snicholsblog

5 Snouts up for Black Swan on DVD

2012-01-21T22:23:00.000-08:00

(:)(:)(:)(:)(:) for Black Swan starring Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers as experienced on DVD on my Mac months after everyone else in the world has seen it. I'm in good company thinking it was brilliant. I should start off by saying I'm no huge Natalie Portman fan, nor am I immensely fond of ballet. Yet, I do know Swan Lake (which, after the Nutcracker is the ballet to know) and love Tschaikovsky. And I was a chubby would-be ballerina for several years in elementary school, falling asleep at night dreaming of dancing en pointe. So I do have a reason or two to like this film.

The thing that caught and held my attention in this movie was the web of relationships within which the rising ballet star finds herself: her mother (played flawlessly by Barbara Hershey), her idol Beth (Wynoa Rider) her rival Lily (played hauntingly by Mila Kunis), and most of all her two selves echoing her dual roles as white virginal swan and black seductive swan. We never know what's real, what's imagined, who is paranoid, who is out to get whom.

It is rare in Hollywood to find so many strong roles for women in one story. Many psychologically compelling movies would content themselves with one parallel plot or relationship. This screenwriter knows mothers and daughters, knows perfectionism taken to extremes, knows the shadow self so many of us hide and project onto others. All of those common human dynamics get stretched and magnified here by a not-so-funhouse mirror into the full length of Black Swan. It is unforgettable.

4 snouts up for Tinker Tailor, 2 snouts up for freezing Tower theater

2012-01-20T22:01:00.000-08:00

(:)(:)(:)(:) for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but sadly only (:)(:) for the extremely cold Tower movie theater. Look, I was so cold, I almost can't tell you how many snouts Tinker Tailor should have. I have long defended the Tower (located about a mile from my home) from its detractors. I didn't mind that it wasn't painted or that the seats didn't have cupholders. I love that its an old independent theater with a great marquee and it shows foreign and independent films (well, are there any independent films any more? and how independent is Tinker Tailor?). But this experience was beyond the pale. I was wearing a turtleneck, a scarf, an indoor jacket, an outdoor coat with my hood up and thick gloves and I was still struggling to stay warm. After the movie, we spoke with the manager who said, "I couldn't tell if it was cold. I don't have a heater at home," and "we couldn't adjust the heat if we wanted to. We have to call an outside person who comes to do something."

Nonetheless, he gave us 3 free passes to another show. I would have used them tonight for the Artist but I couldn't bring myself to give it another try, at least not while it's still winter.

As to the movie itself, it's very good, an intriguing plot, well-written, well-acted, all in a great period piece set in 1975. Jeez, you know you're getting old when there are period pieces set when you went to Jr. High. The "ancient" technology of dial phones and reel to reel tape recorders share the limelight with Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy and Mark Strong.

Special mention must be made here of this exceptionally beautiful young man, Tom Hardy. He has quite the star quality. I thought he was really compelling and gorgeous in Inception too and didn't recognize him at all in this one. Couldn't believe they were the same guy.

And my son probably wouldn't forgive me if I didn't give a shout out to newcomer of the year Benedict Cumberbatch. Have you come across this actor, yet? He starred in an excellent BBC series set in modern day as Sherlock Holmes. He has a significant role in War Horse in theaters now and you can watch him sweat as the young guy on Gary Oldman's team in Tinker Tailor. Word has it he's also picked for a leading role in the new Star Trek movie. Whatever he does he seems to ooze intelligence and discernment. How Dickens posthumously gave him his catchy stage name, we'll never know.

How to get your kids to like a college

2012-01-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

Reed College

Most people who know me know that I am an enthusiastic member of the Reed College graduating class of 1983. Reed, a small liberal arts college nestled in a quiet residential neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, is known for its quirky intellectual students. Its unofficial motto (printed on t-shirts and BPA-laden water bottles) is "Atheism, Communism, Free Love." I am an active alumna. Along with John Bergholz of Chicago, I spear-headed a campaign a few years ago to create the first ever class-funded scholarship. "The Class of 1983 well-endowed scholarship fund" is its precise name. Students, I'm told, particularly male ones, are pleased to be selected for it.

For years, in addition to the t-shirts and water bottles, my kids have visited Portland, peripherally attended reunions, and generally been exposed to my wide variety of Reed alumni friends--all of whom are fun, bright and adorable. I knew that when it came time to apply to colleges, my children would give strong consideration to my alma mater.

My husband, on the other hand, graduated 30 years ago from an obscure institution called Brown University. Actually, there are places where this venerated Ivy League institution is less well-known. One of my favorite moments (and like so many of my stories, this doesn't reflect well on me), was when my then boyfriend, now husband, and I were interviewing for the same summer internship at the Oregon Attorney General's office. With both our resumes in hand, the interviewer said, "now I know all about Reed--what a great college! Tell me about this Brown University you attended, I'm not familiar with that." It was all I could do not to shoot my fist in the air.

Unlike me, my husband is not an active alumnus, doesn't attend reunions, doesn't buy t-shirts and rarely refers to his college (even though, I hasten to point out, he liked his experience there just fine). Although he maintains friendships with fellow alums, we don't vacation with them or see any of them often as they mostly live far away.

Well, did you see it coming? Guess which college is drawing significantly more attention from the high school sophomores at our dinner table? Three guesses and the first two aren't sitting in the rain drinking strong coffee.

This is so unfair. Had I known that this was the winning strategy, I would have forced them all to attend constant Brown reunions and wear the t-shirts (not sure what the Brown unofficial motto is, maybe "Oh, look at me, I went to Brown so I don't have to work at Starbucks for the rest of my life"?) As it is, I must look into which airlines fly from Sacramento to Providence, Rhode Island. sigh...

The Rip van Winkle Effect

2012-01-17T08:41:00.000-08:00

Since I've been back working in and around the state Capitol, I'm experiencing the Rip van Winkle effect. Remember the Washington Irving story of Rip van Winkle? He falls asleep and wakes up some 70 years later after the American Revolution. Well in 2004 or thereabouts, I fell asleep (read: quit my job lobbying on health care for a union and became a homemaker/failed entrepreneur) for 7 years and woke up in March of 2011 only to find myself lobbying on health care for a union.

It's eery because everything is the same only some things are different. Almost all the other staff and lobbyists in the health care area are the same people, they've just shuffled around a bit, in and out of the building, from job to job, mostly skewing in the direction of money. Due to term limits, most of the legislators are different, but somehow they're the same as well.

The thing that's the most different is language. While I was asleep, people started using the following words that weren't often used in 2004. Without them, it appears that public policy is impossible to conduct. Principal among them are metrics, silos and optics.

Of them, my husband, who was "awake" during this period, tells me, metrics is the most dispensable with insiders, but completely indispensable with Foundation grant makers. "If you want to get a grant, you've got to be interested in metrics," he says.

Back at the turn of the century, we used to use quaint words like data or outcomes or measurements to mean the same thing. Now, only metrics will do.

My same source thinks that silos may be the most useful of the terms. In my job we're always trying to break down silos between subject areas or subspecialties, but occasionally it might be useful to build them.

Of the 3 terms, optics may be the most telling. The only way to use the word optics is "I do/do not like the optics of _________" In the beforetime, we would say, "I don't like how this looks to the public" or "I think this will play well." Politics has always been concerned with optics of course. But this is a fascinating concept. See this piece in the New York Times on the term--click here. It says that William Safire wrote his last language column partly on the word optics.

In the end, all I can tell you is that until we get more metrics on the use of these terms, I may just crawl into my silo until it's safe to come out. And if you don't like the optics of that--tough.

Can I take MLK's legacy seriously?

2012-01-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. day--the day every year when millions of American do laundry and take down Christmas cards. Seriously, why isn't this day more important to me? Every year I resolve to organize something around it and every year it just becomes a badly needed Monday off from school and work.

I was shocked to read in the paper that there are marches all over town and that the Occupy movement is a big part of it. Shocked not because it's happening, that makes sense, but because I didn't know anything about it until today. Honestly, how can I live in a liberal, activist enclave and work for whom I work and not know that the largest march in a while is expected to take place today in my city on MLK day?

In many ways, King exemplifies the ministry that I want. Not in the sense that I need to be a famous national leader who ends up being assassinated and now people do laundry on his birthday, but in the sense that I want to be a minister who is serious about social justice, whose faith is connected to the real world and calls for and creates and fosters change.

This year people are reporting more on King's last speech and march at Riverside Church than on the "I have a Dream" speech. At the end of his life, King set his focus on the gap between rich and poor and ending the Vietnam War. A week after his famous speech on that subject at Riverside Church, he was killed. Now, almost 5 decades later due to the Occupy Wall Street/99% Movement there is a groundswell of attention to the fact that 20% of Americans live in poverty and the size of the gap between rich and poor is almost insurmountable.

The movement and its language is so pervasive that in one year it has vastly changed public opinion about taxes. For the first time in decades, Americans are ready for some good old-fashioned class warfare.

And so the backlash has begun: yesterday saw a front-page story in the New York Times (reprinted on front page of Sacramento Bee and lord knows where else) about how difficult it is to be in the 1% these days. The article showed that rich people are people too, and they have feelings and can feel hurt by all the chanting and the demonizing. The minister in me wants to say, you know, that's true. We separate ourselves from rich people when we say, "we are the 99%" why not chant, "we are the 100%"? But the activist realist in me says, "hallelujah, we are finally talking about what's important." (I actually think it's possible that both are true, by the way.)

On the same Sunday, on the front page of the NYT business section was an article about a woman who has the tough job of rehabilitating Bank of America's reputation--ministers everywhere take heed: we all need to have more compassion for Bank of America and its public relations consultants.

So it's on. In my ministerial school recently, there's been talk that if my ministry doesn't scare me, it's not big enough. Other than standing where I am, trying to articulate the presence of love in the state capitol every day I don't know what my ministry is right now. But it's scary enough to work full-time, study for ministry and raise a family.

As King himself said, "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

Daddy Squeeze Live in Downtown Sacto January 20th

2012-01-15T17:18:00.000-08:00

This Friday, January 20th, Southside Park Cohousing is hosting a "house concert" with Dan "Daddy Squeeze" Newton, a master of the accordion. Here's a link to his website http://www.daddysqueeze.com

The concert will be in the Common House on Friday, January 20th. 434 T Street, Sacramento, CA. Park on T street between 4th and 5th and take walkway by 412 T street back behind houses to common house. Doors open at 7pm. Concert starts at 7:30. The tickets are a steal at $12. To reserve your seats email Catherine O'Brien at cob@stanford.edu

Below you will find some testimonials...

Dan's fresh approach to the much-maligned squeeze-box and his mind-boggling repertoire of both original and traditional material will change the mind of the most hardened accordion skeptic.
Dan draws influences for songs and tunes from such sources as French Musette, Gypsy Swing, Cajun, Jug band, Tex-Mex and Cumbia, and calls this global gumbo “ethnoclectic” music.

“Daddy Squeeze” entertains and enlightens his audiences with stories and colorful anecdotes about the accordion and his experiences while making a living playing the instrument he loves.

"It’s hard to imagine a bad time with Daddy Squeeze (a.k.a. Dan Newton) in the house!" -Mpls Tribune

Dan Newton -- “Daddy Squeeze

“It resembles an expanding suitcase, but in Dan Newton’s hands the ungainly accordion becomes an instrument of remarkable poise and grace. “Daddy Squeeze,” as Newton is known, is as close to a true minstrel as we have in this area, spreading his squeezable joy wherever he can find an audience. He’s the rare musician who can travel from “A Prairie Home Companion” to Nightclubs to Retirement Homes to Cafes literally without skipping a beat.” - Keith Goetzman

Dan “Daddy Squeeze” Newton has been dazzling audiences with his vast repertoire and creative accordion style for over 25 years. He is a talented composer/arranger who has produced over twenty recordings. Dan has appeared at international accordion festivals in Vienna, Austria and San Antonio, Texas. He has performed at Lincoln Center in New York City, Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., The Winnipeg Folk Festival and isa frequent guest on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. Danspends most of his time playing accordion with his group Café AccordionOrchestra, performing Vintage Swing, Latin, American, and French Café music. He also performs in Donohue, Newton & Raynor with guitarist Pat Donohue and bassist Gary Raynor. Dan leads a number of bands including; Jumbo Ya Ya, Rockin’ Pinecones and The Daddy Squeeze Trio.

(:)(:)(:)(:)(:) for Of Gods and Men (Des Hommes et Des Deux)

2012-01-15T13:15:00.000-08:00

5 snouts up for Of Gods and Men on DVD now (a 2010 film in French with English subtitles). I had read about this movie and I had wanted to see it when it was in theaters, but couldn't convince my kids that it would be fun to see a movie about Trappist monks in terrorized Algeria struggling with their faith. Given that plot, maybe I won't be able to convince you either. Yet, I was blown away by this extraordinary movie.

Set in Algeria in the 1990s during a brutal civil war between the government and Islamic terrorists, the film is based on a true story about these French Trappist monks who have led a simple sweet existence there for decades. It is difficult to explain what is so compelling about the story. I guess it may be as simple as while the background is hate, the foreground is love.

Despite (or perhaps because of) their deep faith, these monks actually rarely speak of God in their exploration of what's right for each of them and for their community. For the first 2/3rds of the movie, Love is the stand-in term for God, which makes for very beautiful and accessible conversations. Because there's so much at stake (the lives of the monks and the people around them), there's this backdrop of tension that you might not otherwise find in a movie about a monastery on a hill. At any moment the terrorists or the army could kick in the door.

Watching the monks' faith, peace and knowledge of the Koran meet the terrorists' violence and hate on Christmas Eve is spellbinding. Much of their community life with each other takes place around the simple wooden dinner table. The conversations between the monks are so compellingly written as to need to be re-played immediately. The scene where they drink wine and listen to a record of Swan Lake is haunting.

It's been a long time since I've seen a movie this well-written, well-acted, well-conceived.

Pew poll: Class warfare visible for many

2012-01-12T11:34:00.001-08:00

This is a reprint from Politico--I just think this is so exciting. Sara

By MACKENZIE WEINGER | 1/11/12 2:48 PM EST

Although the Occupy Wall Street movement has receded from the headlines, a majority of Americans said in a new poll that they see major class conflict between the rich and poor.

Two-thirds of Americans said they think there are “very strong” or “strong” class conflicts in society, according to a Pew Research Center poll on Wednesday. That marks a 19 percent increase from 2009, when just 47 percent cited it as a main issue.

Latest on POLITICO

The clash between rich and poor now ranks as American society’s greatest social conflict, pollsters found, followed by 62 percent whosaid there are very strong or strong conflicts between immigrants and native-born Americans, and 38 percent who said these conflicts exist between blacks and whites. In 2009, more Americans said there were strong conflicts between immigrants and native-born Americans than the rich and poor.

And the intensity of the clash between rich and poor has grown more extreme, with 30 percent saying there are very strong conflicts in this poll compared with 15 percent who said the same in 2009. The 30 percent of Americans surveyed is the largest number recorded since the question was first asked in 1987, the pollsters said.

Over half of Republicans, or 55 percent, said there are very strong or strong conflicts between the rich and the poor, and 73 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of independents agree. All those figures have shot up since 2009, when 38 percent of Republicans, 55 percent of Democrats and 45 percent of independents told pollsters they believed the same.

Overall, just 23 percent of Americans said there are not very strong conflicts between the wealthy and poor and 7 percent said there are no conflicts whatsoever.

The poll surveyed 2,048 adults Dec. 6-19, 2011. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Meditation Lesson 2: the truth is in the breach

2012-01-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

The Buddhists call it "Monkey Mind," the propensity of the mind to swing and chatter from thought to thought, worry to doubt to fear. From Maria Nemeth (author of Mastering Life's Energies) I learned that in many ways this is not just our brain behaving like a monkey but our brain behaving like the monkey part of our brain. Part of what keeps us safe and successful as a species is our ability to constantly focus on what might be about to kill us.

So it's no wonder that when I sit down to meditate, my brain goes bonkers. Over the years of meditating every day (15 minutes to an hour depending on my routine), I've learned that the most important moment in meditation is not the part where I'm actually still and concentrating on my breath. The most important powerful moment is when I catch myself somewhere else and bring myself back. This is really what I most want meditation to help with during my busy day. Through meditation I am strengthening the muscle in me that is able to make me sufficiently aware to catch myself when I am about to say or do something crazy and to breath and stop and get present.

As Eckart Tolle teaches, most of the time there isn't a saber tooth tiger about to attack me. Most of the time I am completely safe. With meditation, I have the option of not listening to Monkey Mind. I can say, as Maria Nemeth taught me to, "thank you for sharing, nevertheless" and come back to reality.

The secret to walking more and getting out of your car

2012-01-05T07:50:00.000-08:00

That's me above by the way, I've turned into a 30 something model walking to work (where, is that Guggenheim behind her? or a space station?) in high heels.

Anyway, this secret I'm about to tell you reminds me of a secret a friend of mine with a 35-year plus marriage once imparted. She gestured to me to lean close and said, "do you want to know the secret to a long-lasting marriage?"

I did. So I moved close.

"Don't get divorced."

Equally true is the secret to walking more and getting out of your car: don't have one.

How do I know? For years we have been in violation of California state law by being a middle-class family of 4 with only one car. We can get away with this because we live in downtown Sacramento about 12 blocks from our places of work. So we commute to work by foot or bike and then we use the car to schlepp the kids and groceries around and everything else. This is further facilitated by living in a cohousing community where we can easily borrow a second car when we need to.

This all changed recently when my mother, whose principle residence is in San Diego, took (re)possession of an ancient Volvo of hers that my brother had been driving for years. She now leaves it up here by her Davis house. I took it upon myself to "borrow" it for a week or two.

That was several months ago. It has now become our second car on an indefinite basis. And here's where the real truth sets in. It turns out that if you have a second car, it becomes practically impossible not to think up reasons to use it. Suddenly I'm scheduling appointments that are so close to the time I have to be out of work that I "can't" walk or bike home first and get a car at home, I "can't" coordinate with my husband and so I have to drive to work. This further complicated by the fact that my employer pays for parking so I don't have a financial hit when I do this. If I did, I would definitely not do it.

I actually think I've put on like 5 pounds just from 2 months of occasional driving. I'm still only driving to work once or twice a week, but I can feel the pull. This week it looks like I'll drive 3 times.

The car has got to go.

5 Snouts up for "The Thick of It" British television series

2012-01-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

(:)(:)(:)(:)(:) An almost unheard of 5 snouts up for The Thick of It a hilarious British television series that satires government and press. It features Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker the Prime Minister's foul-mouthed Scottish enforcer, constantly appearing out of nowhere in the Secretary of State for Social Affairs offices with Chris Langham as a brilliant deadpan Cabinet minister.

The main thing is the brilliant comic writing. This is one of those series, like the British Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm that is painfully brutal and spot on. I'm finding I need a break between shows of a week or more to recapture my equilibrium.

We found it because we watched In the Loop, which is a full-length film based on The Thick of It. I think I forgot to blog about that but I'd give it a solid 4 snouts, maybe withhold the 5 because it's more of a television than a movie plot, but it's devastatingly funny and somehow Malcolm Tucker is even more obscene in his excoriations of the minister. You never see or hear the PM in these--just his enforcer who is almost invariably displeased with what the minister has been doing forcing them to dial back public positions in the most ludicrous possible ways.

This is George Orwell meets Dickens meets Ricky Gervais. See them both.

Rock 'n' Roll sitting down with Matthew Sweet at Yoshi's

2011-12-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

(:)(:)(:)(:) Four enthusiastic snouts up for Matthew Sweet at Yoshi's San Francisco Jazz Club in the Fillmore district. I don't even know this Athens, Ga- launched rocker, but I was blown away by his power pop music last night. Apparently he's been around a long time. This year he's touring by playing his 20 year old "Girlfriend" album song for song in order. My husband tells me this is a thing.

What is also clearly a thing is watching a head-banging, kick out the jams, bash into your neighbor show, while politely sitting down nodding your head a little and sipping your $13 Grey Goose gimlet at a jazz club. Sigh. I guess this was inevitable when the main audience for rock 'n' roll hit an average age of 60 but c'mon people, this was an amazing show. All but one of these songs could go head to head with REM, Fountains of Wayne, and even during the encores--the ENCORES--my husband and I were the only people standing up (and it wasn't just because we had to pee).

I'm influenced by the fact that my Grey Goose gimlet was amazingly strong and since I almost never drink and when I do it's not in public, I felt very very head-spinning by the end of this slammin' show.

My instinct, and granted, I am a spring chicken 50, was to jump up and completely frantically dance to their first encore, "I'm sick of myself"--a phenomenal song capturing a concept near and dear to my heart.

Has it really come to this, people!? I guess so. I also have to say that I'm not wild about the playing an album in order of song thing. Some of his best tracks were (because when people listened to entire albums in order this used to matter) early in the album, so were barely in our seats before songs that we would normally be, well, in our seats for during the encore were played.

Absent that, he had an amazing lead guitarist and an impish bassist with an appealing look and sound and a competent drummer. Great show and yes, I have to admit, I was perfectly happy to sit down for most of it. I do not like standing for entire shows either--but a mixture!?

(:)(:)(:)(:) for the Descendants

2011-12-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

Four enthusiastic snouts up for The Descendants in theaters everywhere. I even toyed with awarding 5 snouts here, but the kids reminded me that as I reserve 5 snouts for movies where I come out saying, "that was the best movie I've ever seen" (I think the last time I said that was American Beauty), this wasn't quite at that level. Still, a very very good movie that should be seen.

I'm a huge run-o-the-mill, People mag level George Clooney fan. I love the stubble, the big brown eyes, the full tilt of his head, the voice, the politics, everything. I am one of those rank and file movie goers who is more likely to identify the movie by its stars than its director or writers. This movie is no exception even though the main reason many people probably saw it was its director (Alexander Payne: Sideways, About Schmidt, King of California) and even though who the director is has much more effect on whether a movie is good than who it stars. Although having said that there are actors who are choosy enough about their vehicles, George Clooney and Meryl Streep come to mind, that the fact of their starring in it almost means it's a good film. Contrast that to someone like Michael Cain who clearly is just an absolute whore and wants to work no matter what--sometimes it's a great film, sometimes it's absolute shite.

Beyond Clooney, I really did like the direction here. This story could have been told with a much heavier hand--what a nightmare really. A man's wife is in a coma only to find out that she __________ and with ___________ who is involved in _________________ (don't want to spoil the plot like so many other critics). The Hawaii-ness is wonderful (and as a mainlander, I can say that it feels like they got that right, but whadoIno about that), the music, the beach, the sense of all these beach bums being greedy pigs and this one Honolulu out of touch lawyer in a suit being ultimately so loving and giving.

The movie is by turns funny, tragic, funny, funny, sad, sad. They got the kids right too. Shailene Woodley as Clooney's older daughter is a revelation--gorgeous, sassy--great writing which she lives up too--love to see more of her.

To get that 5th snout, I really would have to have wanted to own it and see it again and I don't. Once was enough. It's a small story that may or may not endure.

(:)(:)(:) for the Adventures of Tintin in 3D

2011-12-26T10:57:00.000-08:00

3 snouts up out of a possible 5 snouts for Tintin in 3D.

At 9:50pm Christmas night, after a rich meal and a rousing Oh Hell card game speed race, my children and niece and nephew prevailed upon me and my brother to take them to the 10:10 showing of the Adventures of Tintin. At my age, and with my early to bed early to rise routine, this decision itself was an adventure, an impulsive act hearkening back to holidays of our youth.

So we figured out some logistics, hopped in very cold cars and raced to the theaters in downtown (nearly deserted) Davis. It was fun to tell the ticket clerks we wanted to see "Tin Tin at ten ten." Unlike probably most viewers, my brother and I and our four teenagers (15-19) were raised on Tin Tin (our other brother is also raising his kids on Tintin, it's a must in the Nichols family). We have every single one of the Tintin books (written by Belgian cartoonist Herge in the early 1930s). So it was a no brainer to see this movie and to see it together.

I think it's fair to say we were all enchanted by it. I know I was. Yet I give it only 3 snouts--how can this be? Well, as my son put it, it's a 4 snouter if you love and know Tintin. It's a 3 if you're just going to a movie. For me the movie was a technological marvel as well. I have never seen an animated film that was made to look so much like a photo-realistic live action film. In it, Steven Spielberg really seems to bring the art of Herge to life. It is as if someone waved a magic wand and now the characters are all real and somehow able to have their crazy adventures in 3D.

I take it down a snout or too because in preserving the authentic Tintin feel, Spielberg and company chose to keep the thin plot, hokey dialogue and ludicrous assumptions intact. The movie ends up feeling a little like a hybrid of 1930s sensibilities with 2011 technology--a disconcerting combination that doesn't quite work. In other words, absent a fascination with a sexually ambiguous boy adventurer, his drunken sea captain sidekick and the 2 infinite silly Thom(p)son Twins trailing them, you might just say "yeah right!"

Come to think of it, Tintin's dog Snowy deserves honorable mention here. Snowy has always been a talented and key part of any Tintin adventure, but Spielberg pays special attention to him here. He ducks under cars, jumps out of windows and onto trucks and zeroes in on pick pockets like nobody's business. Snowy is, in fact, often several steps ahead of Tintin, the captain and everyone in the film. The chase between Snowy, a falcon, a car and a boat in a north african town might be the single best 3-D adventure scene I've every experienced--it was a ride at Disneyland all in itself.

In the end, I hope this film will introduce millions more to the amazing original cartoon books, available in print everywhere.

(:)(:)(:)(:) for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2011-12-25T11:21:00.000-08:00

Four out of a possible five snouts up for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in theaters everywhere now. I have to confess that I am one of the millions of people who obsessively consumed the 3 books that make up this bestselling series. I read the first two in paperback, third on Kindle (my first ebook). And I am not generally a consumer of such genres. I like mysteries, but avoid gratuitous violence and get a little too wound up by thrillers, so this was a departure for me. However, once in, I was so fascinated I couldn't get out.

It was with trepidation then, that I set forth on foot for a 7 o'clock showing at the downtown plaza. It is one thing to read about rape and torture in print (or digital representations of print) and another to see it depicted in full color on the silver screen. To top it off, we went with our (tiny sweet baby 6'4" almost 17 year old) son. I have a bad track record at watching violent films with my children (see my review of of the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes). I tend to see it all from (what I imagine is) their perspective and I get rather freaked out when something intense happens (even if they're not).

As it happens, the film is marvelous and mostly just suspenseful.. Beautifully filmed, supreme acting. I agree with my colleagues (by that I mean all the other film critics that are unaware of my existence) that Rooney Mara, who plays Lisbeth Salander, the girl with said tattoo, is a talent. Though so much of her "appeal"--if you can call it that--comes from the way she dresses and what she's able to accomplish that it's possible that any other 95 lb. 5 foot actress could pull it off equally well. Daniel Craig, whom I've actually never seen in a film before and was only dimly aware was a Bond, was awesome--sexy, charming, totally fulfilled my fantasy of Mikael Blomkvist.

I was captivated by the credits alone (which, are, by the way, possibly the creepiest part of the picture). Afterwards in family review, my son raised the question of whether I had violated my own guideline by not walking out during the second anal rape (he called it "A.R." for delicacy sake). I say no and here's why: knowing it was coming, I took a bathroom break during the first one. Then sat gleefully during the second one, noticing how little it bothered me since it was a revenge on the first and being a little bothered by how little I was bothered.

One final note: the first book is like 800 pages long and complex. This movie seems to assume that everyone watching it has read the book. If I hadn't, I would have been completely lost for the first 20 minutes just as I was bewildered by the 100 page set up in the book. Don't worry, it's worth it either way. Both Bill and Nick had not read the book and understood and enjoyed the film.

Sacramento's best toy stores may be in Old Sacramento

2011-12-17T12:32:00.001-08:00

This was prematurely published the first time:
Every year I have the joy of remembering how fun it is to do Christmas shopping in Old Sacramento. It's definitely not just for t-shirts and toffee and hasn't been for years. In particular, I think the best toy stores in the city are there. Every year I vow to blog about them in November so that people remember to shop there and instead I find myself telling you with only 7 shopping days left.

Every toy store in Old Sac is going to beat the heck out of Toys R Us or KB Toys which only carry the mainest of mainstream corporate choices.

There are 3 main toy stores in Old Sac:

Old City Kites

Fun and Games in Old Sacramento

G. Willikers! Toy Emporium

I find jewels in all three. In addition to kites and puzzles, Old City Kites has awesome games and stocking stuffers--really fun jokes and pranks (although Evangeline's in Old Sac has those too) and just stuff you would never find elsewhere. Fun and Games is better for older kids and adults--the games are incredibly wonderful though. Definitely cutting edge. Excellent craft packages if you're into that. Also very good stocking stuffers--hardware puzzles of screws and bolts to untangle--great!

But the one I most consistently find stuff for my elementary age nieces and nephews (and when they were younger) is G. Willikers! which is a larger, beautiful store--special emphasis on trains and Thomas, a great place to bring kids because it's so fascinating and they carry a lot of great games, toys, dolls, stocking stuffers. Love that place!

Meditation Lesson 1: No one can do it right.

2011-12-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have been meditating for many years. I love it. I depend upon it. I would be more likely to leave the house without brushing my teeth than I would without meditating.

Countless books and classes and CDs exist to teach people to meditate. Yet, people ask me all the time about it. So I decided to share what I know about meditating, a little a day for a while.

Lesson 1: No one can do it right.

The biggest thing that gets in the way of beginning meditators is the fear or knowledge that they are not "doing it right." If they were, their mind would be peaceful and tranquil and still not bouncing all over the place thinking of 5 million things.

Wrong. Pema Chodron, the great north American buddhist nun (who talks and writes just like a regular person--her books are short and sweet--so cool) has "sat on a cushion" for over 30 years. Sometimes she maintains silence for as long as a year. She says her mind still is not peaceful. It still bounces all over the place.

The difference between meditators and non-meditators is not the peacefulness or tranquilness of their mind, it is that meditators (experienced ones anyway) sometimes notice what their mind is doing and catch it. They can witness the business, and they don't always have to be caught up by it.

More later.

It always comes down to people

2011-12-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

More and more it seems to me that it always comes down to people. At least it certainly does in my small world of lobbying in the state capitol and being a spiritual practitioner. You can talk about institutions, and government and companies, but at the end of the day, what gets me to call someone, go somewhere or get anything done is the individual people. There will be some particular person who I know, or who has a reputation for getting things done or being loving, kind, cutting to the chase, whatever it is. I generally don't just want that office, I want that person

In a way, it's not supposed to be this way. "Principles before personalities" is said to win the day. Process, mission statements, values, planning all command an immense amount of focus. And certain organizations--in my world, Southwest Airlines and Sacramento Country Day School come to mind--are able to use those tools to create an impressive consistency in the service and face they provide to the public.

Yet, it seems to me that even there it's as if the consistency of the mission attracts and retains great people. I'd like to hear whether you agree.

Safety on the Sacramento River paths?

2011-12-08T22:15:00.001-08:00

Well, I got a lot of feedback on that post. Ideally, those people (and you know who you are) would take the time to officially comment (which is the kind of thing that drives traffic to a site). But you didn't, so I'll give you the highlights:

A woman who calls herself "Pev" said this: One word: pockettazer...I don't walk without it and I'm in the "safe" burbs.

To "Pev": one word, "don't taze me, bro" Seriously, I remember when I was dating a man who ran security systems in the desert. He was so romantic. He gave me my first tazer. Back when NO ONE had one. Hot! Below see a photo of a "pocket lazer" which is as close as google images could get:

Donalee says: Hear! Hear! I remember hearing about attacks happening on the American River bike trail. However, I work downtown and a few years ago a woman was murdered right in our building's quad area; people are mugged frequently. I saw my (only) dead body in a downtown alley. I haven't heard about rapes happening in the downtown area, but I wouldn't be surprised. I'm a chicken about being almost anywhere alone - and some times even with other people. Sad.

Donnalee, take 2 tablespoons of raisins and call me in the morning!

Bill A says this: I strongly urge, nay forbid, my wife to walk along the river alone. There is a history of attacks, esp along the American River, going back to my first days in Sacramento (1985). I would not call them victims of the economy. I call them rapists.

Hmmm, Bill A., where is your compassion, man? Rapists are people too.

I also found out at the dinner table that my husband, whom I'll call Bill M., also would strongly rather (the thinking man's "forbids") that I not walk alone along the river.

I said it before and I'll say it again (hopefully not to my eternal regret), I've always felt very safe there.

Safe walking on the Sacramento rivers?

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

I live 5 blocks and work 7 blocks from the Sacramento River and a few blocks more from the American (pictured above). Like many Sacramentans, I like to bike and walk along them. Unlike many Sacramentan women, I tend to do it alone. The question I want to pose here is: is it?

The reason people think it might not be safe is the preponderance of down and out people who camp near the river and hang out there during the days. The thought is that it isn't safe to be near people at that level of society, they are desperate and they may attack. I tend to think (based on intuition and observation, but no actual information) that people who are down and out are kind of just scrambling to survive. Their main needs are food, shelter, water and medication. They certainly don't have the energy to rape anyone and they're unlikely to want to mug anyone because it would bring police investigation. One thing they know they don't want is increased scrutiny by the police.

Yet, I have to admit that yesterday, when walking near Discovery Park just north of Old Sac on a gorgeous cold clear day I felt nervous to find myself alone and face to face with a man clearly in need of psychiatric medication, shelter and love. I was not in position to provide either of the first and sometimes gazing lovingly at people who are not seeing clearly can have its drawbacks so I went for head down quick passing by as the best strategy and kept my cell phone handy. He shouted obscenities at me but failed to rise from his cozy position next to the fancy water reclamation center.

A quick search reveals that in September a man was shot in the early morning near the American River Bike Trail--he was homeless. As this Sacramento Bee photo documents above, the river has not always been a friendly place for this population to camp. All of this leads me to wonder who it is that really should be nervous along the Sacramento rivers--perhaps its not a middle aged middle class woman trying to walk off her middle.

Once you go Mac, you never go back

2011-12-05T18:36:00.001-08:00

Of course I'm far from the first person to say that. As I've just learned by exercising my human right to google, there's a facebook page, there's multiple t-shirts. So let me just echo. My first personal computer was the first mass-produced Apple Macintosh. My father bought it for me in 1982 through a program at Reed College. At the time he purchased it, my father (a literature professor and radical left activist) was composing all his copious writings (plays, books, stories, letters) on a manual typewriter he had been carrying around with him for 30 years. He hated the electrics and wouldn't have anything to do with them. I can well remember falling asleep to the sounds of Judy Collins' "no more genocide in my name" layered over the clang of the return arm on the typewriter in my father's office located directly below my bedroom.

But I digress...my father fell in love with my first Mac and stole it from me. Just like that. He bought it. He tried it and then he couldn't, wouldn't go back to the clackety clack. Course, my father was an honorable man and so he immediately bought me another one. I loved it. It was so convenient. You could even store up to 365k of memory on one of those little disks and you could spend hours swapping disks back and forth in order to have them hold your entire 20 page paper.

Then I got a job working as a secretary on a Wang wordprocessor. Don't get me started on Yang. I was the freakin' queen of Wang. Sometime let me tell you the story about how I inadvertently lost 3 people their jobs by being a temp that was too good at Wang. After that I worked only for places with IBM machines. Not because I liked them, but because that's what my employers had. I wanted desperately to work on an Apple computer. My brothers never ever left the Apple family. I dreamed of it. I yearned for it. I got very good at PCs (but at night I would dream of the Mac...).

It never seemed to me to make sense to invest in an Apple product because they were so expensive and they did not interface well with PCs. For the past several years, people whispered to me, there's Mac Word--you can open microsoft products. All those glitches are gone. Still, I would go into the Mac store and I would look at the prices on those laptops and I would think, no can do. I bought a little netbook PC thing hoping it would slake my thirst. So affordable. So tiny. A soon-to-be anachronism replaced by the tablets. It has been horrible. It is impossible to type on. It takes years to boot up. It crashes frequently.

Finally, last year, the main desk top at home acted up once too often. I convinced myself it was on its last legs and I went to the Apple store and bought an iMac desktop. Man oh man. I love(d) everything about it. About a week after I bought it, I got a challenging day job. That job has me on a PC. I'm on that PC all day long. It crashes. It takes forever to boot up. It's not beautiful and it's hard to get around.

Week before last one of my brothers let me use his Mac Airbook for a second. OMG. I could hardly stand how beautiful that thing is. I kid you not I seriously considered stealing it from him and telling him there was a break-in.

I cannot and will not live without that device. I will have one.

Yet, it occurs to me that the title of my post is a lie. I went Mac and then for decades (literally, almost 3) I did not go back. Maybe what I should say is, "once you leave Mac, it's a long road back..."

Four Snouts Up for Hugo

2011-12-02T08:04:00.001-08:00

(:)(:)(:)(:) for Hugo, a family friendly film directed by Martin Scorsese. I struggle as to whether to give this 4 snouts over 3 (and it's certainly not the coveted 5 snouts). It's an absolutely gorgeous picture--amazing set, amazing cinematography, lovely acting, engaging sweet story. However, I guess in the end, I found it a bit thin. It's really just not enough story for a full movie, as if someone took a short story (rather than a thick graphic novel, which is essentially what it was based upon) and stretched it into a feature film. Without giving anything away, I also didn't completely buy the basic premise of why the character played by Ben Kingsley is so sad and what he fears so much about the past. When that was revealed, my reaction was kind of, "huh?" We also chose to see the film in 3-D which may not have been the best decision. I went with my husband and two teenagers. The 4 of us have kind of decided that there's too much 3-D out there and that we'd just as soon see things in two dimensions. But this film has lots of long shots of the amazing clock works and racing around the station and in retrospect, I can see where that would be more exciting in 3-D. The rest of my family absolutely loved it with no reservations and it is notable that two teenagers opted for and really dug this PG film over some of the more violent and salacious fare in the market. My recommendation: See Hugo, bring the kids and grandma, and see it in 3-D.

Five Snouts Up for Book of Mormon on Broadway

2011-12-01T06:09:00.001-08:00

(:)(:)(:)(:)(:) for The Book of Mormon on Broadway. "Ding, dong," the opening song in this amazing show tells us, "have you read this most amazing book? ... eternal life is super fun." And I have to confess it's been almost an eternity since I saw the play (August) and I am super remiss in not blogging on it (or much of anything, for that matter). Especially since this show is winning my coveted 5 snouts, almost never awarded. My experience of seeing this show, co-created by South Park creators Trey Park and Matt Stone teaming up with Robert Lopez (Avenue Q), was colored by my relationship with Trey Park's co-Tony-winning director (and choreographer) Casey Nicholaw. Casey and I came up together in San Diego's Jr. Theatre (pronounced "thee-ay-ter) if you're one of its bratty kids and we were. For years we were part of a tight-knit gang of kids whose whole world revolved around several shows a year, mostly musicals, produced by this top notch then City-run extracurricular program. Casey was enthusiastic, bright, friendly and kind. Everyone was happy to be in his presence. The last time I actually saw Casey may have been the summer of 1979 when trips to Europe coincided (the dollar was strong then, kids) and Casey came over from London to visit me in Paris. We quickly learned that we had different tastes in cities, food and how to spend time. This came to a head (pun intended) while watching Gore Vidal's Caligula which fascinated Casey and disgusted me. I think it was during that film that I developed a basic guideline of walking out of movie during the second anal rape. Anyway, back to the future, Casey is the toast of the town and allows me to presume upon our shared past enough to put aside 4 of the stellar seats allocated to him (he had done this for me before for Spamalot which he choreographed. We had listened to the show soundtrack a couple of times beforehand, but nothing compares to the actual show with this original cast (no understudies that Saturday matinee, yay!). Everything about it was perfect. How on earth, I continue to wonder, can a show possibly simultaneously be this irreverent and reverent? It makes no sense. These folks, while skewering the lunatic beliefs undergirding the Mormon faith and highlighting its complete irrelevance to the very real problems of rural Ugandans (a brilliant juxtaposition, btw), somehow manage to give us compassion and understanding of the very real level of faith a true member of the Latter Day Saints can have in their hearts. Nowhere is this more evident than in the show stopper number "I believe" in which Elder Price (played impeccably by Andrew Rannells) re-affirms and discovers his faith and marches in to confront a Ugandan warlord (with humiliating results). The song is simultaneously uplifting, inspiring and hilarious. Consider "I believe that God has a plan for all of us. I believe that plan involves me getting my own planet. I believe that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri." I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention "I am Africa," which presents a devastating chorus line of young white Mormon boy "elders" dressed in white singing their hearts out about Africa. Lines like, "Just like Bono, I am Africa" lead me to double-over with pain slapping the seat in front of me, tears coming out of my eyes. Casey's choreography stunningly highlighting the chasm between these men and the impoverished AIDS-ridden terrified people they seek to convert. Perhaps I am uniquely situated to love this show as a girl who grew up perverting musical theater lyrics backstage in Jr. Theater to become, among other things, a new thought minister with a deep faith of her own and fascination with all religious traditions. One wonders though, as it takes to the road and a life post Broadway (in years to come), one wonders how first Uganda number, "Hasa Diga Eebowai," a brutal send-up of Lion King's "Akuna Matata" will survive. If the culture of the US ever (d)evolves to the point where San Diego Jr. Theater kids can stand on stage singing "Fuck you God in the ass mouth and cunt" then the shock factor and social critique of this production will have long since faded (not to mention they'd have to recruit a few more black kids to pull it off). Thank you South Park boys and Casey Nicholaw for this treat.

To F or not to F the Intern? (:)(:)(:) for The Ides of March

2011-10-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

3 surprisingly enthusiastic snouts up for The Ides of March directed by George Clooney and starring Ryan Gosling and George Clooney. I had reasonably low expectations of this movie having read several reviews and hearing how sort of predictable it was supposed to be. I'd said it before, go to a film with low expectations and you can only be pleasantly surprised. So, after you read this review, if you're inclined to see the picture and want to replicate my experience first read some slams of it and then go. Having watched the movie, I can confidently assert that Clooney wanted to make this entire film only to have the near final scene in the hotel kitchen with Gosling. Given your strategy of reading the other reviews, I don't think I'll spoil anything by telling you that the central question is really can you or can you not get ahead if you break the fundamental rule of politics and fuck the intern? The answer, I think, is supposed to be no. But is that the lesson this movie really teaches? and is it the lesson that history teaches? Whatever your definition of "is" is, Bill Clinton did whatever he did with Monica Lewinsky, survived impeachment and went on to be re-elected. Yes, it was a massive distraction. Yes, it may be the main thing he's known for in the history books, but the fact is, he did it and survived in politics. I yo-yo on whether Ryan Gosling can act. His performance in Blue Valentine was intriguing. His performance in Stupid Crazy Love was annoying. In this one, he's credible and attractive. Surrounded by indie royalty {Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei) the unknown actress who played Molly the intern, by the way, is a find--Evan Rachel Wood is believable as a sexy, smart yet hopelessly naive 20 year old. I'm sure Hollywood will want to see more of her.

Political Rochambeau in the State Capitol Waning Days of Session

2011-09-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

THe last two days in the legislature have been intense and insane. It is the last week of legislative session for the entire year. Tomorrow at midnight is the constitutionally mandated "drop dead" time for getting legislation passed. The final week of session in California bears no resemblance to anything. Nothing in Washington, nothing in California legislature the rest of the year, nothing in nature can prepare you for this. I take that back. Picture a swarm of drunken bees at a cocktail party being responsible for lawmaking and you might get some notion of it. Both the Senate and Assembly floors are in session day and night. Lobbyists in power suits swarm the 3rd floor "well" outside the entrances to the floors. Most members of the legislature use the optional doors on the other side to avoid the lobbyists, so I"ve never understood how this is a good place to be. It is, however, THE place to be the end of session. Most of the time most of the people have nothing to do but wait. It is a dangerous thing to have so many people in suits representing powerful interests standing in one place with nothing to do. Recent studies of human organizations show that in the absence of information, humans will, scientifically put, make shit up. Case in point the last week of session: Bored out of their mind, lobbyists engage in a dangerous form of political rochambeau: take one fact, two lies and an interest group and mix it deftly into an unsubstantiated rumor. Rumor in hand, start to "walk the halls" telling everyone you meet the rumor. As you tell it, get more and more invested in its veracity, importance and the righteousness of your cause. If possible, work yourself up into a sort of angry frenzy. When you first concocted the rumor, you thought it was merely a plausible and intriguing scenario, something that might be true and if it was, woah wouldn't that be someting? As you tell it and retell it, you find that it IS true. More than that, you find that you are really outraged that this has happened. You want others to be outraged too. When, occasionally, a listener pushes back on the story, questioning even your own thin internal reasoning, that adds to the outrage. How DARE you question my veracity? In effect you're thinking, this really IS a good rumor! I KNOW for a fact that it's a good rumor because I'm the one who made it up and am spreading it. Don't tell ME that this isn't true! You spread it enough that others hear it and begin to spread it too. The opposition (and there's always opposition) quickly gets wind of it and begins chasing down its source. Could this really be true? How did this happen? Is there really going to be an extra session this week? are they really doing a last minute evisceration of my bill? Is there really an initiative being filed on this subject while we speak? The efforts to chase down the rumor lead to confusion and anger. NO. We are not filing an initiative. Where did you get that? NO. there is not an extraordinary session next week. The people who are being lied about now have to figure out who is doing the lying. And the circle of life continues in this tiny town called the capitol. The secret, I've found, is to secure a safe haven in someone's office in the capitol, a comfortable chair, a computer monitor to watch the floor and wait for the rumors to reach you. They always do.