HER, HIM AND HIM AND THEM-THE WEEKENDER

JOEL,ETHAN AND SPIKE

a range of artistry

MEDITATIONS ON HER

    A well read, sophisticated, professional woman who is a friend said she wanted to walk out of this film, so I went in with guarded expectations, despite the critical acclaim.  I had the opposite reaction and understand why director Spike Jonez won the Golden Globe and why the film has been nominated for film of the year.

   HER pushes boundaries and is fresh and original in many ways. It is about a lot more than the curious storyline. Jonez's work is a marvelous study into the nature and life-cycle of relationships. It is a fascinating speculation on a likely outcome of our increasingly technological and communication driven culture. HER is a mirror to how we look and behave since we have become obsessed or addicted to our phones. It is a poignant reminder of how lonely we can become, even amidst a world seemingly bound together by the Internet. We see how we can be alone in our connectedness. It lampoons the intimate chats and sexual experiences of those who so engage via phone or computer.  It also raises some marvelous science fiction speculations about intuitive artificial intelligence and the rise of crowd sourcing and ponders a great what if.  

    Joaquin Phoenix is masterful in playing a heart broken, lonely citizen in an increasingly impersonal world where actual human contact is limited. And it was this prospect where Jonez engages in good sociology. 

    Amy Adams once again demonstrates her versatility.  And it seems no mystery why the Phoenix character fell in love with the voice of Samantha, his operating system.  Scarlett Johansson is seductive even without being seen. 

    The scenic design, cinematography and feel of the film emphasize how the brave new world can be a lonely place. This is a film that will seem foreign, distant and even contrived to some. But for others it seems to hit on several themes that will make you want to upgrade your own personal operating system.

A DOSE OF COEN

  The Coen brothers make films that you either enjoy or consider a waste of your time and money. I'm in the enjoy category, though in varying stages. Often I like the way they do the film-the actors, the shooting and editing, music direction, sense of vision-more than I like the story. Not that they don't spin imaginative stories, but I wonder about what if they tried to do cinema with a purpose, other than as a kind of grand gag, yarn, or put on. They entertain, they tell rich stories, but at the end of the day I often question if there was any "nutritional value?"  This is not to discredit their obvious talent, skill and mastery of the craft. And perhaps all we should expect is only an entertainment, well done.  But these guys are so good what if they did a film with soul, or a philosophic or political point or axe to grind? 
     In this comparison today, I think of how Jonez moved the goal line a bit. As good as Inside Llewyn Davis is, as nuanced, as musically rich, as well acted, it is at most the portrait of a fictional folk singer and a snap shot of the Village music scene on the cusp of Bob Dylan's arrival. Maybe there is an underlying examination of the tortured soul of a poet or a mash up on commercialism vs. artistry, but that is pretty thin.
    Oscar Issac is an incredible talent and discovery.  John Goodman, Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, Pappi Corsicato, Garrett Hedlund and for that matter all of the supporting cast are superb. The music, under the supervision of T-Bone Burnett is worth the price of admission alone. The Coens are that way, they do all of the little and big things right and they deliver a film excellence. And they always give it that Coen twist, or a turn into darkness or despair, or depression though admittedly in entertaining ways.  
    I don't know that it will ever happen, but I'd like to see how the brothers could do with something in a different emotional timbre or with a story that means something.

    Don't you love neighborhood Italian restaurants with white table clothes and lace curtains?

AN ELEPHANT SEAL'S LIFE

   We are deep into birthing season in the Elephant Seal colony at Piedras Blancas, north of Cambria. Another 2-4 weeks of birthing and then mating season begins, just in time for Valentines day.

WATCH THE SAND TOSS AND HEAR THE SOUND

    See you down the trail.

BIRTHING TIME

THE CLOCK HAS STARTED

     A couple of young elephant seal pups nurse in the afternoon sun on the beach near Piedras Blancas.  The colony is in the midst of birthing season.

     The wrinkled little black pups have about 6 weeks to feed when mom cuts them off as she becomes fertile and ready for mating.  

     Nearby adult males have begun to size up their harem and their corner of the beach.  They know instinctively when a female reaches a six week post birth state of readiness.  The scene then becomes one of harems.

     A bull is surrounded by a ring of females.  He will stir periodically to mate, then drop back into a pose such as this.  If another male attempts to enter his circle, a battle ensues.  In the meantime it is nap time.  

     After six weeks the pups are called Weaners and they begin to cluster together.  Eventually they need to learn to swim, but do so on their own.  Mom is long gone. And if it goes well for them they'll know when it is time to go into the sea for a hunting/feeding migration. Elephant seals travel alone as males head to waters off Alaska and females track toward Canada.  

     Poetically, mating season in this colony reaches it's peak around Valentines day.

    Down the beach, another couple has already begun their courting.

    See you down the trail.

LETTING THE CHIPS FALL...

IN THE ARENA OF THE MIND

     "It may be different elsewhere. But a democratic society-in it the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist is to remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may."

      John Kennedy said that a little less than a month before he was killed.  He was speaking at Amherst College October 26, 1963.

       "In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation."

       I wonder how many writers today concern themselves with such lofty concerns. Maybe they do in little pieces and then over time, taken in mass, it adds up.
        It's  harder to get your voice heard through the mass of signals that fill the public square. Digital media, social networks, cable, broadcast, the whole universe of film and print are choked with content, much of it simply trying to out pace the others.  In some cases outrage and anger get attention. Those may be genuine, but are they the visions of truth JFK spoke of?

       The more I watch Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom the more convinced I am he is serving his vision of truth. Here's why I think so.  
       The modern media, in all of it's iterations, does more to shape our sense of reality, expectations and vision of government than most people make themselves aware of. As consumers of the din we rarely give ourselves the time to ponder the impact of what we consume.  We think more about what we eat, than consider what we put into our heads though we spend hours a day consuming information flow.

        Sorkin's work cuts to the quick.  Some criticize the "preachiness" of it.  I don't see it that way.  I think he is offering a valuable insight into the media machine that shapes our attitudes and affects our sense of destiny. Yes, it is entertainment, but it also holds a mirror to a powerful element of modern life and Sorkin, as President Kennedy opined, lets the chips fall where they may.

DAY FILE

A FUN "SCHOOL"

     Each year, since our move, we make a point to attend

Coastal Discovery Day up at San Simeon.  The Discovery Center, joined by a host of other nature, environmental, park and educational groups hold a kind of carnival overlooking the Pacific.  It's for kids with lots of hands on activities, but each year we learn something and pick up a few interesting shots.  This year I learned about the hearing chambers and ear drums (bulla) of whales, elephant seals and dolphins.  Amazing technology at work in those sonar sensitive relatives.

  The Falcon expert had a couple of beautiful friends.

    An injured wing has grounded this Pelican, now in the custody of a rehabilitation specialist.  He eats 3 pounds of sardines or smelt each day.  He'd eat more if he were burning calories by flying.

    Here are a couple specimens of Elephant Seal skulls.

     In the frame below is the skull of a Dolphin.  The bottom piece, in the shadow, is the kind of sensor bone that transmits sounds from long, medium or short distances, using a different portion of the bone to do so.  The differing signals are then processed in a sophisticated brain.

      Skulls of native wild life.

  While it was sunny and bright up at the cove, south toward
Cambria, another micro climate existed, in the fog.

See you down the trail.

PROBLEMATIC NAPPING & GOOD NAPPING

NAPPING AS THE HOUSE BURNS

(Editor's note: Something entertaining follows in 6 paragraphs. We even made a movie for you)

     There's a lot to be said for taking a nap. But there are times when it is dangerous, as when America naps as it divides.

      I've been reading Charles Murray's COMING APART, which is kindred to Timothy Noah's THE GREAT DIVERGENCE. Now I read from David Brooks a team headed by Harvard political science professor Robert Putnam finds things really are as bad as what Murray and Noah say.

      The divergence, the coming apart is the American crisis of this decade and perhaps beyond.  Not only are the rich getting richer and the middle class shrinking, but there are large educational, cultural and social differences that increasingly divide this nation.  

     Once we prided ourselves as being a melting pot, a kind of stew of ethnicity, heritage, color, creed and belief.  For reasons well documented by Murray and Noah and according to Brooks even more alarmingly by the Harvard team, we have instead divided and set up chasms with serious implications.  

     Brooks is no practitioner of bombast.  He is reasoned, conservative and thoughtful.  What troubles me is that I've found concern in Murray and Noah, but now academics with even greater credential have said it's even worse.  Bad enough, as Brooks says, we either do something or we commit national suicide.

     All of this is a serious wake up call, but I'm not convinced we can emerge from our somnolent habits of status quo, petty and mean divisions and ludicrous diversions.  Perhaps we are in a twilight.  Once great, we refuse to acknowledge a profound weakness, sickness and divide.  We may live to see ourselves descend to statehood on par with Italy and Greece where government fiddles and naps as leadership and capacity pass us by and greatness burns away in inaction.

NOW ON A PERSONAL LEVEL

NAPS ARE GOOD

     Boomers can remember how difficult it was to get our children to nap, as we now enter a time of life when naps are, sweet and recharging. 

      There are great nappers out here on the central coast of California.  I visited them this week to take notes.

DAY FILE

LAND OF THE SLEEPERS

   These elephant seals north of San Simeon may be the most
apt nappers I've encountered.

 An occasional dip and a few bellows between snores is the order of the day.

 The walk out to their private beach is a colorful hike and

often accompanied by these little beggars. 

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN

A CLOSER LOOK

HERE'S A NAPPING MOVIE

THE LAND OF NAPPERS IN ONE MINUTE

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) FLOATING CARS & DREAMS

A COASTAL SNOOZE

     Saturday or Sunday was always good for a couple of things-getting outside and sneaking a nap, usually in a hammock or lawn lounger.

      Our first stop this WEEKENDER :) is a place where snoozes and snoozers combine.

The Dreamy Scene

 The coast north of San Simeon

 where the big boys-the elephant seals-snore

   These guys excel in napping.

A DREAM COME TRUE?

Would you believe a "floating" car?

Enjoy this ride.

Catch a nap and have a dreamy weekend.

See you down the trail.  

LOCAL MAGIC

A VILLAGE EXPERIENCE

The best I can do is try to engage your imagination so

you can feel a bit of what we did this weekend.

Strings in the Chapel.
A candlelit concert in the historic Santa Rosa Chapel
that sits on a hill overlooking Cambria's east village.

Photos courtesy of Santa Rosa Chapel
The candle lit chapel glows above you as you begin the steep walk up the hill.  Inside Yule wreaths,boughs and candles in the windows create a hushed glow that is soon filled with exquisite strings, hammered dulcimer, heavenly vocals and story. Judith tells a tale of a Christmas past, this year's offering was of blizzard and hard pressed 1950 in Northern Indiana.  There is also a telling of 
"Twas the night before Christmas..."
The word has become cliche, but indeed in this case it is true and real-there is a magic feel to the annual candle lit event.
There is no heat in the chapel and the only light is
as it was when it was built in 1870.
Those in the old pews seem in touch with Christmas tides of old.
Descending the hill, filled with such harmony, the 
Christmas lights of the East Village shinning below you,
is a unique and special imprint of the season.

More about the beautiful chapel on the hill by linking here. 

DAY BOOK 

THE ELEPHANT SEALS ARE COMING BACK

Soon the beach will be full and birthing season

will be underway.

Enjoy your long winter's naps.

See you down the trail.

A SEAL COAST MYSTERY

A STROLL THROUGH SCENES

       They mystery writer switched on as we began our 

hike from the elephant seal beach.

        A marine haze shrouded the coast as the Pacific pounded the ancient rocks.

      The Piedras Blancas light station barely pricked the gray
that blanketed the slumbering elephant seals.

       Visitors from around the globe were ignored by the napping hulks.  We left them all behind as we headed north from the viewing platforms.

       Walking the isolated trail, our only companion was the churn of the surf and the snort of elephant seals who had 
found their own isolation.

      Past caves, flora, and smaller wild life.

       The scale of gray and subdued light, mixed with the 

windy coast, coaxed me into countless English mystery memories.

      Tales of lighthouse keepers and northern shores.

     Even without a writer's imagination, it is a wonderful hike that parallels the meandering path of the Pacific Coast Highway toward Big Sur. 

      We found others who had made it to an isolated beach.

Two of whom practiced battle

       As others napped.

      They too had made the effort to find more space, isolated beaches and to get away from the throngs.  

      And through the steel gray, a flight line, steering toward

          an opening in the sky, where the first hints of change

    begin to lift the morning shroud.

   Hints of sun begin to peek and brighten the scenes.  

The daily ritual of burning the haze to reveal California blue sky begins to play out.  And the parties to these coastal mystery scenes

     head back to unravel the mystery of the remainder of their day.

     Thanks Susan, Lana, Debbie. Enjoy the mystery. 

     See you down the trail.