Here’s the podcast from Asylum Management. We talked for 90 minutes. Mostly, we talked about the ghosts of Route 66, because of my trilogy set along that Mother Road. The last of the ghostly tales of route 66 is now out. Soon, I hope to have PayPal orderability on the website www.GhostlyTalesofRoute66.com.
Until then, you can always contact Quixote Press.
In 1988 Universal Studios used a farm in Dyersville, Iowa, as the main location for the movie Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Burt Reynolds and Ray Liotta.
Today, that baseball diamond carved out of a cornfield is for sale for $5.4 million dollars. The sellers are Don and Becky Lansing and the 193-acre plot has been used as a tourist stop ever since the movie came out, with the 2-bedroom farmhouse, 6 buildings including a concession stand and the diamond up for purchase.
Realtor for the sale is Ken Sanders who went 29-45 with a 2.97 Earned Run Average for 8 major league teams during 10 seasons in the 1960’s and 1970’s, before he became a real estate agent.
What are the odds that Dennis Hopper would die at 74 and Gary Coleman would die the day before at 42? What strange alignment of the stars does this portend?
Some thoughts: the song “It Sucks to Be Me” from “Avenue Q”, which is rendered by (supposedly) Gary Coleman will not be nearly as fun now. As for Hopper, I’m thinking about his turbulent love life…which, come to think of it, Coleman also was experiencing in his final days. And I’m remembering the ad that Hopper did not too long ago for oldsters and Baby Boomers, standing on a beach extolling the virtues of old age and how to enjoy it. I don’t know about you, but with a Mom who lived to be 95, I’m thinking that 74 isn’t that “old.” (Dad only made it to 84, but he’d have lasted longer if Mayo Clinic had ever given him a colonoscopy, which was not routine in his trips there back in the day.)
Even as he lay dying, Hopper was locked in a bitter feud with his ex-ballerina wife, and Coleman’s romance with his last bride seemed to be on the skids.
Rest in peace, guys. I’m just glad that they got the star on Hollywood’s sidewalk done for you, Dennis, before “Easy Rider” and “Apocalypse Now” and even that last halfway decent zombie movie role fade from memory.
R.I.P.
It’s raining in Tennessee and the severe weather and storms hadn’t let up as of 5 p.m. CDT. Local papers in Nashville said it was the worst flooding since 1974.
According to the Channel 5 news in Nashville ([email protected] and the newspaper the Tennessean, there is a tornado watch for most of southwest Tennessee until 6 p.m. Six inches of rain fell Saturday night, and another 4 inches is expected by late Saturday. At 4:45 p.m., rain was still falling.
All high school proms were being canceled. There were 88 reports of road accidents and 30 people reported being stranded in their homes or cars. I40 in southwest Tennessee was shut down and I40 was shut down at 
the 59-mile marker on Saturday morning.
In the photo to the left, the black car belonged to a friend of my daughter’s and was parked in the Belmont University parking lot in Nashville. It was totaled.
In Memphis, the Interstate was closed. Franklin, where many rich and powerful stars reside (Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, et. al.) was flooded. The Nashville Sounds baseball game was canceled.
This photo was taken by a friend from his window.
Tornado warnings had been issued for southeast Davidson County, eastern Williamson county, northern Rutherford, and western Wilson County. The Tennessee Department of Transportation canceled all roadwork on I440.
Another friend sent the picture below of her Nashville front yard under water. (Good thing the daughter lives on the third floor; many of her friends have 3 inches of water in their basements!)
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s Testimony Before Congress Sets Off Toyota Tempest
Commentary on Ray LaHood’s (Secretary of Transportation) comments to Congress on February 3, 2010.
Read More
“Crazy Heart:” Bridges At His Best and One of the Year’s Best Movies
“Crazy Heart” is the film that should win Jeff Bridges his long-overdue Oscar. The veteran Hollywood star has turned in 4 Oscar-nominated performances, stretching back 38 years to his first nomination for 1972’s “The Last Picture Show.” (Others were: 1975: “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”; 1985: “Starman”; 2001: “The Contender”).
Bridges is 60 years old, now and he’s never won that Oscar. This just might be his year. (Especially given his reception at the Golden Globe awards on January 17, 2010).
In “Crazy Heart” Bridges doesn’t so much “play” the alcoholic, broken-down country-and-western singer Bad Blake as he inhabits that character, which is what he has done so well for so many years in so many films. Bad Blake is 57 and he’s broke. He’s reduced to playing bowling alleys like the Spare Room, where the owner refuses to run a bar tab for the hard-drinking singer (who is partial to McClure’s), but tells him, “Mr. Blake, let me personally offer you all the free bowling you want.”
Bad Blake is the kind of musician with true talent that carried him far, but talent he abused and wasted by drinking too much, smoking too much, and screwing too much. Now, says Bad, “I’m 57 years old and I’m broke…My career’s goin’ nowhere.” Some have remarked on parallels to Mickey Rourke’s character in “The Wrestler.” That’s understandable, but the films take very different plot paths. “The Wrestler” may be a more dramatic examination of an old dog who’s having trouble learning new tricks, but there are echoes of the theme of the family that has been sacrificed at the altar of career.
A doctor tells Bad (after a minor car accident in his ’78 Suburban van) that Bad has a broken ankle, a concussion, emphysema, and is a good candidate for heart problems and a stroke. He cautions Bad that he must stop smoking and drinking and lose 25 pounds. He adds, ”You’re an alcoholic.” Bad doesn’t say this line to the doctor, but to the woman he is wooing (Maggie Gylenhaal) when she cautions him about his drinking and smoking. It sums up his self-destructive behavior through the first two-thirds of the film: “I don’t want to hear it, darlin.’”
Bad writes songs with lyrics like, “I used to be somebody, now I am somebody else. Who walks in tomorrow is anybody’s guess.” He’s also the kind of troubadour of the road who says of his nomadic lifestyle, “I’ve played sick, broke, divorced and on the run. Bad Blake hasn’t missed a show in his entire life, even if it’s in a bowling alley backed by a bunch of hippies.”
The bunch of hippies referenced above is Bad’s on-the-road pick-up band, “Tony and the Renegades”. Playing the character Tony is Ryan Bingham, one-half of the team that composed the Golden Globe-winning song “Weary Heart,” the theme song from the movie. The wonderful songs (especially good lyrically) were written by T Bone Burnett, who paired with Bingham and the man to whom the movie is dedicated, Stephen Bruton (also credited on guitar and mandolin). Bruton died on May 9, 2009, of throat cancer at age sixty.
When your eye looks over the song credits at the end, notice how many of them Stephen Bruton is responsible for. He wrote most of the good ones. When he died, T Bone Burnett—who was instrumental in getting Jeff Bridges to play the lead character—said, “Stephen Bruton was the soul of Texas music.” Bruton had written music for Kris Kristofferson as far back as 1972; for Carly Simon in 1976; and for Bonnie Raitt’s best-selling “Luck of the Draw;” Willie Nelson; Jimmy Buffett; Johnny Cash; Waylon Jennings; and Patty Loveless. Bruton had also released five solo albums of his own, including 2005’s “From the Five” and was working as music producer and composer for “Crazy Heart” and on Kris Kristofferson’s “Starlight and the Stone” album when he died of throat cancer in Los Angeles. (Wikipedia).
The musical knowledge of the road and how it really works shows through in this carefully crafted film. For example, there’s a scene where Bad and his current back-up group (“The Bum Steers”) are practicing. They are to open for the young man (nicely underplayed by Colin Farrell), Tommy Sweet, whom Bad Blake launched and taught everything he knows.
While practicing for a gig in Phoenix where Bad will open for Tommy (Bad is billed as “guest artist” in very small letters on the marquee) Bad tells the sound man to stop amplifying the instruments so that they drown out his voice. He is insistent and explains to the pick-up band, “It’s the sound man’s job to make the opening act look worse than the main act by amplifying the instruments over the singer’s voice.”
At another point, Bad is asked about his back-up band. When he says it’s a band he is assigned at each gig, the seasoned musician he is conversing with says, “Pick up band? That’s a ballbuster.” This is the kind of attention to the true realities of the road that the movie gets right. Jeff Bridges’ singing is a revelation. I knew he was a skillful photographer, but he is a very good singer as well (as was Colin Farrell). Their credited vocal coach is Roger Love. (*I’m so glad that Kevin Costner—a would-be country singer— isn’t the one playing the part; I heard Costner sing to a mule in “The Postman” and once was enough!)
Maggie Gyllenhaal as Jean asks Bad, during an interview, “Who is real country in today’s world of artificial country.” The question seems to be a comment on the state of today’s C&W chart-toppers. Bad’s musical influences were authentic C&W stars like Hank Williams, Gene Autry, Lulu belle and Scotty, the Georgia Wildcats.
The script tells us the story of Bad Blake’s downward spiral into near-oblivion, some of it a hymn to self-destructive behavior. Maybe he can pull out of his death spiral and find another chance because, as supporting actor Robert Duvall tells him, “It’s never too late.”
TOMMY SWEET/COLIN FARRELL
Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell) is the new C&W star, the flavor of the month, while the authentic good ol’ boy who made him what he is, Bad Blake, goes unrecognized by fans. Tommy will eventually ask Bad to write him some songs, and Bad will have to make a decision as to whether playing second fiddle to his former protégé is something he is willing to do.
THE LYRICS
When the newspaper interviewer that Maggie Gyllenhaal plays (Jean Craddock) asks Bad, “Where’d all those songs come from?” he answers, “Life, unfortunately.” He says, “I feel like I should be apologizing for being less than you probably imagined me to be.” Bad’s been on a real run of hell raising. As one song’s lyrics put it, “I been who I shouldn’t be. If there’s such a thing as too much fun, this must be the price you pay. It all happens for a reason, even if it’s wrong. Especially if it’s wrong.’
Continuing that theme are these lyrics, “Doin’ what I shouldn’t do. Lately I just lost the fight. Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin’ for a little while.”
The music, well sung and played by all, helps advance the plot in this Scott Cooper-directed and written movie (based on a novel by Thomas Cobb). Here are more lyrics that should give you an idea (from a variety of songs sung in the film):
GREAT SCRIPT LINES
Quite apart from the song’s lyrics, which are wonderful, there are some great lines in the script (Cooper’s first) like Bad’s (Bridges’) comment to Tommy Sweet on the ugliness of his boots. “What happened? Did the salesman threaten to shoot your dog?”) When the romance with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character (Jean or Jeannie) heats up, Bad says, “If I can walk, I’ll come to you. I’m not gonna’ forget about you. I’m not gonna’ forget about this day.” (Of course, Bad (real name Otis) has been married 4 or 5 times, so Jeannie is right to be skeptical.) Speaking to Gyllenhaal about his failings as a parent to his only child, a son, Bad says, “I wasn’t there, even when I was.”
C&W MUSIC and ME
Those who know my musical preferences will nod their heads in agreement when I tell you, honestly, that I’ve never been a big fan of Country & Western music. In fact, when Freddy Fender (“the Mexican Elvis”) was scheduled to play a C&W street fair in downtown Silvis, Illinois (where I taught for 17 and ½ years) one of my 7th grade students eagerly rushed to my desk to ask me if I was going to that night’s show. My response: “Not in this lifetime.” I lost some girlfriends over C&W music. I lost out on some invitations (most notably to Summerfest in Wisconsin) because I didn’t get onboard with Reba and line dancing and all the rest of the enthusiasm for country-and-western music (although I do like the blues). The Summerfest flap that followed, when I inadvertently learned of a fun “road trip” by my friends to which I had not been invited (one to celebrate the retirement of 2 women I thought were my very good friends…one my closest) permanently deep-sixed a 35-year friendship—[a friendship that apparently wasn’t as close as I had thought]. Best description: it was more my extending true-blue loyal friendship that was not reciprocated unless my husband were involved, apparently. So, I’ve had a country-and-western song lesson in friendship, you might say. Therefore, my inclination to be recommending C&W music to anyone are nil. I have personally hurtful and painful memories of Country and Western music, just like in most of the radio songs in the genre. I feel I was “wronged.” To borrow from a country song about a failed marriage (“She got the gold mine; I got the shaft”): “They got the tickets; I got the stubs.” (Or is that “snubs”?)
Ironically, my daughter now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, so I’ve mellowed slightly on country-and-western music. But C&W is still not my All-Time Favorite Music, (although I like the blues and rock-and-roll.) If I tell you the music is good, it has to have been very good to have won me over; you can take that to the bank. Of course, with T Bone Burnett helming, that should have been predictable.
T Bone Burnett’s involvement in the film was why A-lister Jeff Bridges finally agreed to take the role. Bridges said, at the Golden Globes, “It was just a dream come true. We all met thirty years ago on ‘Heaven’s Gate.’ To be able to do this movie thirty year later was really special. When you have something that you love so much, it’s kind of challenging to pull it off.” Bridges also reminisced that, when he was first nominated for an Oscar way back when, he was “living at the beach with Candy Clark.” T Bone Burnett was born in 1948; Bridges in 1949.
T Bone had been in self-imposed musical exile for the past 14 years. Prior to that, he had won 10 Grammies and given us such movie soundtracks as “The Big Lebowski” for the Coen Brothers (a classic Jeff Bridges role as “the Dude”); B. B. King’s “One Kind Favor”; “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (also the Coen brothers); “Walk the Line”; Tony Bennett/K.D. Lang’s duets album “A Wonderful World” and an Oscar-nominated song for “Cold Mountain” in 2004. (All data from http://www.tboneburnett.com.bio.html). T Bone has worked with the Counting Crows, The Wallflowers, the Coen Brothers (see above), Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Gregg Allman, Jakob Dylan and Elton John and Leon Russell. He began his musical career in 1965 and was a member of Bob Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Review” band, playing guitar. He has been working on both a TV series (“Tough Trade”) and a play, a collaborative effort with Stephen King and John Mellencamp, entitled “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.” He is also known for collaborating with actor/playwright Sam Shepard. Meryl Streep announced, at the Golden Globe awards this year, that perhaps she should change her name to “T. Bone Streep.” (Burnett’s real first name is Joseph Henry)
Veteran character actor Robert Duvall plays a small role as Wayne, a bar owner/bartender. Duvall also sings a song a cappella over the closing credits and in a fishing sequence with Bridges. After many years of great work (his career began in 1956, according to the IMDB website) and six Oscar nominations, the now 79-year-old actor finally won on his fourth try, for “Tender Mercies” in 1984, which is the film that “Crazy Heart” immediately reminds you of. [Duvall was previously nominated for “The Godfather” (1973); “Apocalypse Now” (1980); “The Great Santini” (1981); “The Apostle,” 1998, which he also directed; “A Civil Action,” 1999].
Perhaps “Crazy Heart” will be Jeff Bridges’ “Tender Mercies” and this often under-appreciated actor, a consummate professional, will finally win gold. This was definitely one of the year’s Best Films for me. (Too bad I had to drive 3 and 1/2 hours to Chicago to finally see it.)
The director of “Crazy Heart” is first-time director Scott Cooper, who has a background as an actor and had acted with Robert Duvall four times (he describes him as a big influence.) In an interview posted on www.Movieretriever.com, the Video Hound Blog, by Turk182 on January 21, Cooper explained, “I set out to tell the life story of Merle Haggard, but I couldn’t obtain the rights, so I turned to this novel instead.” He also confirmed that the film was originally scheduled to open the Sundance Film Festival, but Fox Searchlight bought the film for distribution before that occurred, which was serendipity.
Said Cooper in the Movieretriever.com interview, “Because I knew what I had, I never felt like it wouldn’t find the right home…The quality was something that people would see. People like modest well-told stories. It would have been a shame. Look at ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’ That was headed to DVD and then Fox picked it up.” He added, “I think I’m able to tell a story that’s very human and that highlights the human condition and focuses on character and behavior..Telling a story simply and telling one about loss, hope, regret, and redemption—those are things that, as an actor, I have played. I feel like I could tell that story.”
Jeff Bridges has described his performance as the best of his career. Cooper said, in the interview, that he felt he had the two best actors in America in Bridges and Duvall. (He had originally suggested that Duvall play the role, but then wrote the script with Bridges in mind.)
Scott Cooper’s advice to other would-be directors is succinct: “Take risks, persevere, and don’t take no for an answer.” (Sounds like good advice for a lot of us.)
This post is in response to the individual who has posted a completely false contention in reaction to the Richard “Dick” Leibovitz FBI probe. Apparently, this person thinks that “the best defense is a good offense.” Therefore, “Easgle” felt it necessary to accuse me of dishonesty, ludicrous in light of recent front-page newspaper (and other media) revelations about the County Clerk’s office. (The “Easgle” poster should be railing aginst our papers and Chris Minor of Channel 8 who actually interviewed the County Clerk, who admitted on camera some things his attorney probably wishes he had not admitted.) Riiiiiight. I’m really in a position to be “rigging” anything inside the County Clerk’s office. (Another HA!) I wouldn’t know the first thing about “rigging” an election. I don’t have specially developed software, paid for with federal funds, that I can use to target voters or disenfranchise voters or whatever the software was going to be doing. [If you want to develop better software, go for it…but do it on your own dime, not that of the taxpayers!]
The individual who posted (Easgle?) this slanderous remark (my contentions have names and addresss attached and can be verified; keep that in mind. The Judge saw them all, and they’re still in the files of Nelson, Keys & Keys) is obviously desperate. To suggest that I was or am the dishonest individual and “Dick” Leibovitz was a knight in shining armor, riding forth to make sure that elections remain honest is contrary to fact and absolutely stunning in the light of recent revelations about his County Clerk office practices.
This person is really reaching! When reality sinks in for him or her, perhaps he (or she) will realize that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating Richard “Dick” Leibovitz, not some ex-English teacher who ran openly and honestly without any ties to the Democratic machine.
I had a children’s campaign of a few high school students. I paid for all campaign expenses myself. I owed no one and ran with no one. I remember (fondly) that incumbent Alderman Louis Moreno (a former student in Silvis; no relation to Joe Moreno) spent the morning of HIS election making phone calls for me. (Thanks, Louis!) I was, in fact, swept up by a surge of enthusiasm from some young people in the community (many of them former students), who volunteered to help me (“We’ll help you, Mrs. Wilson!”) A young bus-boy at the Village Inn Restaurant whom I didn’t even know (Thanks, Brandon!) volunteered to help distribute flyers. It was wonderful to see young people enthused about electing someone who really wanted to see the city improve and didn’t plan to make a career out of public office (I said I’d run once and once only) simply to collect the stipend. (I was so naive, I didn’t even know there WAS a stipend…lol.) I wouldn’t know how to “fix” an election (OR a car)…but the County Clerk and Democratic County Chairman would know how and might be in a position to abuse the public’s trust, IF they were not honest individuals.
If you read the newspapers and have any reasoning ability, you can make up your own mind as you watch things unfold in Peoria. I had no “insider” status, no “helpers” or acquaintances who would “do dirt” to anyone, (nor would I ever stoop so low.) And I’m honest (which is, apparently, a huge disadvantage in politics).
In order to secure a recount, names, addresses and instances of abuse were submitted to a (Republican) Judge who ordered the recount of the popular vote which showed that the incumbent did not, in fact, carry the popular vote in the 1st ward. This is fact. (The absentee vote count is a separate issue, and, as the officials around the state who monitor cheating in elections told me, “You have to look at the absentee ballots. That is where they cheat.” (Historically, it has been ever thus.)
This was where and when the County Clerk did his best to hide the absentee ballots from view, knowing that the count would not be accurate (it wasn’t.) If you care enough to become informed, go find the earlier post about “the Illinois law of proportionate reduction” on this blog. It is an intrinsically unfair law, designed to keep challengers from overturning elections, because it would be inconvenient for the County Clerk’s offices (who are already preparing their slate of candidates and ballots).
This law basically means (short version) that, for every invalid, fraudulent vote discovered that is thrown out as dirty, one vote is ALSO taken away from the person who is challenging. It makes no sense, I realize. It sounds “wrong” and it sounds “dirty” and it is. However, if you have spent as long on the phone with the state’s leading experts in election law as I did, (and as Nelson, Keys & Keys did), you soon learn that the statute is written to keep the “status quo” in place whenever possible. And, of course, everyone has to hope that the person counting the votes in any election is honest and will count the votes honestly (Remember the movie “Election”? Not good.)
I’m not going to go into the long drawn-out explanation of “the law of proportionate reduction” in Illinois, because it is posted elsewhere on this blog and, really, it is not germane to the poor misguided person who chose to throw stones at me, a citizen of the city and county who is merely watching the corruption be revealed and the story unfold from the sidelines.
I had and have nothing to do with the mess in Richard Leibovitz’s office. I didn’t notify anyone of anything, because I am not a politician, and I think I’m too honest to ever become one, after my experiences. [My father, a Democratic County Treasurer of Buchanan County (IA) always warned me, “Politics is a dirty business” and told me to steer clear. I should have listened.]
But I didn’t, swept up in a children’s crusade of enthusiasm for the cause of trying to do some good in our dilapidated, struggling city.
The angry writer of the post should be writing to the local papers (or television stations) that are covering the story daily, or to the intrepid investigators who have found the many incriminating documents, such as the “none” signature of Richard Leibovitz on documents filed with the state, saying he was not involved in any other businesses that made more than $1200, when, in reality, he was President of the software firm mentioned in all the newspaper stories (and merely re-mentioned in my article.) I can’t take credit for discovering those documents; I can only relate what happened in one very small and insignificant East Moline Ward election, reporting it as truthfully as possible (not that anyone cares any more).
We are now seeing what went on “behind the scenes” of the elected Rock Island County Clerk’s office. This has been front-page news for days now in both newspapers. The quotes in the blog article, far from being my opinion(s), were taken from the Quad City Times and the Moline Dispatch, with which “easgle” needs to take up his argument. The personal anecdotes I related ,which are completely true, were submitted to a Republican judge, with documented names and addresses, and this is why the recount was ordered in the first place. One does not simply say, “I’d like a recount.” It has to be DOCUMENTED before a Judge (with names, dates and instances) to justify a recount because there is a preponderance of evidence (not opinion, but evidence) that something “fishy” happened in the election. This has to be proven to the Judge’s satisfaction before a recount is ordered. It was proven to the satisfaction of the Judge that there were instances of impropriety on the part of the incumbent. End of that particular story. If the Judge had not seen specific instances of abuse, there wouldn’t have BEEN a recount showing Helen Heiland losing the popular vote at the polls in her ward in that long-ago election.
Second, the firm of Nelson, Keys & Keys was one of the few firms courageous enough in the Quad Cities to take on John Gianulis. Incompetent they are not. Most law firms told me, haltingly, that they couldn’t afford to ‘anger’ the then-Democratic County Chairman. The firm did a great job in the short time we had, and I had to go door-to-door (with a lawyer in tow) to secure authorized, notarized affidavits from voters. It was really an experience! Brett Nelson said, “Sometimes, I like to take cases that make a difference.”
I also (now) know that I would have had to have had a team of lawyers standing by at the time of the election to challenge immediately, as was done in Minneapolis in the Al Franken disputed election. If you aren’t prepared ON THE SPOT, the incumbent tank and installed machine rolls over youl.
I haven’t talked to Brett Nelson or Rick Keys lately, but I’d like to hear their comments on the recent newspaper articles. I have the utmost respect and admiration and gratitude for this firm, which could definitely see the tank rolling on and recognize that it was a miscarriage of justice, but could not stop it because of the way election law is specifically stacked against challengers….(and, possibly, because of other abuses of the public trust in the County Clerk’s office.)
I challenged not because I wanted the job that badly, but (hopefully) to reveal the corruption that was endemic in the Rock Island election process. Unfortunately, the reporter assigned to be present during the recount in Rock Island by the “Dispatch” (Jenny Lee), stood in the room and heard that the poll count was wrong, and then went off and did not write one single word about it.
When the Feds get involved, stuff gets written…by both papers (the “Times” did not have a reporter present during the recount.)
I have a longstanding reputation for honesty and integrity. I do not have a reputation for using federal grant money to line my own pocket(s) to develop software that I then profit from, etc. Some have told me that I was merely “collateral damage” in an attempt to unseat Jose “Joe” Moreno, an attempt to ‘teach him a lesson’ by others more highly placed in the party. Since Joe was runing on HIS own, and I was running on MY own, that may or may not be true, but the voters for Joe….(and I think those votes were counted about as well as Gore and Bush in Florida)…were probably voting for me, goes the theory.
When I am subpoenaed to appear before an FBI Grand Jury (they don’t charge you unless they’ve got the goods, Folks), then this individual can question my honesty. Anyone who knows me knows that I was naive and idealistic, yes, but I was and am honest (which is more than can be said for some elected officials.)
I wandered onto a 2005 archived document while googling for some information. There were the names of many prominent men (Gary Andersen of MetroBank, Dr. Craig Whitlock, etc.) who were all part of a Committee to Rejuvenate East Moline in 2005. I remember what a nice and successful Centennial Joe Moreno engineered, with the frogs and the traffic the ceramic sculptures brought to the downtown area, which is sorely in need of traffic and support for the few remaining businesses. I am reminded of the many businesses (Country Manor, etc.) that have shuddered to a halt since 2005, a time when architect’s rendering(s) of a potential Farmer’s Market Forum were shown (one of Mayor Moreno’s ideas) at a meeting I attended. The proposed location would not only sell fresh produce, but also serve as a social gathering point. Mayor Moreno sincerely wished to serve the community to make it a better place. I think the ideas his people had put forth, if implemented, would have helped the downtown’s sad plight.
However, to “teach Joe Moreno a lesson” (and don’t ask me who was teaching what lesson ,because the lesson learned is that the Mayoral position can be used as a stepping stone to the County Treasurer’s post or some such, and the city can be left “out of the Loop” (see previous article) and struggling) all of Jose “Joe” Moreno’s plans went down the tubes.
In the years since that election none of those good ideas have been championed by the man who unseated Joe. East Moline also faces the prospect of an unnecessary and expensive ambulance service, spearheaded by the 1st Ward Alderwoman and others,a move being forced down residents’ throats with or without their/our consent, to the point that former Mayor Dussliere’s son (I believe it was Al Dussliere’s son who came to my door; if not, apologies, but kudos to the individual doing the organizing, which was also not me) went door-to-door to gather signatures for a petition to put this ambulance proposal on a ballot for the people to decide. [Still, there was a certain cadre of aldermen who tried to sneak the ambulance proposal through.]
I don’t mind letting this illiterate person’s post stay up, suggesting (laughably) that I “rigged” the election, because I think it’s pretty clear who has been “rigging” things for years. If I’m ever subpoenaed to appear before a federal Grand Jury, if the FBI comes after me, then you can start throwing stones. Until then, learn to spell and read a paper once in a while.
The “irresponsible” are those who trashed our fair city and county for their personal gain and , have accomplished little or nothing noteworthy since 2005 to try to fix what’s broken in the cityof East Moline, specifically. Because of those folks, East Moline is “out of the Loop” (see previous post). Some of those elected officials have now used up their moment in East Moline, merely a stepping-stone for political ambition(s), and they are now moving on down the road….or to jail, in some cases….whichever comes first.
It’s a sad, sad thing, when you look back at the 2005 “Rejuvenate East Moline” committee posting and think, “What if…..”
This is one of the latest version of the new “Hellfire and Damnation” trailer, now up on YouTube, etc. Stay tuned for the dedicated website, www.HellfireandDamnationthebook.com.
Just wanted to say that, when one posts at 4:19 a.m., one makes mistakes. I make the comment that “Up in the Air” will be duking it out (for the Oscar for Best Picture) with “Precious” and/or “The Hurt Locker” and name (again) “Up in the Air” when I obviously meant “Up,” the animated film. Mea culpe
I’ve put off writing about the movie “Precious” because, in some ways, I feel as though it has been rammed down our collective throats. First, there was Oprah’s big push for it. It should come as no surprise that Oprah partnered with Tyler Perry (of the “Medea” low-brow black comedy films) to executive produce the movie. I know that it was made into a very “high profile” event at the Chicago Film Festival and the tickets the night I wanted to go were $50, which included the full red carpet treatment, hors d’oeuvres and the works, even though the film wasn’t the “showpiece” of the festival (that was a forgettable Uma Thurman film).
“Precious” has all the themes that are guaranteed to make you feel depressed before you even enter the theater: teen-aged illiterate African American girl pregnant by her step-father for the second time; AIDS; physical and sexual abuse; mean-spirited teen-agers who make fun of the fat girl; a physically and verbally abusive mother. In other words, this was one of those films, like “Angela’s Ashes” or “The Hours” that you just know are not going to leave you humming a happy tune. Yes, Precious manages to maintain a more-or-less even keel with insightful thoughts like, “And in that tunnel, why the light was inside of them.” (Speaking of her teacher, Miss Rain and her life mate).
I had read “Newsweek’s” (Dec. 14, 2009, p. 13) “My Turn” column (usually written by unknowns), and these words were penned by former First Lady Barbara Bush (or, as I like to call her, “my best friend Babs,” based on the fact that she personally presented me with a Bi-State Literacy Award in 1993): “Recently George and I hosted a special sneak preview of ‘Precious’ in our hometown, Houston.” Mrs. Bush went on to put in a plug for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and then plugged the movie mercilessly, saying, “If I were to give out a homework assignment, it would be this: go see the movie.”
Gee. I’m glad there wasn’t any overt proselytizing for seeing the film by Famous People with Power, like Oprah and Babs. That would seem kind of unfair to all the other good films out there that don’t have a powerful backer, like, say, “The Athlete,” an Ethiopian film I saw at the Chicago Film Festival that was certainly a tribute to the triumph of the human spirit. But no Oprah for that one.
I idly wondered if the Barbara Bush who wrote the article in “Newsweek” and said, “But go see it—then ask yourself how you can help” was the same Barbara Bush who toured the Superdome during the horrible aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when hordes of (largely black) residents of New Orleans who had been forced from their home by the rising floodwaters were penned up like animals for days while her son, our president, mucked around and let a major American city drown and the people in it fend as best they could with very poor response(s) from the federal or local government(s). At that time, the press reported that Barbara blithely commented that these conditions (in the Superdome) were probably better than many of them had at home, or something along those lines. (Those of you who read the papers will remember the flap Mrs. Bush’s remarks caused, and, no, I’m not making this up.)
But, all super-duper marketing moments and maneuvers aside…and it certainly appears that all stops have been pulled out on this one— this story of a young girl’s struggle to break free of her abusive mother and to step into the sunlight of her life is done well by all the actors and is well directed by Director Lee Daniels. It is, quite simply, heart-wrenching.
It opens with Clarice “Precious” Jones (Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe) saying, “Every day I tell myself I’m gonna’ be normal. I’m gonna’ break through.” And, of course, this young 17-year-old mother of two (by film’s end) does break through…sort of. (I’d like to know where she ends up in 5 years’ time, but maybe 5 years is too long a time to plan if you’re in Precious’ shoes.)
It is 1987. Precious talks about how depressed she gets, to the point of being suicidal, saying, “Sometimes it feels like we’re just ugly black grease to be wiped away. There’s always somethin’ in my way.” But, she remains relatively upbeat. When she gets depressed she remembers, “That’s why God or whoever makes new days.”
It’s not bad enough that Precious has been repeatedly raped by her step-father, the first child she gives birth to as a result suffers from Down’s Syndrome and the child’s oh-so-sensitive and completely selfish grandmother Mary…in an Oscar-worthy turn by Mo’Nique…dubs the child “Mongo.” Constantly abusing her daughter by calling her “stupid’ and “a fat mess,” and following that up with physical abuse as she turns her teen-aged daughter into little more than an indentured servant, the plight of Precious ultimately catches the attention of the authorities.
One of the best things about the film is that all of those who are in positions of authority in the schools (teachers, social workers, etc.) are portrayed as really, sincerely trying to help Precious. That includes her teacher, Miss Rain (Paula Patton); her math teacher, Mr. Taylor, about whom she fantasizes that the two of them will fall in love and live in Westchester; her social worker, Mrs. Weiss, well-played by a very dressed-down Mariah Carey; and the male nurse, Nurse John, who helps Precious deliver Baby Number Two (Lenny Kravitz.) (Certainly an improvement over her delivery of Baby Number One on the kitchen floor with her mother kicking her in the side of the head!)
Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe plays Precious well, but I couldn’t help but feeling that her acting triumph falls more in the category that the double amputee from World War II, (Harold Russell) did in 1946 when he played a double amputee coming home from World War II (Homer Parrish) in “The Best Years of Our Lives.” (It’s worth noting that Harold won the Oscar that year.) Gabby looks the part; the rest falls into place.
As for Mo’Nique, however, her performance is sheer, unadulterated evil, laced with selfish menace. The screenplay by Geoffrey Hatcher, based on the book “Push” by Sapphire is a sure-fire tearjerker. There are lines like this one, spoken by the young illiterate Precious, who is exposed to her educated teachers in a more intimate environment for the first time and says she doesn’t understand a word they exchange because “They talk like TV channels I don’t watch.”
There is a song entitled “It took a long time”, performed by LaBelle that is very good. Everything works, and it becomes a serious film about the power of literacy (Precious improves from a 2.8 reading level to a 7.8 reading level, and, believe me, as the owner/operator of a Sylvan Learning Center for close to 20 years and a teacher of reading for 42 years, I know about that kind of educational progress.)
The film is almost certainly going to garner acting nominations for its female leads, and the able supporting performances (Carey, Kravitz and Patton) are just as deserving. I just wish that Oprah and Barbara and all the PTB weren’t pushing it quite so hard. It’s good enough, as a film, to stand on its own merits without having a former First Lady give us all our marching papers, telling us to go see it or having the Queen of Daytime TV turn it into the “toast of the town” (the town of Chicago), simply because she’s powerful enough that she can. (What will it be next? Shutting down Michigan Avenue and then leaving town for good?)
See the film if you want to see a well-crafted film…not because my best friend Babs said you should.
Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén
