There's a photo gallery of screen shots of Neal on get-away semitropical island included at the bottom of the season 4 premiere episode recap -- i.e. spoilers. (I was happy to read the spoilers as I won't see season 4 until it comes out next year on dvd, and I am one of those that spoilers don't spoil her fun, because, among other reasons, what others focus on generally turns out not to be what's significant from my perspective.)
So don't go there if you want not spoilers. But you can scroll right down to the bottom to click on Photo Gallery without being spoiled, except aesthetically. We all deserve aesthetic spoiling. White Collar manages to be exciting, sexy. fun and even romantic, without a hint of creepiness, sleaze or stupification. This may be because White Collar's underlying light-heartedness ultimately knits together the various episodes over a season, accompanied by the show's focus on the loyalties and affections that bind the various characters from primaries to secondaries.
Upon reflection, that latter may really be it. The camera and writers seem equally to be part of the loyalty and affection, from whence comes respect, as necessary in a light entertainment as in a somber one. Most entertainment folks don't respect themselves, much less each other, so they don't respect the audience or their on-screen figures -- and the audience doesn't respect itself -- thus the degradation, humiliation and psychic violation of us all, so prevalent these days in all types of entertainments. I don't know certainly, of course.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Woody Guthrie's Lost Novel - *House of Dust*
Full story here at the UK Guardian.
A novel by folk singer Woody Guthrie will be published next year, with help from Johnny Depp. House of Earth, which Guthrie finished in 1947 but never released, is being edited by Depp and author Douglas Brinkley.
Depp and Brinkley revealed their plans in a new essay for the New York Times Book Review. House of Earth is Guthrie's only "fully realised" novel, they said, influenced by his experiences in America's Dust Bowl, as well as John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Tracing the story of Tike and Ella May Hamlin, "hardscrabble farmers" in Texas, it is a "searing portrait of the Panhandle and its marginalised Great Depression residents". Despite a slightly esoteric focus on the importance of adobe housing, House of Earth also includes graphic sex, including "a scorching lovemaking scene on a hay bale".Yes! It being Woody Guthrie, there is music history involved!
At the time of its writing, Guthrie apparently shared House of Earth's first chapter with musicologist Alan Lomax, who called it "quite simply the best material I'd ever seen written about that section of the country". But Guthrie only showed the finished manuscript to one person, film-maker Irving Lerner, and it languished for decades in a Coney Island closet. After learning of its existence in the late 90s, Brinkley finally tracked down the manuscript last year, with help from Guthrie's daughter, Nora.That Alan Lomax -- in everything remotely concerned with popular music for his entire run! But -- having sex on a -- hay bale? One would think that Mr. Gutherie, at least, would know the effects upon the epidermis of bare skin frictioning on a hay bale, just like the effect of horse hair on the skin when riding bareassed.
However, could this be a sign, blowin' in the wind, pointing to a change in popular national consciousness? From the NY Times essay (link above):
... after finishing the novel in 1947, Guthrie put the manuscript away and concentrated on songwriting. He may have sensed the novel could be considered both passé (post-New Deal writing was frowned upon by cold-war-era critics) and ahead of its time (graphic sex). His fertility cycle prose was so edgy that publication was unlikely. And his use of an overdrawn hillbilly dialogue would have found little embrace in New York literary circles. ...
Yet the book’s architectural intensity makes it a minormasterpiece. When we shared the finished novel with Bob Dylan, he was blown away, “surprised by the genius,” he said, of the prose. At heart, “House of Earth” is a meditation about how poor people search for love and meaning in a corrupt world, one in which the rich have lost their moral compasses. Even though the backdrop is the washed-out agricultural fields of Texas, the novel could just as easily be set in a refugee camp in Sudan or a shantytown in Haiti.
Monday, July 9, 2012
M'banza Kongo
Which is where el V is currently. And happy as a clam in whatever clams are happy in! Its air is clean, it's in the mountains, he's working with a great scholar at the Kongo Kingdom Museum there -- it's everything he dreamed it would be, but better.
It is also bare bones, i.e. not easy. He's only the second scholar to ever go there, second after BM, who has been coming for years, who has walked all of Angola starting with the war when South Africa attempted to annex Angola for its own apartheid exploitation. Fortunately, this is an area where there are few if any land mines. BM really knows this country. So much is being lost, and will be gone forever within 3 or 4 years, when these seniors who are still playing instruments that people elsewhere have no idea exist.
These google images give a sense of where it is and what it is like.
Here's some history of the region.
I cannot post photos as he's currently sans a computer and connection. We are still able to skype daily, at the very least.
It is also bare bones, i.e. not easy. He's only the second scholar to ever go there, second after BM, who has been coming for years, who has walked all of Angola starting with the war when South Africa attempted to annex Angola for its own apartheid exploitation. Fortunately, this is an area where there are few if any land mines. BM really knows this country. So much is being lost, and will be gone forever within 3 or 4 years, when these seniors who are still playing instruments that people elsewhere have no idea exist.
These google images give a sense of where it is and what it is like.
Here's some history of the region.
I cannot post photos as he's currently sans a computer and connection. We are still able to skype daily, at the very least.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
History Has Lost A Great Personage
As you can see from the quote at the top of Fox Home, the loss of this great historian feels deeply personal.
Forwarded via Voices From Haiti:
[ " http://www.voicesfromhaiti.com/2012/07/dr-michel-rolph-trouillot-haitis-gold-rush/
Dr. Michel-Rolph Trouillot & Haiti’s Gold Rush
Jul 07, 2012 ~ Written by voicesfromhaiti
Every year at the big award ceremonies there’s a special block of time reserved for stars whose blindingly brilliant lights have been extinguished. A larger-than-life screen usually hangs above the audience. Everyone looks skyward—to view the lineup of mind-blowing talent that once seemed so formidable, if not immortal. As audience members blink back tears, everyone secretly wonders when their turn will come to be “honored” in this way. Will their picture even make it to the sky-screen? Will someone accidentally forget to include them in the lineup? Who will mourn their passing? Will anyone beside close family members even remember their contribution? Will anyone–especially strangers–really, really care?
“Haiti lost one of the greatest men who ever lived,” said Leslie H. of Professor Michel Rolph Trioullot who passed away July 6, 2012. “He is revered among anthropologists worldwide. His book, Silencing the Past, is like a sacred text on college campuses. . .”
M.C. said: “What bothers me about Prof. Trouillot’s passing is that I never had a chance to tell him in person how his writings changed my life. I should have told him that, you know. But I didn’t want to bother him. Iwanted to have something important to say when I approached him. Everyone who knew Prof. Trouillot says he was as generous and giving as he was brilliant. I should have told him that his writing changed the course of my entire life.”
Sabine B. said, “My heart breaks now because Haiti has lost a giant among thinkers. I mourn, also, because there are so many people out there who don’t even know they should be mourning. They don’t even know the real significance of this loss.”
On the other side of the ocean, the island from which Dr. Michel Rolph Trouillot came is busy being reconstructed. Everyone is figuring out ways to harvest fruit from all the trees that have yet to be planted. While all the super-sizing of Haiti continues without a break, while investors rush to scrape the gold mines clean, let us heed Dr. Trouillot’s words and remember not to silence the past. Let us use the ropes of the past to ring the bell of Haiti’s real future.
Remember, also, that Haiti’s greatest treasures reside not in the mines but in the minds of our thinkers, especially our elders. The gold they possess in abundance is available, if we would only ask. First, however, we must recognize, honor, and respect our elders. Respekte grandmoun yo! The treasures they carry inside their heads are priceless. Acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate our elders now, lest– against their own will–they take all the gold with them.
Rest in perfect peace, Dr. Trouillot. VoicesfromHaiti celebrates your immeasurable contributions to Haiti and the world. We send our sincere condolences to those who have only begun to feel the sting of your passing.
(c) VoicesfromHaiti/Share Widely.
Selected works of Dr. Michel-Rolph Trouillot:
1977 Ti difé boulé sou Istoua Ayiti. New York: Koléksion Lakansièl.
1988 Peasants and Capital: Dominica in the World Economy. Johns Hopkins University Press.
1990 Haiti: State against Nation. The Origins and Legacy of Duvalierism. Monthly Review Press.
1995 Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Beacon Press.
2003 Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World. Palgrave
__________________________________________________
I did not know Dr. Trouillot personally, but I had the good fortune of having my writing appear alongside his in an anthology called Mozayik, edited by another great mind who passed away earlier this year: Roger Savain.
Please visit the following links for more on this national treasure.
Bob Corbett reviewed Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History in 1996
Nadève Ménard and Régine Michelle Jean-Charles’s invite tributes, recollections, and words you might wish to share about Dr. Trouillot on http://tandenou2.blogspot.com/ " ]
Forwarded via Voices From Haiti:
[ " http://www.voicesfromhaiti.com/2012/07/dr-michel-rolph-trouillot-haitis-gold-rush/
Dr. Michel-Rolph Trouillot & Haiti’s Gold Rush
Jul 07, 2012 ~ Written by voicesfromhaiti
Every year at the big award ceremonies there’s a special block of time reserved for stars whose blindingly brilliant lights have been extinguished. A larger-than-life screen usually hangs above the audience. Everyone looks skyward—to view the lineup of mind-blowing talent that once seemed so formidable, if not immortal. As audience members blink back tears, everyone secretly wonders when their turn will come to be “honored” in this way. Will their picture even make it to the sky-screen? Will someone accidentally forget to include them in the lineup? Who will mourn their passing? Will anyone beside close family members even remember their contribution? Will anyone–especially strangers–really, really care?
“Haiti lost one of the greatest men who ever lived,” said Leslie H. of Professor Michel Rolph Trioullot who passed away July 6, 2012. “He is revered among anthropologists worldwide. His book, Silencing the Past, is like a sacred text on college campuses. . .”
M.C. said: “What bothers me about Prof. Trouillot’s passing is that I never had a chance to tell him in person how his writings changed my life. I should have told him that, you know. But I didn’t want to bother him. Iwanted to have something important to say when I approached him. Everyone who knew Prof. Trouillot says he was as generous and giving as he was brilliant. I should have told him that his writing changed the course of my entire life.”
Sabine B. said, “My heart breaks now because Haiti has lost a giant among thinkers. I mourn, also, because there are so many people out there who don’t even know they should be mourning. They don’t even know the real significance of this loss.”
On the other side of the ocean, the island from which Dr. Michel Rolph Trouillot came is busy being reconstructed. Everyone is figuring out ways to harvest fruit from all the trees that have yet to be planted. While all the super-sizing of Haiti continues without a break, while investors rush to scrape the gold mines clean, let us heed Dr. Trouillot’s words and remember not to silence the past. Let us use the ropes of the past to ring the bell of Haiti’s real future.
Remember, also, that Haiti’s greatest treasures reside not in the mines but in the minds of our thinkers, especially our elders. The gold they possess in abundance is available, if we would only ask. First, however, we must recognize, honor, and respect our elders. Respekte grandmoun yo! The treasures they carry inside their heads are priceless. Acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate our elders now, lest– against their own will–they take all the gold with them.
Rest in perfect peace, Dr. Trouillot. VoicesfromHaiti celebrates your immeasurable contributions to Haiti and the world. We send our sincere condolences to those who have only begun to feel the sting of your passing.
(c) VoicesfromHaiti/Share Widely.
Selected works of Dr. Michel-Rolph Trouillot:
1977 Ti difé boulé sou Istoua Ayiti. New York: Koléksion Lakansièl.
1988 Peasants and Capital: Dominica in the World Economy. Johns Hopkins University Press.
1990 Haiti: State against Nation. The Origins and Legacy of Duvalierism. Monthly Review Press.
1995 Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Beacon Press.
2003 Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World. Palgrave
__________________________________________________
I did not know Dr. Trouillot personally, but I had the good fortune of having my writing appear alongside his in an anthology called Mozayik, edited by another great mind who passed away earlier this year: Roger Savain.
Please visit the following links for more on this national treasure.
Bob Corbett reviewed Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History in 1996
Nadève Ménard and Régine Michelle Jean-Charles’s invite tributes, recollections, and words you might wish to share about Dr. Trouillot on http://tandenou2.blogspot.com/ " ]
NPR Harkeness Interview Yesterday -*All Things Considered*
It came on late in in All Things Considered while I was drying my hair in preparation for meeting my friend CC for dinner and another viewing of Brave. :)
I had wondered why Neda Ulaby was interviewing me when she could be interviewing Harkness. Well, she did interview Harkness, almost exclusively, plus a bit from a reading by Harkness reading from Discovery, I believe -- I was listening over the hairdryer, rushing to make the date. Harkness was perfectly NPR pitched, too. Gads, Ulaby is good at what she does.
They didn't give much time to Shadow of Night, which is what we talked about mostly in the studio. I'm in it with only a couple of lines. Which is all to the good, because my voice is crackly from the coughing caused by the pollution and pollen and I was so conscious of this during entire 40 + minute session at the studio.
For what it's worth, if you want to check it out, which you might if you like these books, you can read the transcript, or hear the segment, here.
Ned received e-mail in Angola about it from people spread around the country who had heard it. The wonders of our world. :)
I had wondered why Neda Ulaby was interviewing me when she could be interviewing Harkness. Well, she did interview Harkness, almost exclusively, plus a bit from a reading by Harkness reading from Discovery, I believe -- I was listening over the hairdryer, rushing to make the date. Harkness was perfectly NPR pitched, too. Gads, Ulaby is good at what she does.
They didn't give much time to Shadow of Night, which is what we talked about mostly in the studio. I'm in it with only a couple of lines. Which is all to the good, because my voice is crackly from the coughing caused by the pollution and pollen and I was so conscious of this during entire 40 + minute session at the studio.
For what it's worth, if you want to check it out, which you might if you like these books, you can read the transcript, or hear the segment, here.
Ned received e-mail in Angola about it from people spread around the country who had heard it. The wonders of our world. :)
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
*Copper* BBC America Premieres August
From Levinson and Fontana, who brought us Homicide, from which series David Simon learned his chops for The Wire and Treme, as well as the European television series last year of Borgia: Faith and Fear, a French-German historical drama television series (not the same as Showtime's The Borgias).
I saw the trailer for Copper at the Sunshine Theater here, last weekend, when I went to see Beasts of the Southern Wild -- this despite it being a BBC America television series. Interesting that the trailer for a television series was shown in a movie theater, though perhaps that is part of the Sunshine's mission, which shows indies, quirky films, and lots and lots of festival winners and entrants. The audience at the Sunshine leans heavily to film pros, film students, historians, critics and wannabes. This is a city in which film and television is an industry and a favorite story location.
Which is where Copper is located -- here in New York City, after the Civil War. What a place NYC was then! Ask Teddy Roosevelt. Well, NYC was what a place before the Waw and during the Waw too. Ask Martin Scorsese.
So, here we go: how would you read this description of the series?
Notice that the McGuffin, the plot chasis, the driving force, depending on your vocabulary for such things is the favorite cliche, " ... returns from the Civil War to find his wife missing and his daughter dead. "
This could be a turning on the head of movies and series like Hell on Wheels, in which it is always a confederate who returns home from war and finds his wife raped-murdered and his children merely murdered, and thus vengeance sends him out to search the West, where, it being so small he always does run into the responsible parties, or at least some of them or some of them who are partially responsible, while chasing forever the numero uno Big Bad Guy. Or it's merely the fridging of the girlfriend, the favorite lazy way to get backstory and motivation.
Being who these guys are and their track record, I'm hoping / expecting it's the latter. Copper: period historical of my city, in an era of one of my deep periods and places of study, and, yes, that it's Fontana and Levinson.
I saw the trailer for Copper at the Sunshine Theater here, last weekend, when I went to see Beasts of the Southern Wild -- this despite it being a BBC America television series. Interesting that the trailer for a television series was shown in a movie theater, though perhaps that is part of the Sunshine's mission, which shows indies, quirky films, and lots and lots of festival winners and entrants. The audience at the Sunshine leans heavily to film pros, film students, historians, critics and wannabes. This is a city in which film and television is an industry and a favorite story location.
Which is where Copper is located -- here in New York City, after the Civil War. What a place NYC was then! Ask Teddy Roosevelt. Well, NYC was what a place before the Waw and during the Waw too. Ask Martin Scorsese.
So, here we go: how would you read this description of the series?
[ " It’s hard to walk a straight line in a crooked townFrom Academy Award®-winner Barry Levinson and Emmy® Award-winner Tom Fontana, “Copper” is a gripping crime drama series set in 1860s New York City. Kevin Corcoran (Tom Weston-Jones, “MI-5″), an Irish-American former boxer turned cop, returns from the Civil War to find his wife missing and his daughter dead. As he patrols the streets of New York’s notorious Five Points neighborhood, he seeks the truth about what happened to his family with the help of two wartime friends: the wayward son of a wealthy industrialist, and a talented African-American doctor. The three men share a secret from their experience in battle that links their lives forever. " ]
Notice that the McGuffin, the plot chasis, the driving force, depending on your vocabulary for such things is the favorite cliche, " ... returns from the Civil War to find his wife missing and his daughter dead. "
This could be a turning on the head of movies and series like Hell on Wheels, in which it is always a confederate who returns home from war and finds his wife raped-murdered and his children merely murdered, and thus vengeance sends him out to search the West, where, it being so small he always does run into the responsible parties, or at least some of them or some of them who are partially responsible, while chasing forever the numero uno Big Bad Guy. Or it's merely the fridging of the girlfriend, the favorite lazy way to get backstory and motivation.
Being who these guys are and their track record, I'm hoping / expecting it's the latter. Copper: period historical of my city, in an era of one of my deep periods and places of study, and, yes, that it's Fontana and Levinson.
In Luanda Someone Is Thinking of Me
First Skype call finally accomplished.
He described what it was like to fly along the Med coast from Tunisia, and then south. He could feel the topography changes the plane encountered, from desert, to mountains, to jungle, to plateau. This was topographical geography felt in one's body, not political geography. This was a precious experience for one who has taught the geography of Africa.
I feel better now that we made voice contact.
Since he's gone for so long I've embarked on deep housecleaning.
Also writing / work resumes after the prolonged anxiety and chaos around this particularly mission's journey. I'm still anxious, but not so much now.
He described what it was like to fly along the Med coast from Tunisia, and then south. He could feel the topography changes the plane encountered, from desert, to mountains, to jungle, to plateau. This was topographical geography felt in one's body, not political geography. This was a precious experience for one who has taught the geography of Africa.
I feel better now that we made voice contact.
Since he's gone for so long I've embarked on deep housecleaning.
Also writing / work resumes after the prolonged anxiety and chaos around this particularly mission's journey. I'm still anxious, but not so much now.
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