IS THIS TRUMP A TRICK

REMIND YOU OF SOMEONE?

The Donald

Nature's perverse humor

      I keep searching the side of the political coverage scenes, looking for a flash of Joel or Ethan Coen or George Clooney. Seeing them smirking around the edges of the political swamp would bring relief, this is all a joke.

    Warning bells are ringing. No less a traditionalist than conservative and Republican David Brooks laments and pleads for sanity arguing that neither Trump nor Cruz can be elected, he hopes.  Ditto for Sanders. They are not stable he argues so America will not take them on as long term companions. But the venerable Mr. Brooks is not convinced so he says he will spend the next few months in denial. He's not alone in the GOP, the Gagging Old Party.

    It's now an old joke-TV News has become all Trump all the time. There's far too much truth in that. It's the funny pages moved to the front page. The freak show moved to the big top. Donald is so colorful the modern journos can't help themselves.

    Ah, but they can.

Rachel pounds Flint 

    As so much of the media universe was making silly over the entirely over rated politically active Iowans and Donald Vs. Megyn, or basking in the annual Super Hype, Rachel Maddow did something different-real journalism. Like her or not, approve or disapprove of her tilt, she had the presence of mind and conscience to focus a big media light on an  unbelievable American disaster. 

    The story of lead contamination of 100 thousand Americans, including 9,000 children is symbolic of how broken, morally bankrupt and politically corrupt this nation can be. The story of Flint is something you'd expect in Russia or North Korea.

    Her town hall meeting was a tangible and credible effort at understanding yes, but also a beginning pursuit of doing something about it. Honestly, Flint is a helluva lot more important than the Iowa Caucus, New Hampshire Primary and the clown car media carnival they have fostered. And more honesty-crumbling infrastructure is not the exclusive problem of Flint.  How wide spread might it be? If you really want to know, pull up a map and begin counting every major city in America. When you've counted them all you'll have your answer.

KERMIT WAS RIGHT

   The modicum of good news in this post is the picture above. Moisture and green, in California. It hasn't been easy.

    We are sorry El Nino has produced serious problems elsewhere, but here on the California coast and into the high Sierra we are getting relief from four years of drought. Nothing is back to normal yet, but it is getting better. Lakes are no longer bone dry and the mountain snow pack is healthy. We have several more weeks in this rainy season and we are grateful for the additional moisture on the way.

       By the time the political circus comes to town out here our lovely green may have begun to fade into our golden season. The June primary here will be the end of the preliminaries and the eve of the national conventions. In the last few years the conventions have been nothing more than television programs, a sort of perverted telethon. There has been nothing to decide, so the delegates gather to party and offer up platitudes. This year could be a bit different.  We'll see. And how I hope I see the Coen's.

     See you down the trail.

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.