TCM's Art of Artifice (1) - I watched so you don't have to

I love Turner Classic Movies. Which is a big 'duh for most everyone who knows me.

Well, this month, they are having a series of movies enhanced by the Art of Artifice. These are movies where the production design and sets take the audience to a new place—the art that feeds the illusion.

I think this is a great idea, and I am going to share some of the comments and images I find interesting.

First North by Northwest

Here are the comments from the article on this movie:

The series begins on May 7 with North by Northwest (1959), an illustrative place to start, Robert Boyle served as a co-production designer, for which they received an Academy Award nomination. Boyle was inducted into the Art Directors Hall of Fame and in 2008, he received an honorary Academy Award. He was a co-Oscar nominee for his work on Gaily, Gaily (1969),  Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and The Shootist (1976). His other illustrious credits include The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964) and Private Benjamin (1980)

North by Northwest, one of seven American films in the series inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry of “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” films, presented several challenges. For example, the climactic chase atop Mount Rushmore: it likely does not surprise you that, establishing shots aside, it was not filmed at the national landmark. The National Park Service reportedly rescinded permission for Hitchcock to film there after he gave an interview teasing a violent chase across the granite faces, according to Hitchcock biographer Patrick McGilligan.

In the Oscar-nominated short, The Man on Lincoln’s Nose (2000), Robert Boyle said, “The main problem in the Mount Rushmore sequence was to make it believable that two people could climb down the face of Mount Rushmore — it couldn't be done, but we had to make it look believable. So, we went up to Mount Rushmore, climbed up the back and found that on the top of each one of the heads there was a huge iron ring, with a cable and bosun's chair. We then lowered down each face and photographed in every direction possible every 10 feet and those became the backgrounds.”

Also not filmed on location was the Mount Rushmore cafeteria where Eva Marie Saint “shoots” Cary Grant. This, too, was recreated on the MGM studio lot (by the way, keep your eyes on the kid extra who, um, jumps the gun by plugging his ears before Saint fires. From here on, he will be the only thing you watch in that scene)

There are two more images I want to share. One is the house on Mount Rushmore of the bad guy (James Mason). It looks beautiful and treacherous. It conveys the personality of the killer we believe he is.

I am not sure if this a real house or mat, but it is gorgeous.

The second is the image from the Auction House. Here, the background is lush and expensive. I am sure most of the pieces are probably cheap bric-a-brac from the studio lot, but it is dressed to be sumptuous. 

More movies during the days ahead.

Random images

 Here are some random images from the past weekend.

This was our old house in Desert Hot Springs. It looks pretty good for 30+ years. And they put on solar panels.

This is Ed and I in Pioneertown. It is a tacky-adjacent entertainment/movie set-type place.

That plant on the right is an old Joshua Tree.

This is a combination picture I put on Instagram. To the left is an Ocotillo bush in bloom. On the right is a piece of art that references the plant and the old cars which live on in Palm Springs. I didn't say it was great art, just art.

Congress takes an interesting turn

If we were a Parliamentary system instead of what we are, the government would have collapsed recently. Let me explain in short for any readers who don't understand this.

In most countries, after a Parliamentary election, the largest party creates the government, which is run by the Prime Minister. (Some systems have a President or Royal who technically governs but usually doesn't have much real political power.)

The Parliament then passes the nation's laws. Very often the largest party does not have a majority, so they bring in partner parties to make a coalition for governing. The majority only brings bills up that they can pass, and typically must give their partners some political priorities of theirs to keep the majority in power. If a bill fails, the coalition falls, and there are new elections. In reality, what happens is there is a "vote of no confidence," and if the coalition partner leaves the majority, the government falls, and new elections are held. *

This makes governing impossible without some compromise.

The United States doesn't have this situation. Our elections are every two years, and the politicians don't force a new election by being obstinate. And so they jockey among themselves for power and TV time. Being a faithful party member doesn't necessarily help you. Parties used to control the money used by the candidates to run for election, so that held them in line. But new obstinate members can make money by being difficult and landing on TV.

And this brings us to now.

Technically, the US has two parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. The Republicans have a thin majority in the lower legislative body (the House of Representatives) but are in the minority in the upper body (the Senate). Since bipartisan wins are hard to come by (and partisan wins impossible), most day-to-day legislative efforts don't accomplish much.

The real politics displayed here show the US essentially now has three parties in the House of Representatives: Democrats, traditional Republicans, and Maga Republicans.

One of the few bipartisan efforts WAS the support of a bill that includes aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and money for border control. After give and take, the Senate passed a law with this support, including a win for Republicans on Border Control. It didn't NOT pass the House. The Maga Republicans followed Trump's request to doom the bill because he did not want to give Joe Biden a win on the issue of Border Control because that resonates with voters. The bill was stopped by the Trump Caucus of Representatives.

Funds for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwanese defense were still needed, but the Republicans were divided and could not pass a bill at all. The Speaker of the House is from the Maga wing of Republicans. But as Speaker, he should look towards the good of the country. And the funds in this bill were needed quickly, particularly in Ukraine. So Speaker Mike Johnson (normally a reactionary religious conservative) ultimately decided to put "country over" part of his party. He broke the bill into 3 parts: money for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwanese defense. Of these, the Ukraine money is divisive because Trump wants Russia to win in the battle for Ukraine. Really.

To pass all three bills, Speaker Johnson depended on the votes of Democrats. The final vote on Ukraine showed that the majority of his own party voted against it. As I said, in a parliamentary system this would bring the government down and force a new vote. That doesn't happen here.

This type of vote would bring down a Parliamentary System

But there was a revolt. The Maga Republicans cannot bring down the government, but they can force a vote for a new Speaker of the House. This was unprecedented, but the same Maga Republicans did this last year and our legislature was on hold for 21 days. Note: A vote for Speaker requires a majority of the members and the other party always votes against anyone, so it took all Republicans to agree on a new Speaker.

The revolt has been threatened again, but this time the Democrats have agreed to support the Speaker against the Maga wing of the party. With about 4 - 5 months left in the legislative year, there are a lot of appropriations and other bills to pass. And so the House of Representatives is effectively run by a coalition of Democrats and Traditional Republicans. It is better for the country, but it may be the kiss of death for the Republicans cooperating. 

Interesting indeed. What happens next, no one knows.

Yes I realize the irony of quoting Barry Goldwater - a moderate ONLY in retrospect

 

My Latest Post on the Intersection of Geography and Economics

I think it is a bit fascinating what people are taught and what they are not about our history in our schools. Maybe I just find things are more relevant to understanding our situations than other people do.

Anyway, I remembered a lot and learned even more writing this.

shitstorm in miniature

We can see headlines sometimes and imagine the massive problems of fundamental disagreements and what to do about them. And then sometimes we see crazy.

Take the issue below. In a small town in New Hampshire where, the progressives and conservatives (think Democrats and Republicans) try to ignore politics and get along. This town has been "torn apart" by the mural painted in an effort to help restore some blighted areas. A town councilwoman believes that they are Satanic and push homosexuality. Getting all worked up over this and imagining the worst is easy.

But it is a shitstorm in a teacup. Here are the "Demonic" murals that will bring the wrath of God down on the city.

The "murals" are in a blighted part of the city, and a non-profit is trying to make it a little less blighted by removing graffiti and trying to beautify an unattractive corner.

It is not a set of landing lights for Satan's airport.

But when cultural disagreements start, rational thought goes out the window.

The city is contemplating outlawing all public art because of this disagreement.

The Town Manager (like a mayor) resigned because the rhetoric was too much for him. The Manager has a gay teenage son, and all the hate that has focused on the son since this all started was too much.

I just want you to remember this was not a problem until long after the art was up and people liked it. There were no issues until a self-described Christian Board Member decided they were gay demonic murals pushing an LGBT message. Suddenly, after the murals had been painted and accepted, they were terrible. AND only then did hate start springing up. It is almost like she was looking for something to cause a blowback.

Hike in Morongo Valley Preserve

 On Saturday, Eddie and I took a hike a Morongo Valley Preserve. 

Morongo Valley is fascinating. It is situated on a plateau/valley that is literally halfway between the low desert—Palm Springs and the entire Coachella Valley—and the high desert—Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree National Park.

The high desert gets much colder at night, and some of this seems to affect this valley as well.

The preserve is in a diverse riparian ecosystem that seems to have water most of the year. It is home to a zillion birds, and birders visit to take close-ups a lot.

This is a desert marshland when rains come.

Eds thinks the dead Yucca spikes look like the hazy Loch Ness Monster pictures.

An oasis in the desert

I loved these flowers. They are called "Apricot Mallow".

One is Attacked by the Police and One is Ignored by the Police.

 Guess which protest is the cause for Police Action.

10 points to Gryffindor for the correct answer.

And there go her Vice-President Chances.

 You can do a lot of things and get away with it as a politician - but not this.

Full story here (including her shooting the family dog AND goat in front of her kids)

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/26/trump-kristi-noem-shot-dog-and-goat-book

Trip to White Water Preserve with a friend

 A friend was here this weekend and we had a great time. 

On Tuesday, we went to the White Water Preserve in one of the desert canyons. It was dreamy.

Desert versus Mountains driving in

One of the three catch ponds blocking water for animals

A great view of the 2nd water pond catch basin

The grassy area is the play / camping area

Very small creek area we walked in (between to catch ponds and the actual river)

Shelly and I along the creek and the Riparian Vegetation

Random shot of wildflowers downstream

Gaza Protests vs Vietnam Protests

The reporting of the Gaza protests at Universities makes the actions today seem unprecedented. They are not.  

They may not be the same, but similar protests occurred on many more campuses during the Vietnam War. Many of these were focused on the draft, but many more were focused on the results of the United States' actions in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam Protests at the University of Washington, University of Wisconsin, University of California at Santa Barbara, and Kent State

Our college years (whether in college or not) are when we begin to assert our independence. Our views start to take shape and often result in a rejection of our parents' and their generation's rules and assumptions. It might be a simple rejection of their values, or it might be the expansion of their value system but with fresh eyes and fresh results.

During Vietnam, young people began to push back on the idea that communism was worth killing people. In particular, young people pushed back on the idea that killing people to change a governmental system was wrong. IN the 1960s and 70s, they pushed back against killing innocent people to enforce America's ideas. Thousands of US deaths and more than 3 million Viet deaths on both sides drove resistance against the War.

The Gaza protests are similar, with some significant differences. 

Differences:

1. The cause of this war was the Hamas attack and murder against Israelis. This cause meant that early support of Israel was widespread and came with much goodwill towards the Israelis.
2. The US has no troops involved in the War
3. There is support for both sides of the conflict: Israeli and Palestinian.
4. New media shows the viewpoint of both sides almost immediately, whereas traditional media only shows one side.
5. The leader of Israel seems gleeful of the destruction they are carrying out. American leaders at least pretended to be concerned during Vietnam.

Similarities:

1. The argument is that killing more people is the only way this conflict will be ended.
2. There is no reasonable solution we can impose on the parties to stop this war; we just keep going. We are throwing more carnage and death after carnage and death, just like we threw more and more troops at Vietnam with no question.
3. The US power system again assumes that students don't understand the real world and can be ignored.
4. People have no voice in these killings that are made possible with American weapons.
5. The American government is supplying weapons and supporting the death of innocents with no input from the majority of Americans.
   
6. Only hostile action by Gaza forces is shown (or earlier North Vietnamese). No one in power comes out against this war.
7. Traditional media showed only one side of the Vietnam conflict, but as the visibility of the effects increased, opinion slowly moved. We have experienced a similar change, but new media drives this change much quicker.

I am not saying that protests against the Israeli - Hamas war have the SAME causes or are even equivalent. But I am saying that as we look at the protests, we should at least try to understand the students position. Right now all the coverage is about the protests, not about what they are protesting. This myopic view IS the same as the protests of the Vietnamese War. And if we don't understand this, it will continue along a similar trajectory.