the 60s, failure to deal with unintended acceleration would have been considered driver error. Engines surging, tires blowing out, ball joints failing, wipers failing, lights failing, steering abnormalities, parts falling off, etc. were all considered part of driving. Now a driver is excused from having his car under control when the throttle surges open, the car is on ice and a front tire blows out. It is all Toyota's fault; American car companies had drivers trained to deal with their crappy product.
In at least one sense Toyota is hoist on its own petard. In the 1950s and 60s, at least in Flint among the people who drove crappy cars, unintended acceleration was literally not considered worth mentioning. Toyota was a big player in the development of a motoring public who expect automobiles to be reliable and perform predictably and then became dependant on them.
I am not exaggerating about the lack of concern for unintended acceleration. The car my parents referred to as "the old Dodge" would start racing its engine and surging forward several times a week. My mother would throw the car in neutral and fiddle with the gas pedel until it settled down. Not only would she not pull over, she wouldn't even interrupt the flow of conversation. I never heard her mention it to anyone. The thing that people would complained about was unintended lack of acceleration. Eagerness in a car was considered a virtue. It happened once when my father was driving and lighting a cigarette from a match. He dealt with it without putting out the match and then finished lighting his cigarette.
Of course, I was a little kid riding in the front seat without a seat belt behind the steel dashoard breathing sidestream smoke. It is possible that one or more of the cheap cars I owned when I was young would accelerate unpredictably. I wouldn't have considered it memorable, so I don't remember.
There is a controversy whether accidents are caused by unintended acceleration or driver error. In Michigan in the 60s, failure to deal with unintended acceleration would have been considered driver error. Engines surging, tires blowing out, ball joints failing, wipers failing, lights failing, steering abnormalities, parts falling off, etc. were all considered part of driving. Now a driver is excused from having his car under control when the throttle surges open, the car is on ice and a front tire blows out. It is all Toyota's fault; American car companies had drivers trained to deal with their crappy product.
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