HEAT

“The Godfather 2” features two remarkable actors, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, in the same film.  Regrettably they do not share screen time, as Pacino plays Michael Corleone developing his Mafia empire, while De Niro plays his father, Vito Corleone – more famously portrayed as an older man in the first movie by Marlon Brando – as a young man, ages before Michael was born.  Undoubtedly, though, both actors do a stellar job at portraying tough guys.

So I’m surprised this movie, Heat (1995), doesn’t get more attention.   De Niro plays tough criminal Neil McCauley, head of a gang of bank robbers including Val Kilmer and Tom Sizeless.   Pacino plays Vincent Hanna, LAPD, and the two are inherently at odds with each other.  This doesn’t stop them from a face to face meeting for coffee.  As they cannot resolve their differences amicably, inevitably the showdown we’ve been waiting for is on the way – at LAX.

In addition to the big two, plus Kilmer, the film also features Jon Voight, Dennis Haysbert, Natalie Portman, Hank Azaria (not playing a Simpsons character or Gargamel), Danny Trejo (“MACHETE!”), Henry Rollins, and Jeremy Piven. 

Needless to say there’s plenty of the delicious violence – err, “action” – all us testicle-equipped moviegoers love to see, with a minimum of touchy-feely nonsense the ovary-equipped moviegoers insist upon.  Hell, in that regard I’d put it ahead of “Reservoir Dogs” (in any case I prefer “Pulp Fiction” as Tarantino’s films go).  But for a romantic evening, it’s hard to beat this film.   Knock yourselves out.

Dark Animals

Recently I watched “Watership Down”, which has been around since 1978 and for whatever reason I never got around to watching it until now.  This is blog #666, but I have no special fascination with the number or anything else associated with it, so this discussion of darker animals will have to suffice.  Yes, I know this has no relevance to the upcoming Winter Solstice holiday, Saturnalia. 

Charlotte’s Web.   Book written in 1952 by E.B. White, most famous animated adaptation 1973.  Nominally this is an uplifting story about a pig, a spider, and other farm animals.  There’s even a rat, who provides the suitable dose of cynicism we can expect from such an animal and keeps this from being too nice and sweet.  Debbie Reynolds – Carrie Fisher’s mom and the star of “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” – voices Charlotte, while Paul Lynde, the center square on “Hollywood Squares”, famously cynical, voices Templeton the rat.  While Wilbur escapes the Pork Chop Block, Charlotte herself doesn’t survive the story, but her children – thousands of spiders – will hopefully continue her legacy.  I don’t recall seeing Mr. Spider enter the equation at any point to make Charlotte’s pregnancy occur, but maybe I forgot something. 

Watership Down.   Everything I heard about this was always “whoa, dark!  Not for kids” etc.  I didn’t find it particularly cynical, but here’s the story.  The book was written by Richard Adams in 1972, the most famous animated adaptation dates from 1978.  Jon Hurt was the only voice I recognized. 

A bunch of rabbits live in one warren (rabbit complex).  One of them, Fiver, gets all these visions which predict something bad will happen.  Enough rabbits take him seriously to leave and try to find a new place to live.  Along the way they find a goose with an injured wing; in exchange for helping him restore his health, the goose acts as their aerial reconnaissance once he recovers. 

When they arrive at their desired destination, atop a hill, they find a competing warren run by some total asshole old rabbit.   It doesn’t help that apparently 100% of those rabbits who came here were male, and need female rabbits to continue the warren.  They find some “Does” at a farm, defended by a dog on a chain and a nasty cat, as well as some in the police state warren.

Eventually there’s a final confrontation.   For all the “darkness” bitched about, the good guys win, although some of the rabbits have to indulge in devious methods to achieve their goals.  The most cynical thing you might observe about this is a tacit acknowledgement that sometimes the good guys have to do things which aren’t entirely kosher in order to win, but since they’re up against thoroughly bad guys, the latter aren’t really in much of a position to complain.  The story contains many made-up words repeated sufficiently that their meaning can be fairly easily ascertained by the context, e.g. “Owsla”, the secret police/military arm of the warren.

  

Having said that, unlike the next installment, I don’t see “Watership Down” as an allegory for human behavior.  It looks more like a straight story about rabbits, period.  To the extent some human stories have some parallels (e.g. Homer’s Odyssey) that looks more like Adams simply used those as a template for this story rather than intending this story to act as an allegory for anything else.   Count it as appropriate for children in grades 7-12.

Animal Farm.  I’ve commented on Orwell on multiple occasions already.  My sixth grade teacher in Paris referred me to this back when we had a presentation on McCarthy, but I couldn’t digest the story with my limited intellect at the time.  I read it later and purchased the animated film on DVD.  My prior comments on this were actually fairly limited, so it looks like a more detailed description and analysis is appropriate given the current context.  Orwell wrote it during WWII but it couldn’t be published until after the war was over - an obvious critique of Soviet Russia while Hitler still breathes?  Wait a bit....  The most famous animated adaptation dates from 1954, obviously well within the Cold War. 

The animals on the farm overthrow the farmer and establish their own government, run by the pigs, ostensibly for the benefit of all the animals.  Initially the animals are excited and everyone does their part to help rebuild the farm and make it self-sufficient.  Boxer, the horse, naturally does most of the heavy work and the rest of the animals have no choice but to rely upon his brute strength to get things done.  They successfully fight off an attack by farmers to reclaim the farm (farmer with his colleagues worried that their own farms will suffer the same fate) – an excellent analogy to the Russian Civil War.   But the pigs begin dealing with the town banker (capitalist) and begin using the dogs, orphaned in that battle and now grown up under the pigs’ control, as enforcers against the animals themselves (Cheka > NKVD).  Eventually the animals realize that the pigs have simply taken over the role as oppressors and are running the farm for their own benefit, not that of the animals as a collective.  Cue famous addition to the barn-scrawled rules:  ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

All three stories are worthy in and of themselves, probably suitable for enjoyment by children in increasing age and maturity (Charlotte’s Web >> Watership Down >> Animal Farm).   Perhaps follow this up with Pink Floyd's epic tales of dogs, pigs, and sheep.   :D     

R.I.P. Joel Brigante

My brother recently sent me a picture of a tombstone in Paris, which sadly includes someone I knew:  our old guitar teacher, Joel Brigante, who apparently died in 2001.  He’s buried with his parents, who survived him, in Pere-Lachaise Cemetery in northeast Paris, along with Jim Morrison and other famous musicians.  After eulogizing President Bush I, I’ll take the time to do so with Joel.

Sometime in 1980 or so, I tried taking guitar lessons with our school’s science teacher, Mr. McLeavey (sic).  I seem to recall him being a Beatles fan but don’t recall him being into anything heavier.  His first lesson was some strumming technique light years away from AC/DC or Black Sabbath, the type of music I wanted to learn.  Since it appeared that our teacher was not on the same wavelength, I gave up the lessons almost immediately and forgot about playing guitar. [Incidentally our French teacher at the same school, also named Joel, was actually closer to us in musical tastes, having a fondness for heavy metal.]

Fast-forward five years later, to August 1985, and my brother came back from a lesson with a different teacher, and immediately played me the opening riff to Whitesnake’s “Saints & Sinners”.  WHOA.  Mind.  Blown.  Not the whole song, much less the solo, but the riff to a song I actually knew!   I went the next week and learned – to my recollection – “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC, then several Black Sabbath songs.  

This teacher, Joel, with an apartment on the lower east side of Paris (Montgallet was the metro stop), on the fifth floor of a building with no elevator, wouldn’t bore us with music theory or mindless routines, or show the least contempt for the contemporary metal we wanted to learn, even if it appeared miles away from his own preferences, which seemed to be jazz.  He’d patiently listen to the cassette tape we brought, figure out the riff in question by ear, and teach us how to play it.  If we wanted to learn anything more esoteric or theoretical he’d be happy to teach and encourage us, but he was mainly happy to teach us anything.  I’ve lost track of how many songs he taught me, but in addition to AC/DC and Black Sabbath, he also taught us some Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Rush – “2112”.   Somewhere deep in our records might be the blank tablature sheets with metal riffs handwritten, song title at the top in his handwriting, for all those songs he taught us. 

Once I brought him a book of Judas Priest sheet music, focusing on the early stuff – “Dreamer Deceiver” was the song I wanted to learn.  He took a look at it, listened to the music, and told me the two were not the same.  “The band doesn’t bother to reduce their music to sheet music, someone at the publishing company does, and no one bothers to check to see if it’s actually correct.”  Tablature, which is actually designed for guitar, is much easier.  Joel expressed the opinion that for the most part, it’s a waste of time for a guitarist to learn to read sheet music. 

For Christmas in 1985 we received our first electric guitar, an Ibanez Roadstar II in black, essentially one of their earlier Strat copies (three single coil pickups and a tremelo) but still looking like an Ibanez and not a Fender.  I bought a Strat copy – cherry sunburst and maple neck – with my earnings from working at the US Embassy in Paris over the Christmas holiday, making tourist passports and learning about Hawkwind from Bernard, the French guy who ran things.  The following Christmas I got an actual (Japanese made) Fender Stratocaster, black with rosewood fretboard, which eventually led to a US-made Vintage Reissue model (’62) (black with rosewood fretboard) which I traded in for my current Fat Strat (made in Mexico but with a humbucker in the bridge position).  I’m glad to say that the passion which Joel sparked in 1985 has continued to the present day. 

Joel would also purchase guitar effects from the local stores and sell them to us at cost, especially if it was something valuable like MXR Distortion.  He also sold my Strat copy AND my Japanese Fender Stratocaster for me, without taking a commission.

My brother had more interaction with him than I did, actually playing out with him on occasion, for which my father helped as a roadie, carrying equipment up and down those flights of stairs at his apartment.   (This must have been when I was in college and Matt was still in high school).

I recall his own guitar was a Gibson ES Artist, which was an ES335 model with active electronics.  He actually gave me a ton of contemporary Gibson sales materials, from which I learned about the RD and other models.  This put me on my way to accumulating the four Gibsons I have, though none of them are ES or RD models.

To this day, I still play guitar.  We moved away from Paris in 1990 and sadly did not keep in touch with him.  This was before the Internet and email, so you’d have to write or call someone.  If there was a way to speak to him in the Great Beyond, I’d ask him about King Crimson, Frank Zappa, the Grateful Dead, and all the more complex music I’ve gotten into beyond AC/DC and Black Sabbath – though those two bands remain my favorites even to this day.   Above all, to be able to jam with him would be the ultimate.  Who knows what the afterlife has in store for us?  We’ll find out eventually.      

George HW Bush

I tried going to the post office on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, A.D., and found it closed in memory of George HERBERT WALKER Bush, who died the week before.  The next day, because no other former presidents had died, and regrettably the current President was still living and breathing, the post office was open, so I could mail out what I needed mailed out.  So this makes my blog quest a little easier. 

As you all may well know, President #41, George Herbert Walker Bush, the father of George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, died last week.  He was old.  Barbara Bush, his long-faithful spouse, had died last April.  Here are my thoughts.

WWII Pilot.  Navy pilot.  No bone spurs.  One of our last Presidents who actually served in combat.  He served with distinction in the Pacific, was shot down, rescued, and continued flying missions until the end of the war.

Brief review of recent presidents’ military records:

Trump.  Exempt from draft during Vietnam War for medical issues.

Obama.  Too young to serve in Vietnam (born in 1961).

Bush II.  Served in Air Force National Guard during Vietnam, widely seen as a military role unlikely to have him sent overseas.

Clinton.   Somehow avoided inhaling weed in London during Vietnam War.

Bush I.  See above.

Reagan.  Exempted from overseas service in WWII due to poor eyesight, but served in Army doing training films with chimps who were non-communist.

Carter.  Was at the Naval Academy during WWII and in the nuke sub service during Korea. 

Oil Man.  After the war he finished up at Yale, joining both Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity and Skull & Bones.  He went back to Texas and became an oil millionaire by the early 60s.  Although he apparently had help from his father, Prescott Bush, his natural talent was also considerable and substantial.

Congress.  He served as US Representative for the Seventh District of Texas, which includes Houston, from 1966 to 1970 (two terms).  In that year he ran for Senate but lost to Lloyd Bentsen, the future VP candidate for Dukakis (see below).

CIA Director.  In the 1970s he was director of the CIA.  There’s an SNL sketch in which Garrett Morris’ character, a private citizen, is invoking his prerogative under a FOIA claim to view his file, and the CIA officer, played by Dan Aykroyd, solicits all sorts of incriminating information from him in order to “narrow down” the search in a room hopelessly disorganized.  On the wall are portraits of Gerald Ford (President) and George HW Bush (CIA director at the time).   Though aside from that, I’m not aware that Bush Sr. had any major impact, for the better or worse, on the Agency nor any notorious deeds. 

Vice President.  Ronald Reagan easily beat Jimmy Carter (and Jon Anderson) in 1980, making GHWB the Vice President.   At some point Reagan was incapacitated, possibly due to the John Hinckley shooting, and Bush became acting President.  This prompted all sorts of chuckles, including from Doonesbury (Garry Trudeau, current PM of Canada).  Of course, the laughs would be on them when he easily defeated Dukakis in 1988.

Voted.  I actually voted for him both in 1988 and 1992.  In ’88 he easily defeated Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis, the former governor of Massachusetts.  That was not only my first vote in a Presidential election – I was 19 – but also the only election in which the candidate I voted for actually won, though given that many of my votes were for Libertarian candidates that’s hardly much of a distinction.  My most recent non-LPA vote was for Mitt Romney in 2012.  

Personal Meeting.  He was the only President I actually met in person.   At some point when he was vice president, I shook his hand at the US Embassy in Paris.   This was at one of these “meet the VP” affairs in a modest room with about 100 people present.  Then later on, when he was President, he came by the same room under the same circumstances and I got to briefly shake his hand as yet another anonymous crowd member.  In neither case did I have any opportunity to speak to him directly or assassinate him. 

Administration.  He took office as President on January 20, 1989 and left office, replaced by Bill Clinton, on January 20, 1993.  The major events of his term were the Gulf War in January 1991 and a massive recession in 1992.  The latter erased any political capital from the former.  Invoking SNL yet again, there was a sketch well before the recession, when the President’s Gulf War popularity made him appear politically invincible in the upcoming election, so the presumed Democratic candidates, including Bill Bradley and Mario Cuomo, all zealously attempt to convince the party faithful NOT to nominate them to be defeated by Bush in the election.  Of course we know what really happened.  I don’t recall Bill Clinton being one of the potential candidates in that sketch. 

Dana Carvey.  As with every president, #41 was subject to his fair share of ridicule and satire, but his somewhat subdued nature made this a bit of a challenge.  I’d say his most famous portrayal was on SNL by Dana Carvey, with such catchphrases as “not gonna do it….wouldn’t be …prudent…at this ….juncture”.  Unlike our current Orange Fuhrer who can’t accept Baldwin’s humor, GHWB was a fairly good sport about Carvey.  This article does an excellent job of discussing this

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/12/dana-carveys-george-h-w-bush-impression-saturday-night-live/577186/

Overall I don’t have any many negative impressions of #41.  He was a standard issue Republican without any major scandals.  The US kicked Saddam out of Kuwait and went no further on his watch.  Others may disagree, and with both his son (#43) and the current occupant, inevitably I think recollections of #41 are going to be more favorable now than they were when he was in office.  And I know someone on Long Island who may have far more to bitch about than I do.