Author Archives: gonzo66

New Town bike for me: BMW R1200S

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The compleat rider has two vehicles (three if any hard core off road riding is in the works).

A road vehicle should have some weight, high speed safety features and creature comforts for long hauls. My BMW R1200GS is about 550 pounds wet and has tubular crash bars, high intensity lighting, aftermarket wide (Corbin) seat for increased comfort, front foot pegs to intermittently shift weight on the road, high tech radial tires, anti-lock brakes, throttle stop (functions as a cruise control more or less). Computerized engine management system. GPS and “Spot” satellite locator that doesn’t rely on cell towers. Those following me can pinpoint me in real time on-line. Sends a signal when I am done for the day and can send an emergency locator if I crash. t gets 50 miles per gallon on the road at 80 mph.  But it’s too ponderous and bulky for in-town riding. The very qualities that make it a stable road bike are a detriment in town traffic.

So I have (now) a perfect town bike as well. A BMW R1200S.  (BTW, BMW is the most ably constructed motorcycle in the world. Safety is an omnipresent hallmark of the markee. If you want well thought out engineering and safety built in, think BMW.)

What happened was that in 2006, BMW decided they wanted to compete with the hot rod Japanese sport bikes. Incredible beasts weighing under 400 pounds and over 180 horsepower. Maybe ten riders in the world capable of riding one anywhere near it’s capability (but any idiot with a checkbook can buy one). So they took a standard GS and stripped weight off it. took off center stand, put aluminum frames and struts, plastic cowl instead of metal. Ran the muffler up under the seat and out the back of the rear fender.  They got the weight down to 418 pounds dry (460 with full gas tank).  Then they hopped up the venerable 1200cc boxer engine to 122 horsepower (the stock GS, same engine, is 100 horsepower). Problem was that most BMW riders are not super bike types and so there was little interest in this version and they stopped making it in 2007.  But it’s the perfect town bike. It’s light and quick and has enormous brakes (check them out on Photo 2).

The most important safety factor in a town bike is brakes. Virtually every potential city riding emergency involves stopping quickly or at least getting down to a much slower speed to limit trauma.   The ability to maneuver quickly enters into it too. In Pittsburgh, hitting a deer is a very real and deadly potential. The quicker you can stop or slow after you identify a problem situation, the better chance you have for decreasing injury. Small increments in slowing matter.  The brakes on the R1200S are simply enormous, power assisted and anti-lock with very expertly designed radial tires. Panic stops are incredible. So much so that avoiding the rear wheel coming off the ground requires some skill. Pulling the front brake lever also applies the rear brake in a 60% – 40% distribution so one panic pull fits all.

After some searching on Cycle Trader, I found one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and grabbed it.  Only 20,000 miles, mint condition.  I put on a Corbin aftermarket seat for some more support and dropped the foot pegs two inches for less leg cramp from leg folding. The bike also has aftermarket handlebar risers that bring the riding position up a bit for more ergonomics and a very high tech, race bred Ohlin shock absorber on the rear that is so incredibly efficient you can feel the difference in every riding situation. This came with my bike and is expensive if you want it installed aftermarket (US$1200.00) not including installation.

The stock muffler system is fine but the bike sounds like a sewing machine, so many 1200S riders (including me) upgrade to a dual, low restriction muffler system. Mine is the “Laser” tuned exhaust system with headers, running out under the rear fender.  This adds about 4 horsepower, drops about 20 pounds of weight and has a really cool exhaust note, not “too” loud.

Check it out on another guy’s R1200S: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P15XyUGmyc

So here it is (photo one and photo two).

Very maneuverable, VERY quick and very cool. A logical blending of safety and performance. As good as it gets on two wheels.

Film Review: “Rock of Ages”

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The plot is ho-hum, worked to death Hollywood boilerplate.  An insipid re-run of “Showgirls” (1995), small town would-be singing star girl arrives in L.A by bus, gets abused and degraded by seedy L.A star-breaking machinery. Ditto-longsuffering would-be rock star nightclub waiter ditto. Then both find love and miraculously rise to the top after a dumb-luck incident. Oily manager. Aging impresario and his burned out metal-head pal reduced to running a rock club on the Sunset Strip. Aging metal star living the dream past it’s furthest extent.

The young stars are interchangeable with any of the current crop. The talents of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) are wasted.  However, Alec Baldwin comes alive as the owner of the fading “Bourbon Room” on the Strip.  He has a genuine chemistry with Russell Brand playing Russell Brand. Both are funny and believable.

Rock and Roll in the 80s is what it is. Look for cameo appearances: Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon) singing “We built this city (on rock and roll) (Starship, 1985. The last song Grace Slick performed before retiring.  Same scene, Nuno Bettercourt (Extreme) whose song “more than words is featured elsewhere in the movie). 80’s singer Debbie Gibson (Only in my dreams) is in the crowd.

The film is overlong at two hours and much of the progress smells of “Glee” but it’s beautifully photographed and choreographed. Interestingly, the actors perform all of the songs, probably with some digital voice modulation (like Britney Spears). But all that said, the film absolutely belongs to Tom Cruise. That he would even tackle this role at his age (50 this week) is remarkable.

Tom Cruise definitely rises to the persona of aging glam metal rocker Stacee Jaxx, channeling a spacy Jim Morrison in his declining years. Jaxx suffers from the Morrison curse, unable to achieve artistry for the obstruction of being a ‘rock star”. It killed Morrison at age 27. Underrated Cruise pulls it off brilliantly.

Best clip:  Stacee Jaxx coming alive from a stupor, single-mindedly pursuing the strains of “Don’t Stop Believin” (Journey, 1981). It was like following the sound of Jim Morrison and “The End” down the dorm corridors in 1967. No one had ever heard anything like that. It was like a snake charmer.

Worst clips:  The irritating propensity of the players to suddenly burst into song at desultory moments, much like Stephen Bochco’s 1995 mega-flop “Cop Rock” in which grizzled detectives broke into ballads while pursuing the scum of New York.

With all its clichés and plot foibles, it was fun. The music was great. I enjoyed it.

Recommended. I give it three and a half flashy Tom Cruise smiles.

Film Review: “Prometheus”

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Ridley Scott Is a world class director of science fiction film.  “Alien” broke ground in 1979. Blade Runner is a masterpiece beyond brilliant, far ahead of its time. They’re still arguing on-line whether Deckard is a replicant thirty years later (I think he was).

30 years after Blade Runner, the long awaited “Promethius” is here in IMAX 3D, portending to answer some open questions from “Alien”. I suppose it does, but not to the hyped expectations. DNA from “Aliens” is sprinkled throughout, but in the end none of it morphs into a simple explanation of xenomorphs and the origins of mankind. If there is any explanation, it hides in open-ended bombast and pyrotechnics.

The production is supurb. The cast is well placed. Noomi Rapace (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 1,2 & 3) reprises a determined Sigourney Weaver (complete with the obligatory underwear scene). Michael Fassbinder dredges up a convincing version of Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) in “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” (2001). Charlize  Theron chills as a sinister tentacle of the corporate suits, led by the incomparable Guy Pierce. You really believe he’s Peter Weyland . He can and will re-order the universe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BBa_GHtNB0

Avoiding clichés and cartoonishness, the first third of the film sets the stage, building suspense and accumulating menacing weirdness.  Scott builds opulent grandiosity that really works in 3D,  but the promise was only partially fulfilled. The rest of the film de-evolves into contrived twists and  reversals seemingly calculated to the sensibilities of audiences full of android-like 3D addicts. The origins of xenomorphs as they apply to origin of mankind are couched in smoke and mirrors, allowing the viewer to connect the dots any way they desire.

Accordingly, it’s wise not to enter the theater expecting to view a culmination the cinematic universe and an definitive answer to all of the questions anyone has ever asked about that universe. That said, this is a film that defies the authority of intellectual dissection.  It simply blows the viewer away, overwhelming all the senses in a deafening cacophony of pyrotechnics that defies literal interpretation.

I think Ridley Scott is now the most important Science Fiction director of our generation. “Alien” and “Blade Runner” are ranked respectively as #7 and #8 by the American Film Institute in the list of the greatest science fiction films ever made. “Promethius” is not quite in that league I don’t think, but it is good and definitely worth seeing.

I give it four of five Charlize Therons crawling on her belly like a reptile.

Building a leaner USA?

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From Med-Events:  “The demise of the public sector union is an essential ingredient in rebuilding a leaner USA which can continue to grow and prosper”.

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“Building a leaner USA” is an extremely problematical issue loaded with bombs and traps. The theory is that cutting back on government expenditures would lead to a better cost/benefit.  In fact the real chances of this happening EVER is vanishingly small, regardless of Republican rhetoric, for the following reasons:

1. In order to achieve the desired lean-ness, government programs must be cut.  Some say to the bone. At least 80% of the expenditures of government are entitlements:  Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other benefits accumulated by voters who have paid premiums for them though their working career.  The voting public seems to agree with cutting back to a lean USA……..until they, themselves, feel the pain. Cut Medicare for oldsters eating cat food to afford their hypertension medications?  Cutting Social Security benefits for oldsters that paid into it their entire working careers?  I don’t think so. When voters feel the pain of proposed (Republican) cuts, they will do what they did in 2010.  Any congress person that actually gets identified as being part of a painful cut will be a one term, or part of one term sacrificial lamb.

2.  Even if the congress (or the President) had the balls to make these cuts, which they don’t, NO ONE can (or will) agree on how to accomplish it. Simpson & Bowles came up with the most fair and equitable system of spreading the pain yet and they all said it “needed more study”.  That means they support all measures to lean out the USA until it comes time to actually go on record as voting for one.  See # 1 above.

3.  Former gov. Romney has not to date actually uttered a formal plan for the economy other than broad generalizations he doesn’t have to personally defend to voters. His plea is “Elect me and I’ll stop everything Obama is doing”.  The same Obama that is at least holding some degree of defense on an economy that was headed into the ground at the speed of sound in October of 2008.

Exactly what would Gov.Romney do different than Mr. Obama?

a)  Cut “government spending”?  Cut exactly what?  Medicare?  Social Security?  Government Pensions? Government employment?  Does he expect that all those directly affected by such cuts would smile broadly and say: “I’m proud to tighten my belt for the good of the country?  Not likely. As Gil will tell you, every innocent bystander that got hit over the head by a cop at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago became an instant radical protester. This is precisely why Gov. Romney is being very vague as to exactly how he plans to cut costs. He’s hoping the disaffected 8+ percent of unemployed will sweep him into office?

b)  Abridge the reproductive rights of women? Those so abridged will collectively squeal like pigs in hot oil and the media will broadly cover all of it. And of course none of the Santorum-like plans will stop one single abortion from taking place. It will simply establish a freely moveable cottage industry.

c)  Make Government more transparent and visible to the voters? I seem to recall promises like that in 2008, few of which came true. Few will come true for Gov. Romney either in the unlikely circumstance he’s elected. Obama thought he could bring a new paradigm to the Presidency on the basis of his organizational ability and personal magnetism.  He didn’t change it, it changed him as it would Romney. Romney’s experience and expertise is in a business realm where he can make decisions that affect others that are hamstrung to do anything about them.  The government isn’t Bain. It doesn’t work that way in Politics, and it definitely won’t work that way for Gov. Romney.

Gov. Romney is a weak sister consolation prize that shuffled out of the worst slate of would-be candidates in history (Sarah Palin in a class by herself). Republicans speed-dated through some of the most incredibly offensive candidates ever trying to find anything better than the inevitable Romney and finally gave up. Those that now smile broadly and extol Gov. Romney as the savior of the country do so not-so-convincingly through gritted teeth.

The stark reality is that no one can fix the problem in the economy because no one is willing to sink with the painful cure. Obama puts it off by priming the pump. Romney would hasten it by cutting off flow to the pump. No one in congress wants to go on record with supporting the cure and then facing the pain.  There is only one way the economy will be fixed and that’s when it crashes and burns and we’re forced to start over from what remains. That day will come regardless of who wins the Presidential race in 2012.

 

Answers to some comments:

Comment:  You may be partially correct in this claim but there is enough

waste in the federal government that some reductions could occur that

would help reduce the deficits and out of control spending.

Since most of the “waste” is spent on entitlements, and assuming that entitlements are inviolate (they are), then reducing any other wastage does not amount to any meaningful savings. Like your argument that taxing the super rich won’t actually bring enough money in to matter. Give me some idea who is willing to come out for reducing Social Security?

The future medicare spending could be reduced by setting

an age limit and shifting to a less costly program.

And that’s exactly what’s in the future. The only problem is getting it done without a trail back to who is guilty of making those changes. that issue has not been resolved, so those changes won’t happen anytime soon if ever.

I expect my President to lead. Obama is not a leader. He is a spender,

a radical socialist, and a finger pointer to others but provides no

leadership unless it is for one of his socialist programs.

Watch out now, there is no convincing evidence he is a radical anything. He is spending to prime the pump to keep things going. Not the same as idle spending just to spend. And a socialist program like that in Sweden is definitely not in force in this country.

One of his bigger failures is his inability to submit a

reasonable budget that even his own party can support.

Then I must ask exactly who would be capable of submitting a budget that would pass this congress, each and every one of whom is only interested in doing whatever it takes to insure he or she is not blamed for anything.

Romney is no different that Obama in this respect.

Every program that Obama wants only increases

spending but really doesn’t solve any problem. Obama

Care will bankrupt this nation.

Well, that’s arguable. Look at an analogy. “Life Support” in an ICU. We keep sick patients on ventilators and other modalities while a healing process occurs, then take them off the support when the healing occurs. Were it not for the machines, the patient would die before healing is accomplished. Obama is keeping the support for business open so it can function until better times takes over support. If ever. The Republicans want to discontinue the life support and hope the healing process occurs without it. I say unlikely.

Change the system to promote primary care in the non-hospital

setting, eliminate the EMTALA Laws, and enact TORT

Reform and I will support some better version of the Affordable Care Act.

None of most of the above will happen in our lifetime, if ever.  Exactly who will eliminate EMTALA?  It’s a technocracy now. No one can identify who is making the rules so they can’t be found to change them. Lawyers make the laws. Tort reform will never happen in our lifetime and beyond as long as there is a demand for tort actions by the public, there will be lawyers to fulfill that demand.  The Affordable Care Act of 2008 is a better deal than a huge portion of the population risking a lifetime of financial ruin and progressive loss of health insurance due to unrestrained cost.

 

Medical Care including reproductive rights are a private matter

between a patient and their doctor. Get the Democrats to support

this and I will support the democrats that comes out for this.

The above does NOT sound like Santorum who proudly proclaims he’s the only real conservative. I will support the Republican version of this when they tell Santorum he’s out of line and to buzz off.

GWB made some mistakes. However, He was responsible for

making this country safer from terrorist acts.

Iraq, a country with a two bit tin horn dictator that had no interests in the USA and ignoring Saudi Arabia, home of every one of the 911 terrorists?  By attacking Iraq KNOWING there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Obama has had 3.5 years to work on some problems.

He has been a miserable failure.

Well, everyone knew this issue was not going to be resolved in four years, or ten years or ever. We’re all guilty of inappropriate optimism. No power on earth could have resolved this issue in 3.5 years. Certainly not McCain.  Romney has the same inappropriate optimism.

Let’s argue just for grins that Romney is elected in 2012. Here’s exactly what will happen.  He will be in office for about two weeks and he’ll loudly exclaim that the economic situation is infinitely worse than he or anyone else could have known (because of the incompetence of the previous President).  So it’s unfortunately going to take a little longer to fix so he calls on the Democrats to work with the GOP to get things done effectively. The Democrats sneer that Romney is an idiot and he can’t fix the situation because he’s incompetent and he won’t be able to fix anything anyway because they (Dems) will throw the full force of their influence to insure he doesn’t. Then in 2016, each party will start the cycle again.  Does that sound familiar.

Of cash cows and cookie jars

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In the Sunday Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  The sad story of a physician gone very, very bad,

Oliver Herndon, MD. 40 year old guy, trained at some of the most prestigious institutions in the country. UCLA, Stanford. Specialized in pain management, Board certified in Internal Medicine and Palliative Medicine. Said by many to be a regular guy, worked hard, did a good job. Internet patient ratings three stars out of four (for what that’s worth). Married, five kids, living in an upscale community.

Pleaded guilty last Monday to defrauding insurers and drug trafficking. Finally busted by a DEA undercover plant who made an appointment and received a prescription for Oxycontin for a trivial complaint after a brief interview and no physical exam.

http://triblive.com/news/1867518-74/herndon-patients-investigators-prescriptions-employee-pharmacists-doctor-drug-federal-2011

How can this be?  Here’s a hard working guy with a family, trained in the big leagues with impeccable credentials, committed specifically to helping those with pain and suffering.

It’s the old, old story. Herndon entered the world of expensive interests that turned into obsessions exceeding his ability to finance them.  Multiple expensive homes. Big game hunting junkets to Africa. Once he tasted them, it was impossible to go back. He found it only too easy to finance them by alternate means. His waiting room was packed with dirt balls urinating on the walls. His office is said to have taken in US$60,000 cash in one week. Average time interviewing a patient was under three minutes. “Investigators described him as the largest source of illegally obtained oxycodone and oxymorphone in Western Pennsylvania and said his March arrest cut supplies so much that the street value of oxycodone doubled to $40 a pill”.

More importantly, how did he get away with for as long as he did. It was all there, local pharmacists refused to fill his prescriptions for weeks. Herndon told his patients the further they got from Pittsburgh, the easier it would be to get them filled. His patients when squeezed by the police, turned him in as their source. Like Bernie Maddoff, he surely must have known he had a limited time to make this work and presumably tried to enjoy it to the inevitable end.

It’s a scary prophesy with the potential to plague us all. Applicants to medical school are said to be carefully screened for honesty and an authentic  service orientation? Not necessarily. They’re screened for grades, book learning and community service they all commit to because they know admissions panels desire it. They can be all those things but they don’t have to. They know what’s expected and they know how to play the game.  The reality is there is no way to screen out potential Herndons. We just hope for the best.

Physicians have the potential to live the dream, and common sense would dictate a desire and ability to do so within the limits of their better-than-average income and social status. But the cookie jar is always there and it’s always open. Once the taste for La Dolce Vita occurs, it’s a vice that can be hard to regulate.

Herndon will appropriately go to jail and the DEA will continue to ferret out the many similar physicians still out there, some more successfully than others. Some physicians will continue to commit fraud in their billing and dispense anything that brings in cash.  If there is any way to fix this situation, I don’t know what it might be. The rest of us will live the dream also, knowing that the hazards are always present and those hazards don’t necessarily select for the weakest of us. We are all at risk and that bears some recognition.

Career advice from me

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Dr. Crippen:

“I am curious as to whether I should pursue medical school, or graduate and post-graduate studies.  I would not be applying to either sort of programs for another two years. I am intending to take the pre-medical course load regardless, however, any insight to the medical field, research, and the realm of neuro-psychology would be greatly appreciated”.

Thank you very much,
XXXXXX

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I am not currently recommending a career in medicine for a number of reasons.

1.  The amount of money needed to finance a four-year medical education is simply prohibitive.  Most of the kids I know are in for somewhere in the range now of $150,000 or more in loans, all of which come with interest and will take most of their career to pay back. That’s not including four years of college or university.

2.  There is no question at all that the financing of health care is destined to include decreasing resources for providers. The current health care reform plan, if it gets implemented, will instantly inject at least 31 million people into a system already overloaded. There is only one way to finance this increase, pay providers less and have them work more.

The only physicians making big bucks are specialty surgeons doing complex procedures. Neurosurgeons and cardiac surgeons.  The residency programs for these programs are seven and eight years after medical school and they are brutal. They make a lot of money when they get out and they break their asses doing it.

“Most” non-surgical physicians (including neurologists) spend at least three to four years after medical school making yeoman wages and doing a lot of “service” (scut) work for the hospital to justify them getting paid for medical education. Then they don’t make enough money (and will probably less in the future) to comfortably pay off the huge debts incurred.

It’s a radically different world and I have lived and functioned in both. When I was your age, there was no liability in going to college. It was cheap and many kids had little other option other than the military, which wasn’t very popular or getting an entry-level job in some industry that would probably be a dead end. College was cheap, available and socially popular. Everyone that could did.  And when they got out, they entered a job market amenable to “college graduates”.  Didn’t matter what it was, if you had a diploma, you here hire-able because you had the price of admission.

Some time in the late 90s I think, It was found that having a degree in something unrelated to a specific job skill was non-contributory even as a price of admission. So, it slowly evolved that a college degree in functionally inconsequential things like history, English, biology and art appreciation became a very expensive diversion following which one then had to be trained for increasingly skilled employment.

Advanced college degrees are even more iffy. BS or BA degrees, especially in the pure humanities or science are worthless. The amount of money it takes to get an advanced degree with no guarantee of employment is off the screen, and is soon to change the entire spectrum of education if it hasn’t already. Masters Degree isn’t much better unless in the realm of teaching. It takes at least 6 years to get a PhD and can cost $130,000 educational debt. I know some that went a year without getting a job and finally landed one at a private college teaching with a salary of $48,000 a year.  The paybacks for educational loans are $600.00 per month for a LONG time.

If a kid gets out of high school and takes a two-year tech course in auto mechanics, he can get a job immediately and make a reasonable wage to support a family that’s pretty cost/benefit effective.  If a kid goes straight to college and ends up with a Masters 6 years later, he might get a job in a tight market as a high school teacher and make about the same as the mechanic.  But he can discuss Chaucer with his friends at parties and wear a sport jacket out to dinner.  Pay your nickel and take your choice.
That said, there is and always will be a place for higher education.  There will always be those that will rise to the top in any endeavor, but it cannot be counted on. The bad news is its connection to gainful employment is capricious and unreliable.

The reality” – your interest in higher education must eventually be directed toward getting someone to pay you for that knowledge.  That requires some hard scrutiny.  Do you have the resources required to simply make yourself more well read as a matter of personal desire and thirst for knowledge as an end in itself? Are you willing to pay a lot of money to become an interesting conversationalist at cocktail parties?  To rub shoulder with a higher class of friends? If you have the resources, that’s a perfectly OK goal. The issue of making an issue is separate. Or do you want to proceed toward a livelihood that will pay you a living wage?  If so, that requires a separate path, also becoming quite expensive.

In the end, you must work and you must make a living wage to put a roof over your head and food in your mouth. That’s the human condition. And you don’t have an unlimited time frame to get it done. The clock ticks, and the longer you’re out there figuring out what you want to do without actually doing it and getting paid for it, the harder it will be to get moving to it. Trust me on this. I have been there and done all of it.

Film Review: “Men in Black 3”

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The first MIB (1997) was fresh, innovative, well scripted and well acted. Successive iterations of any good film are rarely good, the notable exceptions being Aliens 2 and The Godfather 2. Accordingly, MIB 3 is not as good as MIB 1, but in the end, it delivers for some rather innovative reasons.

One of the reasons is 3-D.  This film doesn’t leap out at the viewer all that much, but the scenes are definitely realistic and satisfying to the viewer. Having seen a few 3=D films now, I am of the opinion that this mode is here to stay, and in five years virtually film will be in this medium. The viewer appreciates the action in a medium more like what he or she would see in real life. I do not think this is a flash in the pan. It will spread to TV rapidly.

IMAX is another matter. IMAX is very expensive; the screen is too big for comfortable viewing no matter what the seating and I don’t think its worth the extra cost. I think IMAX will probably be reserved for major extravaganzas and non-stop action flicks where the whole point of the film is pyrotechnics specifically made for the huge screen (Battleship and The Avengers).

The second reason MIB delivers is the script, which is marginally thought provoking as to the possibilities of time travel.  Yes, a theme worked to the bone elsewhere, but MIB 3 adds an interesting “wrinkle”, a variation of the theme of the Heisenberg Principle (the more is known about where a particle is, the less can be known about it’s speed and direction). , That would be the “observer Effect”, that observing a physical system necessarily effects it. There are an infinite number of possibilities in any scenario in time but only one will happen when it’s actually observed.

In MIB 3, the delightful protagonist of this issue is “Griffin” (Michael Stuhlbarg) who steals every scene by prosaically describing some of the infinite dimensions that exist in the void before an observer solidifies one. Then of course, they end with the “a butterfly flaps its wings in Peking and it rains in New York City”, which works reasonably well.

Best quips:  (J. observing K’s sandwich): “that stuff should be in a coffin, not a pita”.  (O. Interpreting some data on the monitor):  “That’s someone named Mick Jagger…..we think he was sent here to breed earth women”.

Worst feature:  Josh Brolin. An excellent dramatic actor; doesn’t do silly comedy or sight gags well.

I give it 4 of 5 exploding alien heads.

Eagerly anticipated:

1. Promethius. Quirky genius director Ridley Scott (Blade runner, Alien) rides again. Looks to be fantastic. IMAX 3-D will be a practical necessity.

2.  Skyfall (James Bond).  Will be out this Fall. Daniel Craig is the definitive Bond, a franchise entering a whole new life of film excellence. Will have an all-star cast including Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem. Will be a must-see.

 

 

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008)

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(This is the 40th anniversary of Dr. Thompson’s epic work:  Fear and Loathing on the campaign trail, 1972.)

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479468/

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Thompson is credited with introducing the concept of participatory journalism in the late 60s & early 70s. Fueled by copious amounts of Wild Turkey and superhuman doses of LSD, Thompson was a true “free lance reporter”, describing the world with a vocabulary never dreamed of by anyone else. Most of his work was done in one sitting and it’s said he didn’t get on a roll until 48 hours and several bottles of Wild Turkey had passed.

Thompson was a counterculture icon at the height of the Watergate era, carrying an encyclopedic loathing of Richard M. Nixon, the horse he rode in on and the ground the horse trod.  Arguably his most important work was “Fear & Loathing on the Campaign trail, 1972”. Frank Mankiewicz, George McGovern’s campaign manager, would often say in later years that the book represented the “the least factual, most accurate account” of the election.

Many burned out 60s hippies remember HST as the National Affairs Desk of Rolling Stone, where he sent in stories from a prototype fax he dubbed the “mojo wire”. In his prime he was brilliant, insightful, quirky and unpredictable. At his worst, he was a wretched miscreant. All the things that make a great writer.   In his prime he absorbed, then described the world he perceived effortlessly and spontaneously.  As he aged and the effects of a lifetime of drugs and alcohol took its toll, he simply ran out of capacity. Spontaneity was replaced by expectations he didn’t know how to fulfill, replacing insight and lyricism with pyrotechnics on demand.

Thompson was found dead of a self inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 67 in 2005 after a long history of poorly resolved medical issues.  HST didn’t consider suicide to be a dishonorable act. He considered his life to be a perfection that simply ran its course, inevitably degenerating into an unacceptable charade much like Papa Hemmingway. In his prime, he viewed history and he made history. As he and the world matured, life just wasn’t fun anymore.

Failure and mediocrity were unacceptable and his basic nature would not allow evolution to emeritus status.  He chose to exit before he reached the bottom. It was the self-fulfilling prophesy of his life.

Some collected quotes that give insight to his writing process:

From “Hell’s Angels”:

“They were a bunch of overgrown adolescents, stuck in their religious mind-set as a way of life. They defined themselves by their opposition to any and everything. The strength of their antagonism was the source of their faith, and like all holy wars, their greatest enemies and their greatest source of bloodshed was from within, battles against rival factions competing for bottom of the barrel status”.

From “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas”:

“We will not be that lucky.  The end will not come quickly, like it says in Revelation 22:7.  First will come the shit-rain, then the sheep dip, and after that the terrible night of the whore-hopper, which might last for 1000 years.”

From “Fear & Loathing on the campaign trail, 1972”:

(On Nixon):  He was a foul caricature of himself, a man with no soul, no inner convictions, the integrity of a hyena and the style of a poison toad. The Nixon I remembered was absolutely humorless; I couldn’t imagine him laughing at anything except maybe a paraplegic who wanted to vote Democratic but couldn’t quite reach the lever on the voting machine.”

You cannot understand the early 70s without reading HST.  Must read volumes written at his peak are:

Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1966). A first hand account of riding with the Hells Angels for a year, capturing insights no one else was equipped to do.

“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream” is an autobiographical novel illustrated by Ralph Steadman. A vivid commentary of a soul-less city Thompson considered the end of the American Dream.

“Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72”.  A collection of articles covering the 1972 presidential campaign, illustrated by Ralph Steadman. The articles were first serialized in Rolling Stone magazine throughout 1972 and later released as a book in early 1973.

“Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1: The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time”, a collection of HST’s essays from 1956 to the end of the 1970s,

 

I give the film four fedoras out of five, and a plastic cigarette holder.

Film review: “Dark Shadows”

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Anything Tim Burton does is worth a watch, especially since he always includes quirky and talented Johnny Depp (and for seven out of his last nine films, underrated Helena Bonham Carter). Burton channels late-60s soap opera of the same name starring Jonathan Fried (brief cameo as a party guest). The cinematography, production and texture are pure Tim Burton, genius.

“Dark Shadows works two film modes: comic dislocation and period satire.  Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) is turned into a vampire by an unrequited witchy lover (Eva Green).  Barnabas is released from his coffin centuries later to live with his cousin Elizabeth (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her family. Unlike the original TV drama, the updated version is campy to a fault, and although entertaining with a great 70’s sound track (and Alice Cooper) but after the production cleverness wanes, is not completely satisfying.

Burton’s genius interpretation created a movie that’s funny for 15 minutes then fades quickly. Barnabas’ fish-out-of-water persona gets old quickly. The next hour and a half winds it’s way through sight gags, oblique dead ends and characters that don’t develop or when they do so, go out in ridiculous tangents that seem oblivious to whatever plot there might have been.

Definitely set up for a sequel.

An aside- Soundtrack during rolling of the credits is “Go all the way”, originally performed by awesome Cleveland group “The Raspberries” (1972).  Covered by “The Killers” for this film. The Killers version is VERY mediocre. Check out the great original written by the amazing Eric Carmen:

Best clip:  Barnabas confronting a television performance of Karen Carpenter rips the back off the set and exclaims: “Reveal yourself, tiny songstress!”

Worst feature:  Not terribly believable frenetic sex fight sequence, actors wore harnesses that spun them through the air.

All things considered, it’s entertaining if you don’t have anything else going for a weekend afternoon. If you waited for it to come on HBO, you wouldn’t miss much.

I give it 3.5 pasty complexions.

 

Rest in peace now Mildred Eden Crippen (1918-2012)

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Three days short of her 94th birthday my mother quietly and mercifully died in her sleep last week.  I had discussed this eventuality at length with her in better days. She had agreed to make me full Power of Attorney with lawyers filling out the paperwork. Iron clad. She had asked if any small amount of money that may be left over after her death be given to my children. My children are well cared for so I elected to give anything left over to my daughter Andrea’s son who is starting college this Fall.

My mother  was exceptionally well cared for at the facility she resided in. She had a semi-private room and she was quite comfortable, pictures of glory days on the wall. I blew in now and then always unannounced and spoke with care givers, and I was always pleased.   She eventually progressed to deafness and musculoskeletal difficulties due to arthritis but was clear of mind. She read big print books and did lots of crossword puzzles right up to the end. I’ll probably rot in purgatory for giving her a big print copy of Sarah Palin’s book (hard to find big print). Her response to that was “that woman’s an idiot”, so her mind was definitely clear.

She went to sleep one night last week and was found with “Altered Mental Status” (unresponsive) in the morning. Probably a stroke as she was hypertensive her whole life. On hearing that by phone, I had previously arranged to make her hospice status and she died quietly a day later without ever coming around.  It was a good death, as they go 😉

I think the story of her and my father is interesting. I will relate it for anyone with an interest in such things. Delete if no interest. It is, after all, Sunday and I can write anything I want 😉

My father was born into extreme poverty in 1918 on a dirt farm in Spooner, Wisconsin, a brutally barren place with no hope for anyone unfortunate enough to live there. No running water and outside bathroom. Like the cliché, he really did walk miles to school (and the outhouse) in waist deep snow and no one cared whether he went or not. It would have been easy to drop out and go to work at whatever brought body and soul together. He didn’t have two nickels to rub together.  His father was a neer-do-well itinerant jack-of-all-trades and master of none who traveled around the country hopping on freight trains, scratched out a living doing what he could. Performed magic tricks for a few pennies, drew pictures (I have some), did odd-jobs and so on. He hung around just long enough to impregnate my grandmother, who eventually threw him out. He died of a ruptured appendix at Cook County Hospital in 1944.

To make a VERY long story short, my father ended up in veterinary school at Texas A & M, did pretty well.  He worked hard and managed to dumb luck into some good things for him in veterinary medicine.  He liked anatomy and he was offered an assistant professorship at Texas A & M in the Veterinary School with the promise of a career and tenure. My mother had attended Texas Christian College in Austin and ran out of money and so was working as a secretary in the Department of Anatomy at Texas A & M where my dad was teaching.  They had proximity and started dating around 1941, married in 1942. This is apparently the life my mother had anticipated and one of the premises she married him for. She wanted to be a nice stable professor’s wife in the milieu she knew and understood. She perceived their future as it appeared to be at the time.

Dad didn’t say why he decided to marry my mother but I suspect it was because she exuded some element of class he thought would be good for him. Nailing down a beautiful woman is a pretty big ego trip and I think he thought he needed that boost to reinforce his ambitions. I think she had a great body too.  It was a whirlwind romance.

But my father had an unrelenting subliminal passion to be a medical doctor more than anything in the world.  Mother didn’t perceive or understand the all-consuming, steam rolling passion to go to medical school that boiled within him.  It never crossed her mind that a graduate of veterinary college with a great career ahead had any other passions.  Their whirlwind romance was not long enough or intuitive enough for to understand anything other than what appeared to be.  Ultimately, in a feat of dumb luck that is pretty close to the dumb luck episode that got me into medical school, he managed to squeak into the first class at Baylor School of Medicine, 1943, and their lives changed radically and unpredictably.

Suddenly, she was pregnant with me and they were scrounging for every dime to keep him in school. He was working every odd job he could find after school to pay tuition and expenses, studying all night and she was selling nylon stockings door to door. This wasn’t what she had signed up for and  there were marital problems from then on. She never liked being a doctor’s wife, especially a surgeon’s wife.  He was gone all the time and there was no reliability in his or her life. I remember epic fights in the middle of the night in which he yells=ed “I can’t do anything else…I don’t want to do anything else….this is my life”.

My father swapped out her life in mid-stream into a lethal iteration and she was not able to adapt or accommodate. She did love her kids and she was always there for us, but it was apparent that her life had been a big mistake she hadn’t signed up for and once it started she couldn’t get out of it. I think many times she would have liked to have gone back and changed that course before it began. But it was what it was, as it is for many.

Rest in peace now Mildred Eden Crippen (1918-2012). All things considered, it was a good life.

Rest in peace now Mildred Eden Crippen (1918-2012). All things considered, it was a good life.